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Twenty-first-century Fox

Mexico’s national water commissioner, Cristobal Jaime Jaquez, says 73 percent of the country’s water, whether underground or on the surface, is a danger to public health and Mexican President Vicente Fox describes the problem as a "national security issue." Mexico has less drinking water per capita than Egypt, and 93 percent of the country’s rivers […]

Grand: Funked Railroad

In a surprising defeat of a government-owned rail company, environmental officials in the heavily polluted destination spot known as Hong Kong refused a permit request last fall to build a passenger line across Hong Kong’s largest freshwater wetland. The Kowloon-Canton Railway Corp. has mounted an unprecedented appeal and spent loads of money to come up […]

Bush's Climate Solution — Turn Up the A.C.!

Frustrating environmentalists, the Bush administration on Friday rolled back a rule approved by former President Clinton that would have required new central air conditioners to be 30 percent more efficient than the current standard. Instead, the administration (for once) made no mention of an impending energy "crisis" and said it would opt for what the […]

Bouncing Baby Boycott

The first international conference of Green Party politicians and supporters voted unanimously today to launch a boycott against U.S.-based oil companies in retribution for President Bush’s decision to withdraw from the Kyoto treaty on climate change. Australian Sen. Bob Brown, who chaired the meeting of the Greens in Canberra, Australia, said Bush was choosing the […]

David Waskow, Friends of the Earth

David Waskow monitors the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations for Friends of the Earth U.S., where he is the trade and investment policy coordinator. Monday, 16 Apr 2001 WASHINGTON, D.C. It’s Quebec City week, the week that some believe will be the next Seattle. Seattle, of course, refers to the monumental eruption […]

Meet the New Boss — Same As the Old Boss?

In a move that drew tentative approval from both environmental groups and the timber industry, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman yesterday named Dale Bosworth to head the U.S. Forest Service. Bosworth, a longtime USFS employee, has been regional forester since 1997 for the agency’s Northern Region, which covers 25 million acres in 12 national forests […]

We're Going to Pump (Clap Clap) You Up

Florida’s Senate passed a measure on Wednesday that would relax environmental rules and allow untreated, partly contaminated water to be pumped into the state’s underground aquifers. Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) has asked the U.S. EPA for a waiver from the Safe Drinking Water Act, which requires any water pumped into the ground to be […]

Fin and Dandy

Maryland became the first state to regulate genetically modified fish this week when Gov. Parris Glendening (D) signed a law that prohibits raising such fish unless they are in ponds or lakes that do not connect with other waterways. Under the law, fish growers must also make sure the fish cannot escape by other means, […]

Case Clothed

The White House yesterday chose to stick with rules approved by the Clinton administration requiring more efficient clothes washers and hot water heaters. The regulation for clothes washers, which was supported by manufacturers, will boost efficiency by 22 percent by 2004 and 35 percent by 2007. Efficiency will be increased by 8 percent for gas […]

Super Models

Two studies published today in the journal Science provide some of the strongest evidence yet that global warming is here and humans are to blame. The studies, based on computer models, found a direct connection between emissions of greenhouse gases and the extensive warming in the world’s oceans since 1955. They also suggested that even […]