Uncategorized
All Stories
-
Spore Judgment
Hundreds of tons of anthrax bacteria — enough to destroy the world many times over — was buried in an unsafe fashion on a remote island in the inland Aral Sea toward the end of the Cold War, reports the New York Times in a front-page expose. Soviet officials hastily shipped it to the area, […]
-
WWF Body Slams Olympics
The Austrian, Italian, and Swiss arms of the World Wildlife Fund yesterday urged the International Olympic Committee to delay for a year its choice of venue for the 2006 Winter Olympics so environmental issues can be more carefully considered. WWF says that instead of choosing a host city, the IOC should choose a host region […]
-
If It's Not One Blowup, It's Another
After spending 16 years and $489 million on part a plan to safely store millions of gallons of highly radioactive waste from nuclear weapons production, the Energy Department has abandoned its efforts, according to a report released yesterday. Researchers had discovered in the early 1980s that the procedure being developed to concentrate the waste produced […]
-
Hank Dittmar, Surface Transportation Policy Project
Hank Dittmar directs the Transportation and Quality of Life Campaign of the Surface Transportation Policy Project, a coalition of environmental and community groups working to reform transportation policy. Tuesday, 1 Jun 1999 LAS VEGAS, N.M. It’s been just about a year since my wife and I packed up our house and our infant twins and […]
-
Disheveled in the Deep Blue Sea
Many deep sea critters are in danger of starving to death, likely as a result of rising ocean temperatures, according to a study published recently in the journal Science. The food supply available for creatures residing in the deep dropped significantly between 1989 and 1996, say the study’s authors, perhaps because an increase in surface […]
-
Not Bonn Amis
A rift between Europe and the U.S. is hindering efforts to cut emissions of greenhouse gases under the Kyoto Protocol, said Michael Zammit Cutajar, the top U.N. climate official, as international climate change talks began yesterday in Bonn, Germany. Europe wants limits placed on emissions trading, while the U.S. wants to make wide use of […]
-
Blow by Blow
The EPA last week accepted petitions from eight Northeastern states asking the agency to order sharp cuts in pollution from individual dirty power plants in the Midwest and South. The pollution is believed to blow into the Northeast and contribute to serious air quality problems in the region. Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA […]
-
You Say Tomato, I Say Lawsuit
Thirteen states have passed laws that protect farmers and food producers from criticism that could cut back on their sales, and environmentalists and consumer advocates are warning that the laws are limiting the public’s right to know about potential dangers. Some publishers and broadcasters, fearing lawsuits under the laws, have declined to publicize information about […]
-
Prez: Life's a Beach — and So Are Republicans
President Clinton on Saturday ordered federal agencies to boost efforts to clean up beaches and waterways, and he challenged states to do the same. Giving his weekly radio address while on vacation at a remote wildlife preserve in Florida, Clinton also criticized Republicans for “rolling back” environmental protections by attaching narrowly focused riders to major […]
-
Steer Clear of that Weasel Diesel
Environmental officials are considering a crackdown on diesel, a common and dangerous pollutant that can clog lungs, damage genes, and cause cancer. The California Air Resources Board last year declared that diesel particles are carcinogenic and is studying ways to reduce their health threat; the EPA is considering a similar move. In a series of […]
