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Habitat's Where Babbitt's At

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt unveiled an ambitious plan yesterday to protect 68 threatened and endangered species living in southern Florida. Babbitt said the government hopes the plan will become a model for approaching species protection on a comprehensive, regional, multi-species level rather than with a piecemeal approach. Under the plan, the feds would work with […]

About Face … Backward, March

The U.S. auto industry is doing an about-face on the environment. Sort of. A six-article opus in the New York Times today focuses on the steps the industry is taking to improve its environmental record, mostly due to the perception that green issues are becoming increasingly important to customers. But the automakers still protest U.S. […]

Airing Their Opinions

The editorial pages of the nation’s major papers weighed in this week on an appeals court decision released last Friday that invalidated air quality standards for ozone and particulates approved by Pres. Clinton in 1997. The New York Times and Washington Post criticized the ruling, with the Times saying it has “shaky constitutional underpinnings” and […]

Food Fight

Britain’s top medical association yesterday made a strong call for genetically modified foods to be labeled as such, allowing consumers to choose to avoid them until they are proven more safe for consumption. The British Medical Association, which represents 80 percent of Britain’s doctors, also called for gene-modified crops to be processed separately from conventional […]

Lake Woe, Be Gone

Officials are trying to preserve a lake in southwest China that serves as a wintering ground for dozens of species of waterfowl, but pressure from the 30,000 destitute people living around the lake is making the task difficult. The local residents want to convert the lake’s rich marshes into farmland, and they regularly try to […]

Fording Ahead

Ford took a big step forward yesterday in the race to build more environmentally friendly vehicles, announcing that it will reduce smog-causing tailpipe emissions from its light trucks an average of 33% beginning in the 2000 model year. It will cost Ford about $100 per truck to use improved catalytic converters and engine controls, but […]

Higher Occurrence of Currents

Rather than producing new atmospheric circulation patterns, climate change may alter the frequency of existing patterns, with huge implications for weather around the world, a number of researchers say. One recent study suggests that climate change may cause more frequent occurrences of El Nino. Another study recently reported in the journal Nature found a warmer […]

Emitting Less NOx-ious Gas

The owner of two of New England’s most polluting power plants yesterday announced a three-year, $17 million plan to reduce emissions that cause smog and acid rain. U.S. Generating Co., which acquired the plants last year, said it would cut nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by 23 percent and work toward reductions in sulfur-dioxide (SO2) emissions. […]

Log On

Whale Meets Its Makah

Makah Indians this morning successfully harpooned and killed a whale off the coast of Washington state, the first whale kill by the tribe in more than 70 years. No protestors were in the area when the whale was hit. Protestors have dogged the whalers since their hunt began last week; four of their vessels have […]