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Risky Business

Even if the Bush administration has its head in the sand, many businesses in the U.S. are treating global warming as a reality. Atmos Energy Co., a natural-gas distributing company, has spent millions on weather insurance. If Atmos’s customers use less gas to heat their homes because of warmer temperatures, the insurance policy will offset […]

M'm M'm Good, That's What Campbell's Suit Is

A U.S. federal judge sided with environmentalists on Monday and reduced the authority of local officials to claim rights of way over trails on federal land. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell upheld a decision by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management that three Utah counties did not have the rights of way […]

Donor Nobis Pacem

Despite a request from the watchdog agency of Congress, Vice President Dick Cheney has declined to identify the people who met privately with his energy task force. Some Democrats believe that leading Republican donors had special access to the task force and that the Bush administration energy policy is slanted to favor major corporations. They […]

Tuxedo Dysfunction

Penguin populations are declining around the world, and global warming may be to blame, researchers say. Warming ocean waters have been linked to toxic algal blooms, such as red tides, that have caused penguin die-offs. Adelie penguins may be taking a hit because warming temperatures are preventing the formation of winter sea ice that is […]

Falling Timber

Logging on federal land in the Northwest has dropped to its lowest point since before World War II, the result of lawsuits, court orders, and agency delays. This year, forest managers in western Oregon, Washington, and Northern California will offer about 1 percent of the timber volume they sold in 1990, the last year of […]

I'd Like to Be Under the Sea … Forever

Whoopie! — you can now plan to have your cremated ashes sunk in the ocean as part of an eco-friendly artificial reef. A Georgia company, Eternal Reefs, is promoting the reefs as the “only death care option that is truly an environmental contribution and also creates a permanent, living memorial for the deceased and their […]

Power, but Not Mercury, to the People

Wisconsin is moving to become the first state to force electric utilities to cut their mercury emissions. This week, the state Natural Resources Board is expected to approve for public comment a set of rules that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants by 90 percent over the next 15 years. The rules are aimed […]

Pulp Friction

Cheap paper made from rampant logging of the Indonesian rainforest is flooding Britain. Public agencies are among the big users of the paper, despite calls by the government to use products only from sustainable sources. Asia Pulp and Paper, Indonesia’s biggest paper producer, receives significant backing from British banks. About 70 percent of Indonesia’s forests […]

The More You Drive, the More You Toot?

A Connecticut Yankee in King Coal's Court

Connecticut Gov. John Rowland (R) on Friday vetoed the “Sooty Six” bill that would have forced the state’s six oldest and least efficient power plants to cut emissions of sulfur dioxide. His decision came the day before the bill would have automatically become law. Rowland had said he would sign the bill, and Democrats and […]