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Invasion of the Habitat Snatchers
As of July 1, ships planning to enter U.S. waters will have to show they are doing their part to stem the tide of invasive species. The Coast Guard is implementing new regulations that will require big ocean vessels to empty their ballast tanks at sea before entering U.S. waters, in theory washing out foreign […]
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Nuclear Leak
Three nuclear power plants in New England held closed-door discussions with a British company last year about the possibility of shipping their high-level nuclear waste to the U.K. Though the negotiations went nowhere, British anti-nuke groups were angry this week when news of the discussions leaked out. The New England nuclear plants want to shut […]
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Brower Tries to Climb Sierra Again
David Brower, the outspoken, 86-year-old American conservationist, is making a bid for the presidency of the Sierra Club, a group with which he has had a hot-and-cold relationship over the years. Should he become president, Brower has said he would reopen the issue of immigration, which caused a big schism in the group last year, […]
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Food Not Fit for a Monarch
Genetically modified corn can kill monarch butterflies, according to a study by Cornell University scientists published in today’s issue of the journal Nature. The corn contains a toxin that kills pests that feed on the crop, but researchers determined that the toxin also poses a risk to the butterflies. They found that toxic pollen from […]
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Clean Air Inaction
Thirty-nine percent of factories tracked in a federal database were guilty of significant Clean Air Act violations from 1997 through 1998, according to a study released today by the Environmental Working Group. The violations by the businesses studied — oil refineries, pulp mills, steel mills, iron mills, auto assembly plants, and metal smelting and refining […]
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Another Writ from Ritt
The European Union is in danger of missing its target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the European Commission announced yesterday, urging European nations to quickly agree on proposals to cut emissions. The EU pledged at the 1997 Kyoto climate change talks to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 8 percent from 1990 levels by 2012. Acting […]
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Swap Swatted
The U.S. Forest Service failed to take into account potential harm to natural resources and damage to an ancient Indian trail when it approved a major forest land swap with Weyerhaeuser in Washington state, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday. The court said Weyerhaeuser, which has already logged part of the land since acquiring it […]
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A Strike at Snake Dams
A utility district in west-central Oregon this week became the first to back breaching of four federal dams on the lower Snake River to help restore endangered salmon runs. The utility sent a letter to the Clinton administration urging partial dam removal, asserting that breaching the dams represented the best way to save the salmon […]
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George W. Fission for a Position
Texas Gov. George W. Bush (R), the leading GOP presidential hopeful, is staking positions on controversial environmental issues in his home state. The Texas House is considering a bill that would allow old industrial plants that have been exempted from Clean Air Act regulations to ease into compliance voluntarily. Bush supports the bill, while enviros […]
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Better Red Than Dead?
Russia’s 147 million citizens are facing desperate health problems, in part because of the nation’s environmental degradation. In an upcoming issue of Policy Review, Harvard demographer Nicholas Eberstadt writes about Russia’s public health crisis, claiming that “No industrialized country has ever before suffered such a severe and prolonged deterioration during peacetime.” In the first half […]
