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What's Good for G.M. Is Good for the Country?
General Motors has dropped its EV1 electric car from production, announcing yesterday that it is shifting its focus to vehicles powered by hybrid fuel-electric systems and fuel cells. At the North American International Auto Show yesterday, the company unveiled a fuel-cell version of its Precept concept car that gets 108 miles to the gallon. GM […]
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Brother, Can You Spare Us This Nickel?
The U.S. Energy Department is backing away from a plan to sell its huge stock of nickel left over from nuclear weapons manufacture, acknowledging that it may be too radioactive to put on the open market. In August 1997, the department announced a plan to sell 6,000 tons of nickel this year and another 10,000 […]
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What's Good for G.M. Foods Is Bad for the Country
The U.S. government isn’t likely to require labels on genetically modified foods, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said Monday. “I, at this stage, do not see any of what I call mandatory or regulatory activities taking place from the government which will order anybody to do anything with respect to these issues, whether it’s labeling […]
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Clinton Paper Moons Enviros
The Clinton administration announced yesterday that it has appealed a federal judge’s order that enviros be named to two panels advising the U.S. trade representative on wood and paper products. In November, Pres. Clinton gave lip service to making the trade process more open to environmentalists’ input. Can you say “two-faced”? The federal judge ruled […]
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Timber Tantrumzania
Rampant illegal logging is threatening ecological disaster in Tanzania’s pristine forests, according to a recent report by the International Development Research Center in Canada. Police have begun to set up patrols on major roads in an effort to halt the movement of illegal logs, and authorities are trying to get local communities living near forests […]
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Prez Models His Teddy
Pres. Clinton designated more than a million acres of land in Arizona and California as national monuments yesterday, doubling the size of the protected areas around the Grand Canyon. Under the 1906 Antiquities Act, Clinton was able to create three new monuments and expand an existing one without getting congressional approval. Standing against the photo-op-ready […]
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The Meter Is Cunning
Puget Sound Energy in Washington will soon begin testing a web-based system for controlling home energy use that could help eliminate the need for new power stations in the region. Some 200 homes in the Kent area will be outfitted with devices that allow residents to control their furnaces and water heaters while they are […]
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This Plastic, It's Fantastic
Cargill and Dow Chemical are teaming up to make a biodegradable plastic from renewable resources such as corn or wheat instead of from petroleum. The companies say their joint venture, branded NatureWorks, is ready to go into full-scale commercial production, putting the companies at the front of a race among agriculture and chemical firms to […]
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Past Their Primates
No primate species have gone extinct within the last century, but now 25 species of apes, monkeys, lemurs, and other primates are in danger of disappearing soon, according to a new report issued by Conservation International. The two main causes of primate decline are the destruction of tropical habitat and hunting by locals; other threats […]
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Credit Where Credit Is Due
New York Gov. George Pataki (R) plans to give a boost to green building today by proposing a tax break for builders who construct or renovate large buildings so that they produce less pollution, waste, and indoor air contamination and use less energy than conventional buildings. The tax credits would be limited to $25 million […]
