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Nuke Power Really Sucks. Yes, Indeedy.
Belarus citizens have soaring levels of infertility and other serious health problems 14 years after the Chernobyl disaster, doctors announced yesterday. One quarter of Belarus, a country downwind from the Chernobyl site in the Ukraine, was subjected to severe contamination from the accident. Within seven years of the disaster, mortality rates were outstripping birth rates, […]
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On the Upside, the Gabonese Are Using Fewer Leaf Blowers
Forests in Canada, Cameroon, and Gabon are being chopped down at a greater rate than previously thought, according to the Global Forest Watch project, which is tracking changes in forest cover with sophisticated digital tools, including satellite imagery and geographic information systems. In its first report, Global Forest Watch, sponsored by the World Resources Institute, […]
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Utility Kicks Off 21st Century By Finally Entering 20th
A Florida utility has agreed to cut tens of thousands of tons of pollution annually from two power plants in a settlement with the EPA, which could prompt similar agreements to resolve a government lawsuit against 32 aging coal-fired power plants in 10 states. Tampa Electric Co. will also pay a $3.5 million civil penalty […]
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Pigs May Fly, Part I: Oil Company Embraces Truth (Sort Of)
Texaco yesterday became the first major U.S. oil company to defect from the Global Climate Coalition, a business group that denies the seriousness of climate change and opposes the Kyoto Protocol. Texaco explained that it wants to speak for itself on the issues of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, though it still does not […]
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Super Salmon Not Super-Fly
A New Zealand aquaculture company last week dropped its test program for breeding genetically modified chinook salmon and said it will kill and bury all the experimental fish, in the wake of government and public concerns that the fish, some of which were deformed, could escape into the wild and breed with native strains. The […]
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Ski Bummer
A fierce debate has cropped up in recent months over the White River National Forest in Colorado — not about logging but about recreation. The U.S. Forest Service has made a controversial proposal to limit recreational use of the forest, which is roughly the size of Delaware and home to some of the nation’s top […]
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But Picnickers Get More Sunlight and Less Bird Doo-Doo
The Atlantic rainforest of northeastern Brazil, one of the world’s most species-rich tropical rainforests, is in serious trouble, according to an article by Brazilian scientists in the journal Nature. Ecological processes like seed dispersal and pollination are being disrupted and may lead to the extinction of 34 percent of the region’s tree species, said researcher […]
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Compassionate Conservatism = Dead Fish
GOP presidential contender George W. Bush told residents of Washington state yesterday that four dams on the lower Snake River in southeastern Washington should not be breached to help save wild salmon, a position that puts him at odds with enviros. Bush’s challenger, Sen. John McCain (R), said last week that he would not rule […]
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The Coroner Ruled It a Mass Suicide
Pollution may have caused the deaths of up to 50,000 flamingos on Kenya’s Lake Bogoria, which has the biggest concentration of flamingos in the world, conservationists say. Gideon Motelin of Kenya’s Egerton University conducted tests on some of the corpses littering the shores of the lake and found that they contained nine or 10 heavy […]
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Will this odd bird be the passenger pigeon of the 21st century?
Conservationists have long been known for their staunch defense of cuddly and charismatic megafauna, and in recent years for their spirited battles on behalf of lowly, unseen creatures and enigmatic microflora. Now they’re going to bat for a species that doesn’t fit neatly into either of those camps and might best be described as, well, […]
