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Strange Bedfellows

An unlikely duo, Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Larry Craig (R-Idaho), has joined forces to craft a bill that would create a loan program encouraging private landowners to plant trees to help reduce global warming. Funding for the program would come from fines collected under the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, which amounted […]

Pop Kills the Weasel?

Greenpeace yesterday called for a global halt to the production of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) — synthetic chemicals that damage the environment, pollute the food chain, and can even be found in breast milk. In a new report, the group said POPs were spreading over thousands of miles and killing striped dolphins, polar bears, and […]

Up on the Farm

Pres. Clinton today will sign an executive order that aims to triple by 2010 the amount of biomass energy generated in the U.S. from farm products, crop wastes, and trees. Administration officials note that the effort will help cut the use of fossil fuels and result in $15 billion to $20 billion in additional farm […]

Slowing Down Quick Sand

Nigerian Pres. Olusegun Obasanjo has started to tackle the nation’s severe environmental problems. Last week, he launched a campaign to plant 4,000 hectares of trees by the end of next year, an effort to fight deforestation and the advancing Sahara Desert. Ninety-six percent of the nation’s pristine forests have been cut down in the last […]

Gone Fishin'

Strict fishing limits along New England’s coast, imposed since 1994, have contributed to rebounds in a dozen species, according to a report released this week. But tight fishing restrictions are likely to remain in place for a few years because some fish, including Gulf of Maine cod, are still at record low levels. The New […]

Re-energizing the Economy

The U.S. economy could get a real boost if the nation makes a serious effort to cut carbon-dioxide emissions, according to a new study by the Tellus Institute and World Wildlife Fund. By 2010, some 870,000 jobs could be created and $43 billion a year could be saved as a result of cutting energy use […]

Much Better Business Bureau

A coalition of businesses is fighting a federal plan that could triple logging levels across a large swath of California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. In a letter to U.S. Forest Service officials being made public today, 52 business leaders in the region ask the agency to reject a plan for dramatically increased logging, saying it would […]

Birds Brained

A team of British researchers is calling for reform of Europe’s agricultural policies to give birds and wildlife a better chance of survival, warning that farming practices are causing “a second silent spring.” Thirteen bird species that live exclusively on farmland have declined by an average of 30 percent between 1968 and 1995, the team […]

First Slick Willy, Now Slick Al

Vice Pres. Al Gore has accepted more than $80,000 in campaign contributions from employees of fossil fuel companies, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, making it likely that he will surpass the $130,000 that Pres. Clinton received from such interests in the last presidential race. These contributions make some enviros nervous, but they have […]

Super-Ultra-Excellent-Stupendous News

Nissan announced yesterday that it will introduce the world’s first super-ultra-low-emissions vehicle in California next year. The 2000 model year Sentra compact sedan has a four-cylinder engine, a super-efficient catalytic converter, and a system that eliminates evaporative emissions from unburned fuel. Nissan says the car will produce fewer total emissions during a 20-mile trip than […]