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Blood Sugar, Sick Tragic
Exposure to herbicides, particularly Agent Orange, a dioxin-containing defoliant used during the Vietnam War, may be associated with the development of diabetes, according to a new report from a panel convened by the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine. The link is “limited and suggestive,” say the scientists, but it’s strong enough that diabetes […]
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Thrown for a Loophole
Some enviros say the Clinton administration is proposing “loopholes” in the Kyoto climate change treaty so big that they would let the U.S. get away with doing almost nothing to curb its emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases. Many crucial decisions on how to implement the treaty will be made next month at an international negotiating […]
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Auto-neurotic
Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader returned to his roots yesterday by launching into a harsh critique of the auto industry, accusing American car manufacturers of blocking advances in fuel efficiency and safety. Speaking to the Economic Club of Detroit, Nader asked, “What is it about this industry, which has such talent and such an […]
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Snow News Is Good News
In a heartening development for enviros, the National Park Service yesterday recommended banning snowmobiles from Yellowstone National Park by late 2003. The proposal, likely to be made into a final policy next month, would end the estimated 75,000 snowmobile trips that visitors take through the park each winter, spewing air pollution and making loud noise […]
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Maine Drag
Hundreds of Maine residents have signed up for a new state program that pays motorists to junk old cars and buy newer models that pollute less, but regulators have no money to implement the program. The state legislature approved a bill last spring to give vouchers worth $1,000 to $2,000 to drivers who bring in […]
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Take It Away
The Supreme Court yesterday agreed to hear a property rights case that could reopen the question of when land-use regulations become so burdensome as to constitute a takings of private property that must be compensated by taxpayers. In the case, a developer from Westerly, R.I., Anthony Palazzolo, was prevented from building 74 houses on an […]
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Safety Dunce
The U.S. House rejected a pipeline safety bill yesterday as too weak, even though it had been unanimously approved last month by the Senate. The bill by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), which had the backing of the oil and natural gas industry, gained momentum after a gasoline pipeline blast killed three people in Bellingham, Wash., […]
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Goof Bawl
The Democratic National Committee is going on the attack against George W. Bush with TV ads that lambaste the governor’s environmental record in his home state of Texas. One ad on the air in Washington state shows Seattle’s Space Needle being engulfed by air pollution. “Take a deep breath and imagine Seattle with Bush’s Texas-style […]
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Borderline Psychosis
The Czech Republic began activating a nuclear power plant located just 30 miles from the Austrian border yesterday, intensifying a serious diplomatic conflict between the two nations. As they have a number of times over the past month, thousands of Austrians yesterday blocked border crossings into the Czech Republic to protest the commissioning of the […]
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Iguana Be Alone
Iguana species in the West Indies are in trouble due to invasive species and habitat destruction. The iguanas — which can reach five feet in length and live up to 40 years — were declared by the World Conservation Union in 1997 to be “the most endangered lizards in the world.” Resort and housing developments […]
