Uncategorized

Bonn Fire

Emissions of carbon dioxide, the primary cause of climate change, would be cut by 4.6 percent if eight major developing nations scrapped their energy subsidies, according to a report released yesterday by the International Energy Agency. Energy consumption in the nations, which include China, India, Indonesia, and Iran, would be reduced by 13 percent and […]

Mr. Smith Stays in Washington

In a move that worries enviros, Sen. Bob Smith, a New Hampshire conservative who recently bolted the GOP, then rejoined it on Monday, was elected yesterday by Senate Republicans to be chair of the important Environment and Public Works Committee. The position had been held by Sen. John Chafee (R-R.I.) until his death last month. […]

If We've Said It Once, We've Said It a Thousand Times …

Without action to curb emissions of greenhouse gases, average global temperatures would rise about 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit over the next 80 years, causing sea levels to rise and landlocked glaciers to melt, according to new research conducted by the U.K.’s Meteorological Office. Up to 94 million people would be displaced as sea levels rose by […]

Bag It, Tag It, Sell It to the Butcher in the Pet Store

The world’s coral reefs are threatened by consumers seeking tropical fish and coral for home aquariums, scientists said yesterday at a reef protection conference organized by the U.S. Home aquarium owners, mostly Americans, are buying live coral at a rate that has been growing by 12 to 30 percent a year since 1990, according to […]

Hi, Ho, Quicksilver

Debate is brewing over safe levels of exposure to mercury and whether new limits should be imposed on mercury emissions from coal-burning power plants. While most industrial uses of mercury are declining, concentrations of methylmercury, a particularly toxic form of mercury, are increasing in the environment and the food chain. Consumption of fish is the […]

Yes, Trash Can!

At least four commercial ventures are gearing up to make money from biomass power, which uses organic refuse (corn stalks, rice straw, even household food scraps) to produce alcohol-based substitutes for gasoline. Only some 3 percent of the nation’s energy is currently derived from biomass, nearly all of it from burning wood or making ethanol […]

Hold On, There

Enviros are becoming increasingly concerned about the development of “inholdings,” or private land within national parks and national forests. There are about 50 million acres of such land, only a fraction of the total land within park and forest boundaries, and in the past most landowners have kept their areas in a natural state or […]

Meltdown

Take Two Rhinos and Call Me in the Morning

The World Wildlife Fund is campaigning to transform traditional Chinese medicine, working to promote new green standards that would halt the use of endangered species. Although trade in tiger bones, rhinoceros horns, and bear bile is officially banned, the items are still highly sought after as ingredients in traditional treatments. Chinese medicine, which is quickly […]

The Hills Are Dead With the Sound of Mining

On Saturday, the Clinton administration backed off its support for a legislative rider that would permit the dumping of mining waste into streams in West Virginia. Last week, the administration angered enviros by siding with West Virginia Democrats who are pushing to protect the coal industry’s use of a strip-mining technique known as “mountaintop removal,” […]