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Dry, the Beloved Country

Global warming could cause big changes in South Africa in the next 50 years, including the loss of many plant species, less rainfall, and an increase in wildfires, according to a report released by the South African branch of the World Wildlife Fund. One of the report’s authors, William Bond of the University of Cape […]

Zinc About What You're Trying to Do to Me

A proposed zinc and copper mine in northern Wisconsin may have run into trouble last Friday when the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Sokaogon Chippewa have the right to regulate water quality on their reservation downstream from the mine site. The court rejected arguments by Wisconsin that it alone had the […]

Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Alberta

Alberta emits more greenhouse gases than any other province in Canada and could single-handedly prevent the country from complying with the Kyoto treaty on climate change, according to a study released yesterday by the Pembina Institute, an environmental think tank. The study predicts that Alberta’s emissions of greenhouse gases will rise about 65 percent from […]

Pygmy-aliens

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton on Friday upheld the listing of the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, rejecting arguments by developers that the owl didn’t merit protections because large populations of the species exist in Mexico. She said the act focuses on the status of species in the U.S., […]

A Clean Sweep

Coastal cities in Southern California are latching on to a new, relatively cheap way to combat pollution running off their streets into the ocean — the little-heralded street sweeper. Street sweepers of 20 years ago did little more than collect litter and big dirt particles. Sweepers are now equipped to vacuum up pesticides, fertilizers, animal […]

Oh No! Cardoso

A collection of rural lawmakers in Brazil is pushing legislation that would double the amount of Amazon jungle that could be deforested. The government’s current forestry code requires landowners in the Amazon to preserve 80 percent of their land. The new bill, which still must pass both chambers of the country’s Congress, would change the […]

Lori Litman Ehrlich, HealthLink

Lori Litman Ehrlich is a mother, volunteer, and leader of HealthLink, a citizen group working to protect public health and promote cleaner energy sources. Monday, 24 Sep 2001 MARBLEHEAD, Mass. There is nothing quite like a memorial service to provide perspective and bolster environmental motivation. HealthLink, a local phenomenon here on the north shore of […]

Of Fuel Rods and Lightning Rods

Even before the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, government inspectors had found security to be inadequate at the U.S.’s 103 nuclear plants. From 1991 to 2000, nearly half of the 68 plants tested showed “a potential vulnerability” to terrorists. Now, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has reversed claims it made right […]

It's a Jungle Out There

  Re: Un-Happy Meal Dear Editor: Eric Schlosser deserves a medal for this book, which everyone, especially fast food addicts, should read. I read the book, but must admit that I skipped the chapters on the slaughterhouse industry. I feared that things at the stockyards hadn’t changed very much since Upton Sinclair published The Jungle […]

You Can't Be Too Car-ful

The U.S. National Academy of Sciences is worried that it might have overestimated the amount of fuel savings possible if automakers were to redesign their vehicles. The academy is holding a public hearing in early October to consider changing a report issued this summer that found that fuel economy of some vehicles could be boosted […]