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Shape Up or Ship Out
Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles (D) yesterday ordered a special session of the state legislature to hammer out what would become the world’s first comprehensive law to control waste discharges from the cruise ship industry. The state House has easily passed a proposed package of regulations, but the measure has stalled in the state Senate. The […]
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Congo Drummed
Mining in eastern Congo is bringing eastern lowland gorillas closer to extinction and destroying national parks, the World Wildlife Fund said yesterday. Thousands of miners are digging for the mineral coltan, which is used in cell phones, microchips, and nuclear reactors, damaging forests in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park and the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in rebel-held […]
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Governor Moonbeam, Mayor Sunbeam
An alliance of religious groups began a campaign this week to make California’s 50,000 congregations more energy-efficient and to encourage them to use renewable power. Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown (D) joined Rev. Sally Bingham in screwing in a compact fluorescent in an Oakland church and in criticizing President Bush’s energy policies. Bingham said, “This is […]
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Kawaguchi Lets the Good Times Roll
Japan’s new prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, has chosen the environment as a key policy area to focus on. Out of the gate, his environment minister, Yoriko Kawaguchi, has stressed the importance of acting to curb global warming. And Kawaguchi and Takeo Hiranuma, the country’s trade minister, planned to meet yesterday with top officials from the […]
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Pesticide: Life on the Street
The amount of pesticide waste endangering people and the environment is five times greater than what had been thought only two years ago, according to a new report by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. The FAO says that nearly 500,000 tons of old and unused pesticides have been left on sites that are mostly […]
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It's the Stupidity, Stupid
The Bush administration engaged in a bit of greenspeak yesterday, revealing that Vice President Dick Cheney’s secretive energy task force would recommend tax credits for consumers who purchase gas-electric hybrid cars. It also said it would encourage burning biomass to produce energy. But for the most part, as Cheney himself made clear on CNN yesterday, […]
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Sweet Boycotts Are Made of These
Celebrities and environmental groups in the U.K. kicked off a boycott of ExxonMobil yesterday, in protest of the company’s policy to oppose the Kyoto treaty on climate change and stall action on climate change in the U.S. Annie Lennox, Ralph Fiennes, and Bianca Jagger joined with Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, and People and Planet […]
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One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Mutant Fish
More than 60 environmental and fishing groups today are asking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to delay sending the first genetically modified animal to market. Aqua Bounty Farms has petitioned the agency to approve for sale a salmon genetically engineered to grow more quickly than natural salmon. But enviro and fishing groups want the […]
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Dinosaurs Jr.
Wildlife across the globe faces the greatest risk of extinction since dinosaurs kicked the bucket, according to a report published by the Swiss-based World Conservation Union (IUCN) and the Washington, D.C.-based Future Harvest. The report says conservation strategies ain’t working, in part because 45 percent of the world’s major nature reserves are being used to […]
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The Genuine Nautical
Environmentalists are concerned about a plan by the Mexican government to build the country’s biggest tourism development in 20 years in Baja California. The development, Nautical Steps, would encompass more than 2,500 miles of coastline, with the goal of attracting 1.6 million U.S. boat owners a year into a collection of new hotels and restaurants. […]
