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Green Danube

Four Eastern European nations — Bulgaria, Moldava, Romania, and Ukraine — signed an agreement yesterday to increase the protected land in the Danube River delta to more than 2.5 million acres. The Lower Danube Green Corridor, as the protected area will be called, contains wetlands, lakes, meadows, and flood plains. The nations will cooperate in […]

Jumbo-sized Problems

India’s population of elephants is moving toward extinction because of widespread poaching, loss of habitat, and brutal training methods, according to Maneka Gandhi, the nation’s Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment and also head of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. She said there are fewer than 800 adult male elephants left in […]

Pac Mentality

Political action committees (PACs) and executives connected to the nuclear power industry have been channeling money to the campaign coffers of GOP presidential candidate George W. Bush, according to an analysis by FECInfo, an organization that tracks campaign money. Since January 1999, 20 PACs set up by electric companies with nuclear power plants have given […]

Worm and Fuzzy

Charismatic, “cuddly” animals in Britain are getting a disproportionate share of conservation money, while insects, worms, and other invertebrates are being neglected, according to a new report by the Wildlife Trusts. The group says that insects and other “mini-beasts,” which perform vital roles in the natural world, deserve as much public sympathy and conservation funding […]

Pulp Fact

The Southeastern U.S. has become a new battleground for forest wars in the U.S. Whereas most previous conflicts over logging centered around forests on public land in the West, enviros and many others are now alarmed over the pulp-and-paper industry’s activities in the South, where as much as 85 percent of forestland is privately owned […]

Dim Summary

China’s environment remains in sad shape, marked by severe air and water pollution and a number of other problems, according to an annual assessment released today by the Chinese State Environmental Protection Agency. The air in 137 cities exceeds government targets, and two-thirds of the Yellow River, China’s second longest waterway, are polluted, the report […]

Dis-heart-ening News

Moderate air pollution may trigger sudden death in people with existing heart problems, according to a number of new scientific studies. The finding suggests that heart attacks, not lung disease, may be the most serious health threat posed by dirty air. Experts have estimated that particulate pollution, or tiny pieces of soot in the air, […]

What's the Rush?

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant, site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986, will be permanently closed on Dec. 15, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma announced today. President Clinton, who is currently visiting Ukraine, said the U.S. will provide $78 million to help contain radiation at the Chernobyl site as well as $2 million for […]

Kerr-bing Population Growth

Andy Kerr, a well-known environmental activist who spent much of the 1980s and 1990s fighting a bitter war against logging in the Northwest, is turning his attention to another issue: population growth in Oregon. Kerr’s new organization, Alternatives to Growth Oregon, is still developing its agenda. But Kerr has already proposed some controversial ideas, including […]

What Do You Take Us For, Fuels?

A U.S. government report soon to be released shows a slight increase in the fuel economy of family vehicles in the 2000 model year, but the rise is primarily because of a loophole that gives automakers extra mileage credit for vehicles that can run on ethanol, even though almost no one uses the fuel. In […]