Uncategorized

Jakarta for the Hoarse

Many of Southeast Asia’s biggest cities — including Manila, Bangkok, and Jakarta — are beset with trash troubles, lacking the funds to replace their antiquated waste disposal systems. Landfills have reached towering heights, and trash is piling up in rivers, bays, and alleys. In Manila, some 30 percent of the city’s trash ends up in […]

The King and Ay-Ay-Ay

To the dismay of Maine Gov. Angus King (I), two sport-fishing groups filed suit against the feds yesterday for failing to adequately protect Atlantic salmon in Maine rivers. The Atlantic Salmon Federation and Trout Unlimited want the fish added to the endangered species list. Earlier in the decade, the federal government declared the fish a […]

Judge Favors Hooters' Chicks

The U.S. Forest Service is putting on hold new timber sales in spotted owl territory in the Northwest, seeking to avoid new legal problems in U.S District Court. Last week, a federal judge put nine timber sales on hold, saying the Forest Service had violated the Northwest Forest Plan by failing to conduct wildlife and […]

Tricks of the Trade

U.S. officials and corporations are worried that protestors who argue that free trade harms the environment and has other negative social effects will get too much attention at the World Trade Organization meeting to be held in Seattle in November. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) recently sent a letter to Pres. Clinton expressing “deep concern” that […]

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 […]