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Made in Taiwan
A highly controversial load of toxic waste from Taiwan, which caused deaths and rioting while it was temporarily dumped in Cambodia, may find a permanent home in Idaho. A Taiwanese plastics manufacturer hopes to ship the millions of pounds of mercury-contaminated waste through Seattle or Tacoma, Wash., on its way to a plant in Idaho, […]
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Hold Your Fire!
Researchers are questioning a practice promoted in recent years of allowing wildfires to burn, saying that it can be highly damaging in certain ecosystems. Two studies published in today’s issue of the journal Science indicate that in the Brazilian rainforest and California brushland, it’s better to fight fires. Up through the 1960s, the feds had […]
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Alaskan finds gold mine in trash
John Dean is never still when he’s at his composting and recycling facility, tucked behind the airport in Anchorage, Alaska. Dressed in his usual baseball cap and a T-shirt that reads “Compost — Because a Rind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste,” Dean splits his days between the seat of a backhoe and his mobile-home […]
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Get the Bread Out
Trial lawyers and politicians are hoping to wring a lot of money from the former producers of lead paint as the lawyers prepare a massive legal assault inspired by the recent attacks on tobacco companies. Lead paint — which can lead to lowered IQs, severe learning difficulties, and behavioral problems in children — was banned […]
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Hazy Shade of Winter
Scientists have been surprised to discover a massive haze of air pollution the size of the U.S. that covers the Indian Ocean during winter and combines with monsoon rains to cause acid rain over the Indian subcontinent, China, and Southeast Asia during the summer. The haze is composed of several minute byproducts from the burning […]
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Float Like a Butterfly
More than 50 species of butterflies in Europe have begun migrating many miles north of their traditional ranges, an indication that global warming is underway, according to a report published in today’s issue of the journal Nature. The study suggests that many other species may also be on the move because of climate change, but […]
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Oh Stop, You're Killing Me
Three Republican senators from the Northwest — Slade Gorton (Wash.), Larry Craig (Idaho), and Gordon Smith (Ore.) — yesterday embraced a report released this week by enviros that indicates salmon are being harmed by global warming. In a Senate hearing, the lawmakers, who have not been known for their concern about global warming, made primarily […]
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Canada Gets a Sock in the Eye
Salmon runs on Canada’s west coast have declined drastically in recent years because of habitat destruction, overfishing, and changing ocean conditions, according to a report released Tuesday by the Pacific Fisheries Resource Council. The report also found that the Canadian Fisheries Department can’t do its job because it lacks the money to properly monitor salmon […]
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There Is No Free Lunch
The European Union’s plan to limit carbon dioxide emissions trading as a way of meeting climate change commitments will increase the cost of fighting global warming, according to a study released yesterday by the International Energy Agency. But the EU plan would lead to more “real” cuts in emissions, the IEA said. The EU is […]
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Water Over the Dam
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, in a speech yesterday in Colorado to Western water officials, proposed setting minimum water levels for rivers and signaled his intention to redirect water toward environmental uses rather than agricultural irrigation or residential growth. Babbitt said that in coming years, more dams will be breached or modified to help restore rivers, […]
