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Diddly-squat
Kenyans have been clashing over the future of 167,000 acres of forestland around Mount Kenya since the government announced in February that it would clear the land so that landless farmers could live there. The acreage represents about 7 percent of the country’s total remaining forest cover. Environmentalists in the Green Belt Movement say that’s […]
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The Fountain Airheads
Many customers of Southern California Edison are dutifully honoring the company’s request to dim the lights and conserve electricity, but not the folks at the international headquarters of the Ayn Rand Institute. Yaron Brook, the executive director of the group, which is dedicated to promoting Rand’s theories of individualism, said, "Expecting the American people to […]
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America Last?
Although President Bush has proven to be a pushover on the issue, a bunch of multinational companies are working (albeit, slowly) to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Why? Japan and Europe have kept up the pressure on companies to act; energy costs are rising, so efficiency saves money; and some of the companies want to […]
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Driving That Train, High on Industrial Solvents
More than 600 railroad workers, from Maryland to Kentucky to Montana, have been diagnosed with brain damage over the last 15 years from handling toxic degreasing solvents, reports the Louisville Courier-Journal after a 10-month investigation. Thousands more may be ill, but not know why. Railroad companies, particularly CSX Transportation, have paid tens of millions of […]
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To Form an Imperfect Union
President Bush is meeting today with labor leaders in hopes of getting them to endorse his energy plan, which will be released on Thursday. Environmental leaders say Bush is trying to use the plan to split two key Democratic constituencies, unions and environmental groups. Deb Callahan, president of the League of Conservation Voters, said, “If […]
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He's All Business
President Bush is expected to nominate James Connaughton, a lawyer who has represented General Electric and Atlantic Richfield in suits against the U.S. EPA over Superfund cleanups, to head the White House Council on Environmental Quality. He wants Linda Fisher, who leads Monsanto’s government affairs office, to be second-in-command at the U.S. EPA. He has […]
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No More Terra Yucky
Japan has just enacted the most comprehensive appliance recycling law in Asia. Three hundred million appliances are now in use in the country, and about 18 million appliances get tossed each year. Starting this month, consumers must pay to have, say, a refrigerator or a washing machine recycled. Previously, it cost nothing to send an […]
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The Sting-y
Faced with rising gasoline prices, some Americans are trading in their SUVs and gas-guzzling cars for gas-stingy vehicles. The trend, if it holds, would be good news for the environment. The U.S. could reduce its crude-oil imports by 170,000 barrels a day — 62.05 million barrels a year — if consumers switched from SUVs to […]
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All the Anti-president's Men
Robert Redford, in a letter made public on Friday, has royally dissed an invitation from U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton to attend a press event with her later this month to release a California condor into the wild. Norton invited Redford after learning that he was critical of her policies. She noted that he had […]
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Appeal of Thunder
Two jailed environmental activists in Mexico, Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera, have been granted an appeal, their lawyers said last week. 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 […]
