Uncategorized

Tapiring Off

Illegal logging is threatening Honduras’s Platano River Biosphere Reserve and other tropical forests that are integral parts of a biological corridor that winds through Central America from Mexico to Panama. The U.N. has provided funding for protection of the biosphere reserve since 1971, but logging companies continue to chop down trees illegally and poor farmers […]

Fine Then, We Quit Too

Enviros are rejoicing after General Motors announced yesterday that it is quitting the Global Climate Coalition, an industry lobbying group that has denied the reality of climate change and fought against efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. GM is the latest in a long line of deserters, including Ford Motor Co., DaimlerChrysler, British Petroleum, Royal […]

Sunshine on My Shareholder Makes Me Happy

Greenpeace said yesterday that it has purchased $241,000 of stock in the Royal Dutch/Shell oil company in an effort to pressure the company to build a huge solar panel production plant. The group bought the minimum stake required so that it has the right to communicate with fellow shareholders ahead of the company’s annual meeting […]

Sulfuring Succotash!

In a controversial move, the EPA has decided to sharply reduce the level of sulfur allowed in diesel fuel, calling diesel emissions a serious health hazard. The agency’s announcement came as a coalition of state and local air pollution agencies was planning to release a new study today that found that toxic chemicals from diesel […]

Muir Power to 'Em

A fierce ideological struggle within the Sierra Club is pitting moderates against radicals and polarizing some chapters of the group. For decades, the Sierra Club has been guided by moderate enviros who sometimes take the pragmatic approach of making compromises with industry and government agencies over such issues as logging. But a more radical coalition […]

Gray Matter

Logging trucks circled Sacramento streets yesterday to protest new, stricter timber rules proposed by California Gov. Gray Davis’s (D) administration, while Earth First! activists were arrested for protesting that the rules weren’t strict enough. The state Board of Forestry is scheduled to vote today on the rules, which would affect more than 16 million acres […]

More Powell to 'Em

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered yesterday near Glen Canyon Dam in Arizona at dueling rallies on the issue of whether to drain Lake Powell. Enviros, including the Glen Canyon Action Network, are pushing for the dam to be torn down and the reservoir drained to restore the Colorado River and Glen Canyon to their natural state. […]

Water, Water Everywhere, and Lots of Drops Do Stink

One billion people do not have access to safe water and 2 billion lack proper sanitation, according to a new report by the World Commission on Water for the 21st Century, a U.N.-sponsored panel. Without radical steps, the situation will only get worse as the planet’s population surges from 6 billion to 8 billion by […]

Yakkity Yak — Yaku Talks Back

The small Japanese town of Yaku passed a resolution yesterday banning the construction of nuclear waste storage facilities within its borders, the latest sign of a growing grassroots movement against nuclear power in Japan. A local power plant had been rumored to be interested in building a storage plant in the town. The town council […]

Lynx 'N' Logs

A dozen environmental groups sued the U.S. government yesterday for failing to meet a deadline to protect the Canada lynx under the Endangered Species Act. The enviros accused the feds of delaying a July 1998 proposal to list the big cat as threatened in the lower 48 states, and lamented the fact that the government […]