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Can't See the Forest for the Buildings
Many urban areas across the U.S. have lost about one-third of their trees in the last 25 years, in large part because of suburban sprawl and development, according to a survey by American Forests, a conservation group. Seattle is a prime example of this trend, the group noted as it convened in the city for […]
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Ambushed
A lawsuit filed yesterday accuses GOP presidential front-runner George W. Bush of trampling the free-speech rights of environmentalists who protested in front of the Texas governor’s mansion. The enviros, who were speaking out against the state’s air-pollution policies, were arrested by state police four times between March and May of this year, and all four […]
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Well Hello, Dalai
The World Bank said yesterday that it will launch a full investigation into a controversial Chinese project that would resettle some 58,000 poor farmers onto environmentally sensitive land in a historically Tibetan area where the Dalai Lama was born. The bank approved but then deferred a $40 million loan for the project in June. Germany […]
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This Little Carbon Went to Market
The Sydney Futures Exchange is setting up a market in Australia in carbon sequestration credits, or units of carbon dioxide that have been absorbed by trees. Industries will be able to buy the credits and use them to offset carbon emissions from the production of electricity, steel, aluminum, and other products. The global market, to […]
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A River Runs Sioux It
The EPA yesterday settled a lawsuit and agreed to study why children have taken ill after playing in a river that runs through a South Dakota Indian reservation. The Oglala Sioux Indian tribe and six South Dakota environmental groups had filed suit against the EPA for failing to enforce water pollution laws in the state. […]
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Demand Hops for Wind Power
The New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins, Colo., will buy all the power produced by a new wind turbine in Wyoming, prompting one official to propose that the turbine be painted to resemble a giant bottle of Fat Tire beer, which the brewery produces. The turbine is one of five scheduled to be installed in […]
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Wild, Wild West Bank
A number of Israeli industries are dumping toxic waste in the West Bank, Palestinian officials charge, violating environmental agreements made in 1993 as part of the Oslo peace accords. Friends of the Earth Middle East, an Arab and Israeli environmental group, reported in December 1998 that there were at least 50 unauthorized hazardous waste dumps […]
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I Want My DDT
As the U.N. drafts a treaty that could ban DDT worldwide, many health officials are protesting that such a ban would devastate efforts to control malaria in some developing nations. DDT, one of 12 highly toxic chemicals known as persistent organic pollutants that the U.N. plans to eliminate, is sprayed in small amounts on the […]
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Cod Dammit!
Even as tough fishing restrictions in New England’s Georges Bank fishing ground are beginning to restore populations of cod and other groundfish, a new report by federal and state biologists suggests that still tighter limits should be imposed. Scientists say that fish populations have been so severely depleted that it will take years to restore […]
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Tongue Depressing News
The destruction of forests and other ecosystems is leading to a loss of languages, as indigenous peoples are driven from their homes and forced to migrate to urban areas and assimilate into dominant cultures, according to the U.N. Environment Program. Bai-Mass Taal, UNEP’s biodiversity program manager, says there is heavy overlap between areas of high […]
