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Ahead of the Curve
The Union of Concerned Scientists yesterday unveiled its own redesign of the Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle that would get 50 percent better mileage, cut pollution by 75 percent, and cost only $715 more than the standard Explorer. The group emphasized that the improvements are possible with existing technology. UCS released its redesign in anticipation […]
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Milwaukee Bucks Highway Trend
Although officials in Salt Lake City and Milwaukee both claim to be concerned about sprawl, Utah is using federal funds for a huge highway expansion around its capital city while Milwaukee is using federal money to tear down a half-built highway as a step toward revitalizing the old center of town. The feds are offering […]
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Old MacMillan Had a Plan
U.S. logging giant Weyerhaeuser yesterday said that if it is successful with its takeover bid for Canadian company MacMillan Bloedel, it will adhere to MacBlo’s promises to use more environmentally sound methods in coastal British Columbia — phasing out clearcutting within four years, cutting fewer trees, and using alternate logging methods in sensitive areas. Enviros […]
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Recipe for Controversy
The Clinton administration yesterday finally announced that it would conduct long-term studies of genetically engineered foods, and said that it is considering asking the food industry to voluntarily label genetically modified products. But Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said the government would still use all legal means to push genetically modified products into European markets. In […]
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Kakadu-dle-don't
Much to the dismay of environmentalists, the U.N. World Heritage Committee yesterday declined to put a prominent Australian wilderness area on its “in danger” list. Enviros had pushed for the U.N. committee to declare Kakadu National Park in danger because an Australian company plans to open a new uranium mine there. But the committee rejected […]
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Old Disgraceful
Yellowstone National Park’s aging sewage system is overwhelmed and dilapidated, a condition that on July 2 led to several thousand gallons of raw sewage spilling into a meadow in the park. Last year, raw sewage leaks contaminated Yellowstone Lake and a creek near the Old Faithful geyser. The park has some 3 million annual visitors […]
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Rising Tempura-tures
A Japanese nuclear reactor on the coast of the Sea of Japan was shut down yesterday because the facility leaked an estimated 20 tons of radioactive cooling water, one of the worst such leaks in the nation’s history. The reactor was manually shut down, and cooling facilities are being refilled to normal capacity. A spokesperson […]
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Allen Wrench in Pollution Monitoring
The administration of former Virginia Gov. George Allen (R) concealed information about river pollution and refused to release data on water contaminants to the U.S. EPA, according to a report released yesterday by state auditors. In 1994, the year Allen became governor, the state’s database on river pollution was erased from personal computers and backup […]
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Getting Turtles Out of the Soup
Philippine officials are pressing the nation’s congress to declare six islands on the Philippine-Malaysian sea border a wildlife sanctuary. The Turtle Islands contain some of the few remaining nesting grounds of endangered sea turtles in the world, but the creatures are increasingly threatened by coastal development, poaching, and illegal fishing methods like the use of […]
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Watt's Up?
NASA is exploring the possibility of building space-based solar power stations that would produce electricity for use on Earth. A “Sun Tower” design being considered might stretch 22 miles in length with solar collectors 100 to 200 meters in diameter. Each station might beam up to 1.2 billion watts of electricity to ground stations via […]
