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A Bunch of Spoil Ports
A ship carrying toxic waste from U.S. military bases in Japan is likely to meet with controversy when it docks later today in Seattle. The 90 tons of PCBs had been en route to Vancouver, Canada, but the Canadian government abruptly rescinded a permit for the waste to be unloaded, a U.S. EPA spokesperson said […]
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Free the Condor 8
Nearly 14 years after she was captured and placed in a breeding program to help save her species from extinction, a California condor known as Adult Condor No. 8 was set free yesterday in a wilderness area northwest of Los Angeles. The old-timer was joined by two 10-month-old condors born and raised in the Los […]
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The Man With the Goldman Touch
Rodolfo Montiel, a Mexican environmentalist who is now in prison as a result of his activism, today will be awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize, perhaps the most prestigious award given to environmentalists. In 1995, Montiel began fighting against logging of virgin forests near his village in the mountains north of Acapulco, some of which was […]
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Maybe It's on Jenny Craig
The ozone layer over the Arctic has thinned dramatically this winter, say European and American scientists working on the world’s biggest ozone-monitoring experiment. More than 60 percent of the ozone layer has been lost at certain altitudes over the North Pole, a deterioration from 1997, which had previously been the worst year for the ozone […]
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Algae Hiss
Fish and marine life in more than a third of the coastal areas in the U.S. are being killed by algae blooms caused by agricultural fertilizer runoff, according to a study released yesterday by a research arm of the National Academy of Sciences. Almost all of the nation’s estuaries have been environmentally damaged to some […]
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The Daley Planet
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley (D) last week made an unusual deal with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to create new habitats in the city for migratory birds. In exchange for a $100,000 grant, Chicago will restore marshes south of the city, develop wildlife gardens along the shore of Lake Michigan, and take such simple […]
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Money Can't Buy You Love — But It Can Buy an Ad Campaign
Reacting to a growing backlash against genetically modified (GM) foods, Monsanto and other biotech giants have committed to spend $50 million a year for up to five years on a campaign to convince North Americans that their products are safe and beneficial. The campaign kicked off yesterday with TV commercials on major networks, and will […]
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Tusk, Tusk
Vietnam’s wild elephant population has declined dramatically in recent years and could disappear without a concerted conservation effort, according to Flora and Fauna International, a U.K.-based group. FFI’s latest research shows a mere 111 elephants in the wild in Vietnam, down from about 2,000 in 1990. The group blamed the drop on the loss of […]
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Musseling In
Ecologists are getting a lesson in the dangers of exotic species as they watch the havoc being wreaked on New York’s Hudson River by the zebra mussel, a native of Eurasia that came to the U.S. aboard oceangoing ships in the late 1980s. The population of zebra mussels in the river is estimated at 500 […]
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40 Acres and a Stubborn Mule Named Lloyd
Environmentalists praised a Supreme Court decision yesterday to let stand a ruling that makes it more difficult for landowners to get compensated when government regulations prevent them from developing their land. Lloyd Good owns 40 acres in Florida, primarily wetlands, and had wanted to build a luxury waterfront development on the land. When federal officials […]
