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Greenhouse Costs a Bunch of Hot Air
Fighting global warming might cost the U.S. and other industrialized nations far less than most analysts have predicted, according to a new study in today’s issue of the journal Nature. Previous estimates of the cost of complying with the Kyoto climate change treaty have focused almost exclusively on reducing emissions of carbon dioxide, the main […]
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2007: A Truck Odyssey
The EPA yesterday proposed new rules designed to cut emissions of soot and smog-causing pollutants by up to 90 percent from heavy-duty commercial trucks and super-large sport utility vehicles. The proposal aims to close a loophole that exempts the largest SUVs, such as the Ford Excursion and Chevy Suburban, from meeting the same emissions requirements […]
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Tung Lashing
Hong Kong’s chief executive announced plans yesterday to spend almost $4 billion over the next decade to clean up the territory’s polluted environment and make the city “a green model for Asia.” Tung Chee-hwa, giving his third annual policy address, said the city would crack down on owners of dirty, diesel-powered vehicles, add pollution-control devices […]
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Bump in the Logging
A federal judge in Illinois has issued a nationwide ban on all timber sales that were approved during the past year without public input and environmental analysis. The decision, handed down on Friday, may delay or halt logging on more than 110,000 acres of national forest land. The judge ruled that the U.S. Forest Service’s […]
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Flashbacks From Bad Acid Trip
Environmental regulations in North America have succeeded in cutting acid rain, but many North American lakes and streams damaged by the phenomenon still have not recovered, according to new research published today in the journal Nature. In contrast, the study, which was conducted by 23 prominent scientists, found that lakes and streams in Europe have […]
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Kick Some Asthma
Smog in the eastern half of the U.S. sends some 53,000 people to the hospital and 159,000 to the emergency room each summer, and it triggers more than 6 million asthma attacks, according to a new study released by three environmental groups. The Clean Air Task Force, National Environmental Trust, and U.S. Public Interest Research […]
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Couch Potatoes Getting Baked
Three environmental groups today are launching an $11 million-dollar “public education” campaign in the U.S. about the health dangers and physical costs of climate change, with the aim of putting the environment on voters’ minds before the 2000 elections and putting the heat on Congress for its lack of action on the issue. The groups […]
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Mess Transit
Many top enviro groups made a last-minute appeal to Pres. Clinton yesterday to veto a transportation spending bill with a provision that would prevent the federal government from even studying the possibility of raising fuel-efficiency standards for new cars and light trucks. But White House officials said they expect Clinton to sign the bill. Enviros […]
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A Cigar Is a Cigar, But a Rainforest Is a Smoke
Smoke from the burning of forests decreases rainfall, according to new research to be published this month in Geophysical Research Letters. Scientists studied the area of Kalimantan, Indonesia, last year when the southeastern portion of the island was engulfed in smoke and the northwestern portion was relatively smoke-free, and found that precipitation was much lower […]
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O, Say, Can You See?
Four utilities that own a massive coal-fired power plant in Nevada that has been accused of polluting the Grand Canyon and blocking its views have agreed to spend $300 million to install scrubbers to reduce sulfur-dioxide pollution. The agreement, expected to be announced today, comes as a settlement in a lawsuit brought by enviro groups […]
