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They Get the Goldmine, We Get the Shaft
Mining regulations approved by former President Clinton and now under review by President Bush would give the federal government the right to reject a mining proposal on federal land if it would cause “substantial irreparable harm.” But the Bush administration is expected to repeal the rules next month or water them down, meaning mining companies […]
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Chain Gang
About two dozen Greenpeace activists chained themselves together to block a side exit at a military airfield when U.S. President Bush arrived for a NATO meeting in Brussels today. They held up the sign, “George W. Bush — Wanted for crimes against the planet.” The side exit had been used by former President Clinton when […]
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Angus Beef
Maine Gov. Angus King (I) told a National Academy of Sciences panel yesterday that the feds erred when they listed Atlantic salmon in eight of the state’s rivers as endangered last year. King and the state’s senators hope the panel will find that distinct populations of wild salmon no longer exist in Maine rivers because […]
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Driving Range
General Motors announced that it would take a 20 percent stake in a California company that has found a way to triple the driving range of hydrogen-based fuel-cell vehicles to 500 miles. Larry Burns, GM vice president for research and development, said, “Getting up into this kind of range is really the holy grail we […]
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Take a Chill Pill
Between 50 to 80 percent of the Arctic ecosystem could be seriously damaged by 2050 if industrial development there doesn’t slow down, according to a new report published yesterday by the U.N. Environment Programme. As much as 15 percent of the region is already affected by development. The report focuses on development and doesn’t take […]
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They're All Ears
The White House has decided to force California to use corn-based ethanol as an additive to make gasoline burn more cleanly, even though the requirement will probably boost prices at the pump this summer and many environmentalists say cheaper ways to reduce emissions exist. The decision will be a big benefit to Archer Daniels Midland, […]
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Country Mouse, City Moose
Within five years, more people in the world will live in cities than in rural areas, a shift that will have big implications for the environment, according to a new study by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Richard Blackburn, one of the study authors, said policy makers might do well to focus […]
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Peaking Ducks?
More than 320 Asian bird species are at risk of extinction because of habitat loss, says the conservation group BirdLife International. Deforestation and wetlands loss have caused the number to take a huge jump from 1981, when only 51 species faced extinction. The groups says that out of 2,700 Asian bird species, 664 are confronting […]
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Critical Masses
Criticism of President Bush’s Rose Garden speech on global warming hasn’t been hard to come by. Margot Wallstrom, the European Union’s environment commissioner, said in a statement today that Bush’s speech was “short on action.” Canadian leaders agreed. Climate scientists took issue with the idea that any actions to curb global warming should wait until […]
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Research and Destroy
Before departing for Europe yesterday, President Bush gave his first speech devoted to global warming, promising to begin a program to research the problem more thoroughly but giving little indication of policies he would recommend to bring down greenhouse gas emissions. He said the Kyoto treaty on climate change was “fatally flawed in fundamental ways,” […]
