Uncategorized

We Blinded Them With Scientists

More than 250 scientists, including Edward O. Wilson and Paul Ehrlich, sent a letter to President Clinton this week urging him to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska from oil development. Many enviros have been calling on Clinton to declare the area a national monument before he leaves office, but Clinton has announced […]

Fox Guarding the Penhouse

To the disappointment of environmental and human rights activists, a Mexican judge on Tuesday rejected evidence that two environmentalists had been tortured into confessing to drug and weapons charges. Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera, who have been sentenced to seven and 10 years in prison respectively, led peasant farmers in Mexico’s southern state of Guerrero […]

Chile Con Carnage

The tourism and salmon-fishing industries are joining with enviros to try to stop the U.S. multinational Boise Cascade from building what would be the world’s largest timber mill in the middle of the Puerto Montt region of southern Chile, which includes the country’s lake district and northern Patagonia. Critics say the $180 million port-and-mill project, […]

Pulling the Plug

After getting a complaint from the national League of Conservation Voters, Rick Lazio, the Republican candidate for Senate in New York, pulled a campaign ad yesterday that criticized his Democratic opponent, Hillary Rodham Clinton, for supporting the Kyoto climate change treaty. The ad described Kyoto as “a radical environmental treaty that would wipe out thousands […]

Rouge's Gallery

Ford Motor Co. is going green with its $2 billion remodeling plans for its Rouge industrial complex in Dearborn, Mich. The remodel, being spearheaded by green architect William McDonough, will include rooftop plantings designed to absorb rainfall and regulate building temperature along with a nearly 1 million-square-foot meadow meant to rehabilitate contaminated soil. Meanwhile, Ford […]

Fannie Farmless

Atlanta, Ga., has the worst sprawl in the nation, according to a preliminary study by the Fannie Mae Foundation. Miami, Detroit, Denver, and Dallas round out the top five cities with the most serious sprawl problems. Although Southern and Western metropolitan areas absorbed roughly equal numbers of new residents between 1982 and 1997, the South […]

Cholera Me Badd

Bacteria and other microorganisms that could harm humans and marine life are being spread around the world in the ballast water of ships, according to a study in today’s issue of the journal Nature. The researchers found significant concentrations of a potentially fatal form of cholera in ballast water released from ships in Maryland’s Chesapeake […]

The Termi-Nader?

Ralph Nader suggested yesterday that a victory by George W. Bush in the presidential election might actually be a boon for the environment. He said, “A bumbling Texas governor would galvanize the environmental community as never before. The Sierra Club doubled its membership under James Watt,” who served as Interior secretary under Ronald Reagan. In […]

Mon Share

A new car-sharing program is starting up in San Francisco this month, following the success of similar programs in Portland, Ore., Seattle, Wash., and other American and European cities. Car-sharing programs offer people the opportunity to buy into a pool of cars and trucks that are available for running errands and making other trips. For […]

Taking a Dump

In a case that could have major ramifications for environmental protections in the U.S., the Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday pitting the federal government against an Illinois solid waste agency that wants to locate a trash dump in a remote wetland area. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers blocked the landfill because it would destroy […]