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Taking the High Rhode
Rhode Island became the first state to sue the makers of lead paint on Tuesday, seeking hundreds of millions of dollars to pay for treating lead-poisoned children and removing lead paint from buildings. At least a dozen other states, counties, and cities are considering filing similar lawsuits, inspired by suits filed against the tobacco industry. […]
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War Really Is Hell
The heaviest pollution from NATO’s bombing this spring in Yugoslavia is concentrated in industrial areas, the U.N. Environmental Program is expected to say in a report released today. UNEP is urging Yugoslavia to immediately clean up several hot spots and is asking Western nations to provide clean-up funding. U.N. scientists say they found no evidence […]
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Soots Them Right
In an effort to clean up acid rain and smog, New York Gov. George Pataki (R) today will order power plants in the state to make sharp reductions in their emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Enviros were happy about the news, as were power companies with proposals to build new natural-gas plants, which […]
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Wait, Who's Got the Ax to Grind, Mr. President?
In a speech touting the virtues of global trade, Pres. Clinton last night tried to mollify environmentalists and other critics of the World Trade Organization. Laying out his agenda for the WTO meeting to begin in Seattle next month, Clinton said he wants to reduce barriers to U.S. exports while still emphasizing environmental protection and […]
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Deep-Sea Doodle
Enviros are attacking a plan by the U.S. Navy to use an advanced sonar system to detect submarines from potentially hostile developing nations, arguing that the use of low-frequency, high-decibel sound waves over large undersea areas could harm whales and other sea life. The Natural Resources Defense Council is threatening to sue to stop use […]
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Houston, You Have a Problem
Houston has earned the title of smoggiest city in the U.S. this year, a distinction gladly abdicated by Los Angeles. In 1999, Houston has had 44 days when ozone levels exceeded national health standards, one more than the L.A. region, and for the first year in more than five decades, the L.A. area has not […]
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Crock in Trade
The World Trade Organization has decided against every environmental, public health, and safety regulation it has ever considered, according to a book-length report released today by Ralph Nader’s consumer watchdog group Public Citizen. The report, the most comprehensive of its type to date, argues that the WTO has usurped the right of nations to determine […]
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Everybody, Out of the Water!
Over the next 25 years, nearly one in two Africans will live in countries stressed by fresh water shortages and the main conflicts in Africa could be over water supplies, according to a U.N. Development Program report. One-fourth of the world’s populace will suffer severe water scarcity during the same time period, even during years […]
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Where's the Beef?
Ranching and farming groups got word yesterday that the Supreme Court will hear their challenge to the Clinton administration’s revised livestock grazing policies for federal land throughout the West. The court voted to weigh an appeal that says the administration’s 1995 rules, intended to improve management and protection of the land, violate federal law and […]
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Mortality Kombat
The world would have 300 million more people today if China had not pursued its aggressive population control efforts, the Chinese government boasted yesterday, as the world population hit the 6 billion mark. Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji said China intends to continue its present family planning policy. A senior U.N. Population Fund official praised the […]
