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In the Pipeline of Fire
The U.S. federal agency that oversees the safety of oil and gas pipelines is too closely tied to industry and has failed to implement safety measures mandated by Congress, according to a harsh report by the General Accounting Office. Between 1990 and 1998, the proportion of enforcement actions brought by the Office of Pipeline Safety […]
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Hannah Stewart, Aquarius Underwater Laboratory
Hannah Stewart is the controlled flow environment specialist on the mission at Aquarius, where a team of six aquanauts will spend nine days in the underwater laboratory 63 feet below the ocean’s surface in Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Friday, 16 Jun 2000 CONCH REEF, Fla CONCH REEF, Fla. We got a bit of a […]
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The Hansen Bothers
The House yesterday decisively voted down a conservative attempt to curb President Clinton’s ability to create and manage new national monuments. Forty-six Republicans joined Democrats in voting to kill an amendment sponsored by Rep. Jim Hansen (R-Utah) that would have prohibited the Interior Department from spending money to design or manage the eight national monuments […]
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Blue Birds
If climate change increases El Nino activity, as some scientists believe, the number of migratory songbirds that spend their summers in North American forests could decline significantly, suggests a study published today in the journal Science. Researchers from Dartmouth College and Tulane University found that El Nino climate cycles reduce the insect and caterpillar food […]
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Study Buddies
Led by the unusual duo of Sens. Slade Gorton (R-Wash.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the Senate yesterday approved a transportation spending bill recommending that the federal government be allowed to study current corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards for automobiles and determine if they should be boosted. For five years, the Clinton administration has been […]
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Old Coal Kings
Two senators from big coal-producing states are trying to thwart plans to mothball a coal-fired power plant that heats the U.S. Capitol and replace it with a system that uses cleaner natural gas and fuel oil. Capitol architect Alan Hantman had proposed the upgrade to the plant, which is among the most polluting facilities in […]
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A Green and Pleasant Iceland
British supermarket company Iceland, the first supermarket chain to ban genetically modified foods, announced yesterday that it is investing more than $13 million in a push to make organic produce available to customers at prices comparable to those of foods grown with pesticides. Iceland has made deals to buy nearly 40 percent of the world’s […]
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Snow Job?
About 160 U.S. ski resorts, including the nation’s 20 largest, have pledged to work on greening the ski industry by conserving energy and water and restricting sprawl. The resorts yesterday unveiled a first-of-its-kind “Sustainable Slopes” charter that lays out dozens of rules governing resort management and construction of new facilities. The charter calls for high-density […]
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Trump L'oil
French citizens are calling for the government to crack down on oil tankers that travel through French waters, reacting to a devastating December 1999 spill that dumped 19,000 tons of oil off the nation’s Atlantic coast. The accident, which some are calling France’s own “Exxon Valdez,” could cost some $1 billion in cleanup expenses and […]
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Oh, Blast!
Underwater noise or explosions caused healthy beaked whales to beach themselves in the Bahamas in March just as the Navy was conducting underwater tests in the area, according to a report released yesterday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The report does not say outright that the Navy sonar tests or explosions caused the […]
