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Hook, Line, and Stinker
Despite the brouhaha over the potential health and environmental risks of genetically engineered crops, several biotech companies are moving forward with plans to bring genetically modified fish and meat to your nearest supermarket. Aqua Bounty Farms has already applied to the feds for approval to market salmon eggs laced with DNA from ocean pout that […]
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Surprise and Demand
Someday, maybe in two years, maybe in 2020, the demand for oil will outstrip the supply of it. How long after we reach that point will we go on denying it? Petroleum is at the base of much of what we modern-day folks take for granted — gasoline, jet fuel, plastics, pesticides, fertilizers. What to […]
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Give a Hoot — You Can't Commute
Frustrated commuters in Delhi burned buses yesterday to protest an order by India’s Supreme Court to ban diesel-burning vehicles from the city’s roads. In 1998, the court ruled that vehicles used for public transport must be converted from diesel to cleaner-burning natural gas by the end of March 2001. Very few attempts were made to […]
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Going to Kjell in a Handbasket
The Bush administration rejected pleas yesterday from a European Union delegation visiting Washington, D.C., to try to get President Bush to reconsider his decision to abandon the Kyoto treaty on climate change. The top-level delegation met with U.S. EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman and White House and State Department officials. Kjell Larsson, Sweden’s environment minister, […]
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Sweet Providence
A Rhode Island superior court judge ruled on Monday that the state can proceed with its lawsuit against manufacturers that marketed lead-based paints. Rhode Island is the first state to sue the paint industry over lead poisoning; taking a hint from the successful legal tactics used against tobacco companies, the state is accusing the industry […]
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Green and Bear It
In a victory for environmentalists, British Columbia is announcing a deal today to ban logging in parts of the Great Bear Rainforest. The agreement comes after a five-year campaign led by Greenpeace to preserve the habitat of the spirit bear, a rare snow-white subspecies of black bear living in the coastal rainforest. Details of the […]
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It's About Time
Perhaps there’s hope for the planet after all? In reaction to President Bush’s decision to withdraw from the Kyoto treaty on climate change, Time magazine produced a special issue this week, devoting 16 pages to the hard science showing that climate change is upon us and to the political fallout from Bush’s (boneheaded) move. The […]
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Solar Raise
BP Amoco launched the world’s largest solar energy project on Friday, promising to bring electricity to 150 remote villages in the Philippines. Financed in part by the Spanish government, the $48 million project will supply solar power to 400,000 people, providing energy for basic lighting and irrigation and drinking water systems. BP Solar CEO Bo […]
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Riddit, Riddit
The American bullfrog is threatening to drive some French amphibians to extinction, a French environmental group warned yesterday. The group, Cistude, asked for the French government’s help in eradicating the bullfrog, which has invaded the lakes and ponds of wine country around Bordeaux. “We’ve seen in other parts of the world what harm the American […]
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Oh, Bilge!
Three environmental groups sued the U.S. EPA yesterday to force the agency to control the dumping of ballast water into bays, rivers, and lakes. More than 21 billion gallons of ballast water are discharged into U.S. waters each year, introducing exotic species and chemical contaminants that damage native ecosystems. Concerned about the damage, the environmentalists […]
