Uncategorized

Hogwash!

In a blow to environmentalists’ efforts to stop pollution from large hog farms, a North Carolina judge has thrown out two lawsuits against Smithfield Foods, the nation’s biggest pork producer. The superior court judge ruled that the plaintiffs — environmental groups and river users — lacked standing in the case and had not shown that […]

It's Marine Buoy

A $32 million project to restore marine resources in the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand was launched yesterday by the U.N. Environment Programme. Seven Southeast Asian nations and donors from developed countries finalized an agreement last November to fund the five-year plan, which is intended to help some 270 million people whose livelihoods […]

Whose Land Is It Anyway?

U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton took steps yesterday that could lead to commercial development in some of the national monuments designated by former President Clinton. She sent letters to state and local officials to get their feedback on how the lands should be managed and whether the boundaries of the monuments should be adjusted. Norton […]

Cod Is Dead

Once upon a time, Atlantic cod ran so thick in the icy waters off the coast of Newfoundland that explorer John Cabot was able to catch the fish by hanging wicker baskets over the side of his ship. More than 400 years after Cabot first visited the remote northeastern corner of North America, Newfoundland’s waters […]

Kyo-toad

European and Japanese governments reacted angrily yesterday to the Bush administration’s decision to abandon the Kyoto treaty on climate change. Japan’s ambassador for global environmental affairs, Kazuo Asakai, said that “Japan will be dismayed and deeply disappointed” if the U.S. rejects the agreement. Today, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is expected to appeal to Bush on […]

Shell Game

More than 15,000 green sea turtles are slaughtered in Bali each year, even though they are considered endangered in most of the world and a law in Indonesia prohibits catching, possessing, or eating the animal. Environmentalists say more sea turtles are killed in Bali than any other place in the world. Eating turtle meat is […]

Shell Shock

A California condor reintroduced into the wild has laid an egg, suggesting that the great birds may be able to recover from the brink of extinction. The condor, the largest bird of prey in North America, numbered only 27 when wildlife officials began a captive breeding program in 1987. Despite successes in captive breeding, scientists […]

Bus-ted!

India’s Supreme Court this week stuck by its 1998 decision to force buses in Delhi to convert from diesel to natural gas, but extended the deadline for the switchover by six months, until the end of September. The court added a caveat, however: Bus operators can only take advantage of the extension if they can […]

Resign Yourself

U.S. Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck resigned yesterday, expressing concerns that the Bush administration was shifting the agency’s priorities back toward logging and away from conservation. Chris Wood, a former top aide, said Dombeck decided to resign after administration officials told him they wanted to move “in a different direction.” In his resignation letter, Dombeck […]

De Train, De Train

Activists eluded thousands of police last night and halted a train carrying nuclear waste in northern Germany by cementing themselves to the tracks. The incident was one of many protests against the transport of the waste, which originated from German nuclear reactors and was sent to a French reprocessing center in the 1990s. Officials from […]