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Little Dutch Boy Withdraws Finger
Many of the 45,000 big dams that have been built around the world cost too much and have had negative impacts on the environment and the poor, according to a report released yesterday by the World Commission on Dams. The commission, which was set up in 1998 by the World Bank and World Conservation Union, […]
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Fleet Enemy
Japan sent its whaling fleet to sea today with much fanfare, including fireworks and a brass band. Despite angry international protests and the possibility of U.S. sanctions, the Japanese intend to kill 400 minke whales over the next five months, part of an expanded whaling effort that the Japanese insist is for research purposes. Critics […]
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Master of Their Dominion
Under a landmark court settlement, Dominion Virginia Power this week agreed to spend $1.2 billion to cut emissions at eight coal-fired power plants by 70 percent within 12 years. Currently the utility’s plants emit more sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, the pollutants that cause acid rain and smog, than all 30 power plants in New […]
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Top Banana
The world’s top banana producer, Chiquita, which grows about one-quarter of all bananas, announced its participation this week in the Better Banana Project, an environmental certification program requiring companies to rein in the use of toxic chemicals, reduce pollution, and conserve soil and water. Chiquita said that it has spent $20 million over the last […]
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A Bitterroot to Swallow
After years of debate, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said yesterday that it would reintroduce grizzly bears into the Bitterroot Mountains of western Montana and central Idaho beginning in 2002. The reintroduced bears would have less protection than other grizzlies in the wild, which are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Building […]
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Stating the Case
States with strong records on protecting the environment also offer good job opportunities and climates for economic development, according to a new study by the Institute for Southern Studies. States getting high marks for both economic and environmental health include Vermont, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Colorado, Maryland, Maine, and Wisconsin. Many states in the South were […]
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Way Cool
The U.S. could significantly cut its emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the chief heat-trapping greenhouse gas, by making a few fairly simple and inexpensive changes to its energy policies, according to a study released yesterday by the U.S. Department of Energy. The study suggests that the U.S. could get three-quarters of the way to meeting […]
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Soul Train
Representatives of 11 major world religions pledged this week to work together to help combat climate change, deforestation, and other environmental ills. At a first-of-its-kind conference in Nepal organized by the World Wildlife Fund, leaders representing Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews, and Muslims, among other religious groups, highlighted the environmental teachings of their faiths. One conference […]
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Go Ahead, Make My Bay
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is moving its headquarters to one of the greenest buildings in the U.S., a new facility constructed near Annapolis, Md., on the shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Built to fit the footprint of an inn and swimming pool that once occupied the site, the building is intended to minimize its impact […]
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Good Things Come in Littleton Packages
Littleton, N.H., a town of 5,965 in the White Mountains, is being touted by some urban planners as a model of cutting-edge smart-growth practices. For starters, the town requires that every existing building be filled up before new ones are built. And citizens are invited to participate in town hall-style meetings to pore over blueprints, […]
