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Take That, Hosers

Tired of pollution drifting up from the south, officials in Toronto, Canada’s largest city, are considering joining a lawsuit that New York state plans to file next month against coal-fired power plants in the Midwest. Toronto health and environment officials are to meet today with the office of New York’s attorney general, which last month […]

One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato, Sick Rats

The debate over genetically modified foods is rising to a new pitch following a decision by the British medical journal the Lancet to publish a controversial study suggesting that gene-altered potatoes may cause health problems in rats. In an unusual move, the editor of the journal has written a commentary revealing that a minority of […]

Hot Diggity Log

In one of the most significant conservation moves of his administration, Pres. Clinton yesterday announced that he would permanently protect at least 40 million acres of national forest land from road building, logging, and mining, using administration actions meant to outmaneuver opposition in Congress. Speaking at the George Washington National Forest in Virginia, Clinton said, […]

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]