Uncategorized
All Stories
-
Where Some See Profits, Others Sea Turtles
The heads of five prominent environmental groups accused the Clinton administration yesterday of abandoning environmental concerns as it prepares for the upcoming World Trade Organization meeting, to begin in Seattle in late November. The groups — including the National Wildlife Federation and Friends of the Earth — all claim to support global trade, but they […]
-
Timber! Chainsaw-Happy Policy to be Cut Down
In a major shift, the ecological health of national forests would be given precedence over logging and other commercial uses of the forestland in regulations proposed yesterday by the Clinton administration. The proposed rules would likely lock in or reduce the relatively low logging levels of recent years, down significantly from the astronomical logging levels […]
-
Tiggers Not Very Bouncy
Only some 5,000 to 7,000 tigers remain living in the wild — fewer than exist in captivity — and urgent action is needed to stop the creatures from disappearing completely, conservation experts warned yesterday. The tiger population has fallen from about 100,000 at the turn of the century, and three sub-species have already gone extinct. […]
-
Windows Wide Shut
In the worst accident in Japan’s troubled history with nuclear power, workers in a fuel plant 87 miles northwest of Tokyo accidentally set off a chain reaction yesterday morning that spewed high levels of radiation into the air. More than 40 people, most of them plant employees, were being treated for radiation exposure, three people […]
-
![]()
![]()
Sex sells, but can it save the planet?
Dr. Susan M. Block is not your typical crusader for endangered species. Sure, peace signs dangle from her ears — perhaps a little large, but not completely outrageous. Her voice carries conviction and bespeaks a clear intelligence — Yale, magna cum laude. A doctorate, too, in philosophy. Then she fled academia to build her own […]
-
Jaguars and Pumas and Tapirs, Goodbye?
Mobil has discovered a natural gas reserve in a pristine, biologically rich tropical forest in Peru, and the company has until February to do more exploration and analysis and decide whether it will give up its claim on the area or hold it for future development. A tense national debate is brewing over whether the […]
-
Polotix is Best When It's One-on-One
Al Gore, acknowledging that he has serious competition for the Democratic presidential nomination, said yesterday that he wants to debate Bill Bradley on environmental issues, among other topics. Most mainstream environmental groups are not ready to pull their support from Gore, as Friends of the Earth did when it endorsed Bill Bradley earlier this month, […]
-
Why's Youse Guys So Mad?
Violence and threats against federal employees who manage land in the West are on the rise, with nearly 100 incidents taking place in 1998, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. Such attacks have increased since the 1995 bombing in Oklahoma City, with much of the problem attributable to anti-government radicals and extreme “wise-use” proponents […]
-
Ebony Days for Ivory
Vietnam’s wild elephant population faces certain extinction unless action is taken to protect the animals, according to a study released yesterday by Fauna and Flora International, a British conservation group. Between 98 and 150 wild elephants now live in the nation’s fragmented forests, down from an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 in 1990. Though poaching for […]
-
Banging Heads Over Hard Rock
Environmental regulations governing hard-rock mining on federal lands are applied unevenly and without necessary expertise, the National Research Council said yesterday in a long-awaited report. A committee of the council identified “several gaps in existing regulations that need to be filled,” and said federal agencies need more staff, more authority, and better information. Still, the […]
