Uncategorized

The Other Day, I Met a Bear

Better Off Red Than Dead?

The water level of the Dead Sea is dropping by about three feet a year and may go dry by 2050, says Friends of the Earth in the Middle East. The group is sponsoring a photo competition to raise awareness of the plight of the popular tourist attraction, using the catchy tag line, “Let the […]

Amazon Raveforest

To promote protection of the Amazon rainforest, Greenpeace and Brazilian officials are hosting an “environmentally correct” dance party over four days in a recovered mine in the state of Amazonas. Dubbed “Ecosystem 1.0,” the rave features DJs from around the world playing music in tents shaped like local Indian huts, where nongenetically engineered foods will […]

Chip Off the Old Lifespan

Silicon Valley in California — where dozens of manufacturing facilities leaked tens of thousands of gallons of organic solvents and other toxic contaminants into the groundwater in the 1980s — is home to 29 Superfund sites, more than any other county in the U.S. Lead, mercury, and chromium are among the unpleasant ingredients that make […]

Landslide Brought Them Down

Floods and landslides have rushed down the sides of mountains earlier this week on the Indonesian island of Nias, destroying villages and causing at least 60 deaths. Deforestation may have caused the floods. Indonesia’s largest environmental group, Walhi, found in a study this year that flash floods have occurred exactly where deforestation was worst in […]

It's a Small World After All

The world’s human population may stop growing sooner than expected, according to a study published yesterday in the journal Nature. Using a statistical computer model that takes into account uncertainties like birth rates, migration, and mortality, the study says there is an 85 percent chance that the world’s population will dip to 8.4 billion in […]

Puerto Wreakin'

Environmental lawyer Robert Kennedy, Jr., was freed from prison yesterday and quickly returned to the Puerto Rican island of Vieques, where he ripped into the U.S. Navy for continuing its bombing exercises there. Kennedy says the bombing is harming islanders’ health and damaging the environment. He served 30 days in prison for trespassing on Navy […]

Arctic Meltdown

In a big win for the White House and a loss for enviros, the U.S. House passed a broad energy bill last night after rejecting attempts earlier in the day to block drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and boost fuel efficiency significantly. The 223-206 vote in favor of drilling surprised even […]

A Rash Attack

A flight attendant for United Airlines has sued the airline for exposing flight crews to pesticides on planes serving Australia and New Zealand. The attendant, Susan Matthews, says she developed a full-body rash after contact with the pesticides. The spraying — which has been banned in the U.S. — occurs about once every eight weeks […]

Ranch Dressing

Deep in cattle country, where enviros and ranchers often clash, the Sante-Fe-based Quivira Coalition says it is developing ways to ranch in an economically and environmentally sustainable way. Cofounder Jim Winder says some ranchers using the Quivira methods have doubled beef production without damaging the environment. Formed in 1997, the coalition has four “New Ranch” […]