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Taking It on the Chen
The debate over whether to continue construction of Taiwan’s fourth nuclear power plant continues to roil the country. Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian, a Democrat Progressive who swept the Nationalist Party out of power after 55 years of rule last March, stopped construction in October, saying the $5.5 billion plant was unnecessary and would create serious […]
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Wild Horses Couldn't Keep Them Away
The fate of 600,000 acres of high desert in Wyoming now lies in the hands of President Bush. Just before leaving office, former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt ruled that conservation should be the top priority for the land, which is home to some of the continent’s largest herds of desert elk, antelope, and wild horses. […]
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The Whole Kitz and Kaboodle
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) told Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham on Friday that the Bush administration should focus on conservation rather than “drilling and digging and burning” as a way to solve energy problems. His comments came as Abraham met with Western governors about the California energy crisis and its effects on other states. California […]
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Susan Davis, WaterPartners International
Susan Davis is the director of outreach for WaterPartners International, a nonprofit organization that addresses the water supply and sanitation needs of people living in developing countries. Susan Davis is the director of outreach for WaterPartners International, a nonprofit organization that addresses the water supply and sanitation needs of people living in developing countries. Monday, […]
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Crop Failures
Almost 30 percent of farmers in the U.S. who grew genetically modified corn last year violated planting restrictions meant to keep insects from becoming resistant to the crop, according to a biotech industry survey submitted to the U.S. EPA this week. More than 90 percent of the farmers thought they had followed the rules, but […]
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A Trader to Their Cause
Several U.S. corporations are doing an about-face: To get Democrats in Congress to stop holding up free-trade agreements, some representatives of Big Business are abandoning their long-held opposition to linking free trade with environmental and labor standards. For example, Caterpillar CEO Glen Barton said in a letter last month to the Clinton administration that the […]
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Trash Talking
The first piece of legislation signed by Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo requires local governments to reduce waste disposal by 25 percent across the county in five years, mostly through re-use, recycling, and composting. Macapagal, who came into office the same day as U.S. President Bush, said, “I am told no other country in the world […]
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Up Sheet Creek
The middle of the West Antarctic ice sheet — one of the world’s largest collections of water — is shrinking and could contribute to a dramatic rise in global sea levels, according to a study published in the journal Science. The researchers found that part of the ice sheet, the Pine Island Glacier, thinned by […]
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Aaaay, It's the Fronds!
A common fern can thrive on big amounts of arsenic and could possibly be put to use soaking up arsenic from contaminated land and water, according to a study published today in the journal Nature. The fern, a nonnative plant that grows in the Southeastern U.S. and California, is the first known plant to do […]
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Fund-amentals
Enviros are taking on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for failing to enforce rules that require companies to disclose what it could cost them to make sure they don’t mess up the environment. Calvert Funds, a socially responsible investment firm, and the nonprofit World Resources Institute say that investors aren’t being given enough information […]
