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Block Heads

A high-profile emergency spending package that passed the House last night contains a rider that would block the U.S. EPA from implementing major new rules meant to clean up the nation’s waterways. Under the rules, which the agency intends to finalize this summer, states would be required to determine the total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) […]

Al Gore Hiss

Al Gore continued laying out his energy and environment plan yesterday, proposing $25 billion in subsidies over 10 years for eco-friendly mass transit. But he affirmed the right of all Americans to drive their cars anywhere they want, anytime they want. “I reject the idea that in order to have a clean environment and reduce […]

And other words from readers

Grist readers are mighty opinionated when it comes to Green Party presidential nominee Ralph Nader. You’ve been flooding our mailbox with letters responding to Donella Meadows’s column on why she plans to vote for Nader, as well as a follow-up column she wrote on the topic, an item on Nader in our Muckraker column, and […]

Holy Mackerel!

Commercial fish farming has been touted as a way to take pressure off stocks of wild fish, but in fact it has had the opposite effect, according to a study in today’s issue of the journal Nature. Fish farming, or aquaculture, has raised demand for ocean fish such as mackerel and anchovies that are ground […]

A "Likely" Story

Atrazine, the most commonly used herbicide in the U.S., has been deemed a “likely” carcinogen in a draft EPA report. The chemical kills weeds around corn, citrus fruits, and other crops, but it may also cause uterine, prostate, and breast cancer and disrupt reproductive development after it seeps into drinking water, EPA scientists say. The […]

Governor Moonbeam, Mayor Sunshine

The Oakland, Calif., City Council has approved a plan to buy clean, alternative energy for all its municipal needs, from traffic signals to the lights in City Hall. “It leads us in the direction of reducing global warming, stimulating new industry, and sets the pace for the national government,” said Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown. Santa […]

Keeping Development at Bay

In an agreement being hailed as a national model, the leaders of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., pledged yesterday to curb sprawl in the Chesapeake Bay area. They vowed to reduce by 30 percent the rate of development in the 64,000-square-mile watershed by 2012, and to permanently protect 1.6 million acres and restore 25,000 […]

Abandon (Partner)ship!

A coalition of enviro and consumer groups is calling for an end to one of Al Gore’s pet projects, the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles, under which the federal government and Big Three U.S. automakers have teamed up to develop highly fuel-efficient cars and trucks. Critics point out that despite the millions of […]

Hark, Hoover Goes There?

A coalition of enviros filed suit yesterday to force the U.S. government to do a better job of protecting endangered species and habitat along the lower Colorado River where it flows south toward Mexico and the Gulf of California. The ecological health of the area has deteriorated because seven upstream states divert so much water […]

Across to Bear

Wolves, bears, Canada lynx, and other animals are increasingly being killed in western Canada, causing some scientists to worry that species given strict protection in the U.S. might be in trouble when they cross over the Canadian border. In 1997, 12 grizzly bears, some of them considered essential to population stability in the border region, […]