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Hasta La Vista, Baby

Seeking to extricate itself from a contentious debate, Monsanto said yesterday that it would not sell seeds that produce sterile crops, which have been dubbed “terminator” seeds by vocal opponents around the world. The critics, who hailed yesterday’s announcement, had warned that the development of such seeds would make farmers more dependent on large agribusiness […]

Sean O'Brien, W. Alton Jones Foundation

Sean T. O’Brien, Ph.D., is a circuit rider for the W. Alton Jones Foundation in Charlottesville, Va. Monday, 4 Oct 1999 CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. People laugh when I tell them my job title is “circuit rider.” It sounds funny, but I love it. How many people have a job title that is a pun, much less […]

Vacation, All You Never Wanted

Golf Doesn't Attract Drivers and Beetles Don't Have the Juice

The winners on the EPA’s annual list of the most fuel-efficient cars and trucks are losers in the marketplace. The most fuel-efficient cars, those getting at least 40 mpg, represent just 0.57 percent of the U.S. market. Light trucks such as the Land Rover Range Rover — the least efficient SUV on the EPA’s list, […]

Kenyans' Ivory Weigh-In

Six months after Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe held controversial sales of ivory stocks, there is widespread disagreement over whether the sales sparked incidents of elephant poaching. An international ban on the sale and trade of ivory was imposed in 1989, but the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species allowed the three nations to hold […]

Enviros Teamster Up With Unions

After years of sometimes testy relations, labor unions and environmental groups in the U.S. are joining forces to push for stronger protections for jobs and the environment at World Trade Organization talks in Seattle beginning November 30. Their coalition, the Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment, is kicking things off today with a full-page […]

Iceburg: Lettuce Hope This Isn't a Trend

A massive iceberg measuring about 50 miles by 17 miles is traveling toward the southern tip of South America at speeds of eight to 10 miles a day and is threatening to block shipping lanes. The iceberg, known as B-10A, broke away from Antarctica in 1992; some scientists attribute this break-up of Antarctic ice to […]

State of the Wal-Mart

States are increasingly taking strong action to curb sprawl, according to a report released today by the Sierra Club. The report ranks states on open space protection, land use planning, transportation planning, and community revitalization, and notes that Oregon, Vermont, Maryland, and Rhode Island, among other states, are creating innovative programs to tackle sprawl. Though […]

Bad Magic for Forest NMFs

A federal judge ruled last week that 24 timber sales in Oregon cannot go forward until the federal government ensures that they will not harm fish protected by the Endangered Species Act. The ruling, which came in a lawsuit filed in January by the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund on behalf of several fishing and enviro […]

Mr. Right, Meet Mr. Left

GOP presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) said yesterday that Republicans “have to do a lot more than they are doing today on the environment.” During a visit to Seattle, he decried the $5 billion maintenance shortfall for national parks and challenged GOP congressional leaders to fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which […]