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Orgy-porgy, Ford and Fun
Ford Motor Co. yesterday became the first U.S. automaker to commit to producing a gas-electric hybrid vehicle, a version of its Ford Escape SUV that the company says will hit the market by 2003. Ford estimates that the hybrid Escape will get about 40 miles per gallon, compared to 20-28 mpg for the conventional Escape. […]
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I've Got the World's Tiniest Violin …
The chair of Occidental Petroleum has filed suit against environmental and human rights activists who have been picketing his home and office to protest Occidental’s plans to drill for oil on rainforest land in Colombia that is considered to be the ancestral home of the indigenous U’wa tribe. Ray Irani claims his family life was […]
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Feel My Roth!
The Senate showed its support yesterday for opening Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, a move vehemently opposed by enviros. The Senate voted 51-49 against dropping from the budget resolution an assumption that ANWR will be opened to drilling, thereby netting the government $1.2 billion by 2005. Sen. William Roth (R-Del.) led the […]
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Trunk and White
South Africa has sparked a big controversy with its proposal to sell a large stockpile of ivory believed to be worth $5 million. Africa’s elephant population was estimated last year at 620,000, down from 1.2 million less than 20 years ago. Although the decline seems to have been checked, in part because of a 1989 […]
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Gary, Gary Quite Contrary
Fourteen containers of PCB-contaminated waste have been sitting since Wednesday on a ship at the Port of Seattle, with dock workers refusing to unload the cargo and environmentalists threatening to sue if the waste is brought ashore in Seattle. The 110 tons of waste, generated at U.S. military bases in Japan, had been headed for […]
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The Trees Are Beautiful, Wish You Were Here
The Sierra Club yesterday began delivering 600,000 postcards to Congress and President Clinton urging them to protect giant sequoias in California, trees that can live up to 3,000 years and grow to 100 feet around at the base. Many of the remaining sequoias are within national parks, but enviros are pushing for additional protections for […]
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Nonpointing in the Right Direction
In a significant ruling that means average citizens could more bear more responsibility for reducing water pollution, a federal judge has upheld the right of the U.S. EPA to set limits for river pollution caused by runoff from logging, agriculture, and urban areas. Farm and timber groups argued in a lawsuit that the EPA could […]
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Goodness Glacious!
If climate change proceeds, the melting of Greenland’s glaciers could pose a serious threat, say scientists. In a study published in today’s issue of the journal Nature, researchers found that the glaciers of Greenland are more susceptible to melting than the West Antarctic ice sheet, which scientists have been watching for years for signs of […]
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NAS-ty Boys
Genetically modified (GM) crops have the potential to pose food safety risks and harm the environment so the U.S. government should do a better job of regulating the industry, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) said yesterday in a high-profile report. Still, the report, prepared by a panel of 12 scientists, was seen by many […]
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Fool's Gold
125,000 metric tons — estimated amount of gold mined worldwide since historical times 2,500 metric tons — amount of gold mined worldwide in 1998 360 cubic feet — amount of waste rock removed in order to produce enough gold to make an average pair of gold wedding bands 31 — number of fatalities in gold […]
