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For the Crater Good

While George W. Bush and Al Gore continued to duke it out over the White House, President Clinton exercised his executive authority yesterday by creating a new national monument in northern Arizona and substantially expanding one in central Idaho. The Vermilion Cliffs National Monument in Arizona — 293,000 acres near the Colorado River north of […]

The Green-ch Who Stole Christmas?

Some enviros and others who voted for Ralph Nader are now regretting their choice, fearing that it gave George W. Bush an advantage over Al Gore. In the chat room on Nader’s official website, John Ruth, who said he voted for Nader, wrote this to the Green Party candidate yesterday: “Mr. Gore (despite what you […]

The Importance of Being Ernesto

In an effort to protect the winter nesting grounds of monarch butterflies, Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo expanded a forest reserve in central Mexico yesterday. Local residents and giant logging companies have been cutting down lots of trees in the area, and a recent study indicated that 44 percent of the monarchs’ winter habitat had been […]

Dombeck Rules!

U.S. Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck officially instituted new rules yesterday requiring that ecosystem health be the No. 1 priority in managing national forests. The agency previously required its managers to weigh ecosystem health equally with other concerns such as logging and public access. The new rule prohibits cutting timber at unsustainable rates and eliminates […]

Chair-ish the Thought

Much to the distress of environmentalists, Rep. Jim Hansen (R-Utah) is poised to become the next chair of the House Resources Committee, which deals with all bills related to wilderness, public lands, endangered species, and mineral resource extraction. The current chair, Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), also widely disliked by enviros, will step down from the […]

I Do Know Why, 'Cause There's Carbon in the Sky, Stormy Weather

Representatives of some 180 countries will gather in the Hague, Netherlands, next Monday to begin two weeks of talks to nail down the details of how to implement the Kyoto climate change treaty. French Environment Minister Dominique Voynet said this week that the European Union is united behind the idea that countries should meet most […]

Surveillance Says …

Brazil launched a $435 million program yesterday to fight illegal logging, mining, and drug trafficking in the Amazon rainforest, which is home to about 50 percent of the world’s plant and animal species. The program will establish an air surveillance system and send police out across the region’s 1.9 million square miles. Last year, illegal […]

Forest Grumps

Planting forests may worsen climate change rather than mitigate it, according to two new studies by British researchers published in the journal Nature. One of the studies suggests that as temperatures rise, forests are likely to emit more carbon dioxide (CO2) into the air, adding to the greenhouse gases that are warming the atmosphere. A […]

Protecting Their Privates

Oregon environmentalists are lamenting the passage on Tuesday of a ballot measure that will amend the Oregon constitution to require state and local governments to pay private property owners when land-use or other regulations reduce the value of their property. Opponents argue that the property-rights, or “takings,” measure will hamper the state’s widely touted efforts […]

It's Sprawl Downhill From Here

Much to the disappointment of environmentalists, high-profile anti-sprawl ballot measures in Colorado and Arizona were defeated in yesterday’s election. A proposed amendment to the Colorado constitution that would have put dramatic constraints on development, requiring cities and counties to develop growth plans and let the public vote on them, was rejected by a margin of […]