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Sen and Sensibility

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has thrown his weight behind legislation to protect the country’s remaining forests. The measure would set stricter logging regulations and allow courts to jail illegal loggers for up to 10 years. Illegal logging operations have been common in the past, supported by the Cambodian military and former Khmer Rouge members. […]

Taking the "Force" Out of Enforcement

The U.S. EPA is moving ahead with plans to slash federal environmental enforcement programs and shift enforcement resources to the states. But the agency’s own inspector general and analyses of EPA data by the Environmental Working Group have shown that many states seem to have little interest in enforcing the nation’s clean air and water […]

Bonn Jour

Negotiators from 178 countries reached agreement today on how to tackle climate change, fleshing out the Kyoto treaty and leaving the U.S. isolated from the rest of the world. Margot Wallstrom, the European Union’s environmental commissioner, said, “The rescue operation succeeded.” In the final pact reached in Bonn, the E.U. held firm against efforts to […]

John Perrine, fox researcher

John Perrine is a fifth-year graduate student in wildlife ecology and conservation at the University of California at Berkeley. He is also a researcher at the Berkeley Museum of Vertebrate Zoology and a fellow of the Environmental Leadership Program. Monday, 23 Jul 2001 MINERAL, Calif. For many people, a mention of California evokes images of […]

The Owl and the Pussycat

A single spotted owl roosting in an old-growth tree in British Columbia won a reprieve yesterday when a British Columbia Supreme Court judge overturned permits given to the Cattermole Timber company to log the area where the tree stands. Enviros believe the province’s forestry ministry gave short shrift to a warning from the environment ministry […]

Ass Getting Whipped

The wild Persian ass is struggling to avoid extinction in Iran. The animals were once common across central Asia and the Middle East, but no more than 400 of them remain today. Since the Iranian revolution in 1978, uncontrolled hunting and habitat destruction have wiped out 90 percent of the population. Ass fans are pinning […]

Extermi-nation

U.S. House Republicans are threatening to exterminate a proposal that would require school districts to notify parents of pesticide use on school grounds. Senate leaders added the measure to President Bush’s education bill after consulting with educators, environmentalists, and representatives of the pesticide industry. Some pesticide manufacturers and school officials argue, however, that the measure […]

Out of the Frying Pan …

Teflon frying pans are great for eggs over easy, but their nonstick coating can release chemicals into the environment that may take centuries to break down, according to a study published today in the journal Nature. A University of Toronto research team found that Teflon emits trifluoracetate (TFA) when heated to extremely high temperatures. Once […]

Peasant Hunting

A Mexican court on Tuesday rejected the appeal of two jailed environmental activists, Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera. The activists, who led peasant farmers to protest against rampant logging in Mexico’s southern state of Guerrero, have been sentenced to seven and 10 years in prison, respectively, for drug and weapons charges. Supporters say the two […]

The Great Brain Robbery

Eating fish tainted with PCBs may cause memory loss and brain damage in adults, according to a study of Michigan residents. The study by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is one of the first to suggest that PCBs in fish may have health implications for all adults; state fish advisories until now have focused […]