Uncategorized

Putting Hanford Out of Reach

Pres. Clinton gave federal protection on Friday to the area around the last free-flowing stretch of the Columbia River, called the Hanford Reach, a move aimed at helping recovery of the Pacific salmon. Some 57,000 acres of land along the 47-mile stretch of river will be added to a national wildlife refuge in southern Washington […]

Wigging Out

Breach of Trust

In a shift that could transform a fierce environmental debate in the Northwest, federal officials are now saying that endangered salmon could be saved even if four dams on the lower Snake River in Washington state remain in place. Seven months ago, the National Marine Fisheries Service, which directs salmon recovery, said breaching the dams […]

Ranch Undressing

More than $100 million in federal taxpayer subsidies were given last year to ranching operations, many of them run by wealthy hobby ranchers, agribusiness giants, and corporations, according to a nine-month investigation by the San Jose Mercury News. In 17 Western states, livestock grazing is allowed on a total of 254 million acres of national […]

Merchants of Venom

Liberalized international trade rules could make it harder for the U.S. to bar shipments of toxic waste from other countries, according to new reports released by the Asia Pacific Environmental Exchange and the Earth Justice Legal Defense Fund. Under World Trade Organization agreements that provide for the free movement of goods, toxic waste could be […]

Victoria's Secret

Lake Victoria in eastern Africa, the world’s second-largest freshwater lake, is being indirectly destroyed by deforestation, an international research center said today. Through the use of satellite remote sensing technology, the Kenya-based International Center for Research in Agroforestry found that in areas where trees and other vegetation were removed, a heavier flow of sediments feeds […]

Carbon Crappy

People who breathe the polluted air around Southern California’s freeways have an increased chance of developing cancer, according to a study released today by the South Coast Air Quality Management District. Residents of the congested core of Los Angeles County, which include many minority, low-income people, face the greatest odds in the region of contracting […]

Treat Them Whales Right

A proposal to create a sanctuary for southern right whales off the coast of South Africa is stirring up racial and social tensions in the area. Whales migrate to the region every winter and spring from Antarctica to mate and rear their young, and they are easily observable from land in the town of Hermanus. […]

Bonn of Contention

Environment ministers from around the world wrapped up a round of talks on the Kyoto climate change treaty today in Bonn, Germany, pledging to stick to cuts in greenhouse gas emissions agreed upon in 1997, but failing to decide how to achieve the reductions or how to enforce them. Delegates also failed to reach agreement […]

What the Elk?

Grizzly bears are threatened by hunting outfitters operating just outside the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park, say park ranger Bob Jackson and Utah State University ecologist Barrie Gilbert. Many of the outfitters are violating federal law by setting up artificial salt licks, which they use to lure elk outside park boundaries, where they can be […]