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Antonio the Tiger Not Doing Grrreeeeeaaaat
The Iberian lynx, sometimes called “Europe’s tiger,” is the world’s most endangered wildcat and may go extinct within a decade unless serious efforts are made to protect its habitat, the World Wildlife Fund warned yesterday. The Iberian lynx population has declined drastically in recent decades, WWF said, now numbering about 500 to 600 in Spain […]
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Give Some Loot, Go Ahead and Pollute
Texas Gov. George W. Bush’s (R) presidential run will likely be haunted by his state’s environmental problems, particularly Houston’s recently achieved status as the nation’s smoggiest city. To avoid losing federal highway funding, Houston must come up with a plan to reduce its air pollution by 90 percent, and Dallas by 88 percent. Bush touts […]
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Get on the Bus
Enviros and other critics of the World Trade Organization are launching a $40,000 outdoor advertising blitz in Seattle to get people thinking about the negative consequences of trade liberalization, as trade leaders from around the world prepare to gather in Seattle later this month for a WTO meeting. Fifteen groups, including the Earthjustice Legal Defense […]
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If At First You Don't Succeed, Buy Ad Time
Worried about mounting resistance to genetically modified (GM) foods, the giants of biotechnology are channeling tens of millions of dollars into massive lobbying and marketing campaigns to counter their critics. Until recently, biotech companies were reluctant to respond to critics because they wanted to avoid making GM foods an issue, but now that opposition is […]
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Climate Change Driving Us Buggy
Public health experts warn that as climate change becomes more serious, humans are likely to be hit by an increasing number of health problems, ranging from heat strokes to infectious diseases. Milder winters and increased flooding could help insects breed and extend their ranges, perhaps leading to more tick-borne infections like Lyme disease. Mosquitoes in […]
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Young and the Restless
Two longtime Congressional enemies — Reps. Don Young (R-Alaska) and George Miller (D-Calif.) — teamed up yesterday to successfully push a bill through the House Resources Committee that would earmark about $2.9 billion dollars in offshore oil drilling royalties each year for environmental protection. The money, some $2.5 billion more than is currently spent from […]
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Nothing Could Be Finer Than to Clean Up a Refiner
Oil refineries across the U.S. spew an estimated 80 million pounds of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air unreported each year, the equivalent of pollutants from 5 million new cars, according to a report by the House Government Oversight Committee’s Democratic staff. Much of the VOC pollution, which is a key ingredient in smog, […]
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Single Brown Industry ISO Senator, Morals A-
Lobbyists for polluting electric utilities in the Midwest and South are working hard to find an ally in Congress who could help them get legislative relief from potentially large fines being threatened as part of a government lawsuit. In response, six senators from the Northeast have issued a public warning that they will fight any […]
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Club Medfly
The pesticide malathion may have sickened 123 people last year when it was sprayed over two Florida communities to kill crop-eating Mediterranean fruit flies, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said yesterday. Rather than spraying only farmland, helicopters and airplanes blanketed large suburban areas with the pesticide. Malathion is used in several states […]
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Chinese Dragon Their Heels on Cleanup
In the wake of devastating Yangtze River floods last year, China’s leaders seem to be recognizing that many of their efforts to boost economic growth have been unsustainable and they are gradually working to tackle environmental problems, writes Elizabeth Economy in an op-ed in the South China Morning Post. The leaders have their work cut […]
