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Riverdance of Joy?

U.S. EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman gave the go-ahead yesterday to a Clinton-era plan requiring General Electric to spend half a billion dollars to dredge PCB pollution from 40 miles of the Hudson River. Her draft order, which has been sent to New York state for a 30-day review, came after weeks of speculation that […]

DeLay It on Thick

Republican leaders said yesterday they were hopeful that the U.S. House would vote to allow oil and natural gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas), the House majority whip, said, “We feel very, very confident we will be able to crack the backs of radical environmentalists.” The Arctic […]

Flat-bottomed Lizards, You Make the Rockin' World Go 'round

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton to reconsider her decision not to list the flat-tailed horned lizard as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Norton argued that the lizard has plenty of public land on which to live in southwestern Arizona and Southern California. But the court […]

Smoke on the Water, Fire on the Hill

Four firefighters may have lost their lives last month in Washington state because of the Endangered Species Act, U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis (R-Colo.) charged yesterday. McInnis, chair of the House Resources forests subcommittee, cited unnamed sources who said that fire crews delayed helicopter water drops for three hours or more while dispatchers determined whether water […]

Just Spray No

Despite a judge’s order to temporarily cease fumigating coca and poppy plants with the herbicide glyphosate because of environmental and health concerns, Colombia said yesterday it would not stop the antidrug operation. The judge on Friday asked the Colombian government to explain what it knows about the effects of glyphosate on people and the environment. […]

Dah-ling I Love You, Don't Give My Parks Avenues

The U.S. National Park Service should stop worrying so much about pleasing visitors and instead focus on protecting natural resources, says an advisory panel. In its report, which is slated to be made public tomorrow, the National Park System Advisory Board says that the agency should “[a]dopt the conservation of biodiversity as a core principle” […]

I've Been Working against the Railroad

Environmentalists in Hong Kong won an unprecedented victory this week when an appeals board rejected a plan by a government-owned railway to build a new line through Hong Kong’s largest freshwater wetland. The case was the first heard by the Environmental Impact Assessment Appeal Board since an environmental impact law was enacted in 1998. The […]

Closer-to-Home Toxic Hot Spots

Kernel Clink

The U.S. EPA indicated on Friday that it would not permit even trace amounts of genetically modified StarLink corn into human food. StarLink, which was previously approved for use as animal feed, was found to have entered the food supply last year, prompting the costly recall of taco shells and other corn products. Despite a […]

Kevin Collins, National Parks Conservation Association

Kevin Collins is director of park recreation and use, and acting director of government affairs, at the National Parks Conservation Association. Monday, 30 Jul 2001 WASHINGTON, D.C. Drive along the Gulf Coast from Pensacola, Fla., to Gulfport, Miss., and you’ll see a stretch of development filled with casinos, souvenir shops, tattoo artists, and pawnbrokers. You […]