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Ouster of Sierra Club’s Florida leaders stirs up a storm of controversy

Things get stormy in Florida. Photo: Ali Nishan It’s got all the signs of a bad breakup: anger, recriminations, and friends taking sides. But this rift doesn’t involve bitter former sweeties; it’s between members of one of the nation’s largest and most influential environmental groups. And it’s happening in a high-profile, wealthy state with complex […]

Deforestation may have increased impact of devastating cyclone

The devastating impact of Cyclone Nargis, which has killed at least 22,000 people in Myanmar, could have been mitigated if mangrove forests had remained intact, says the secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Mangrove forests are densely vegetated and act as natural storm barriers, but many of the forests in Myanmar have been […]

Pollution may influence baldness, study says

Pollution may be one factor in the onset of baldness, says a new study from researchers at the University of London. Genetic factors are believed to play the largest role in bringing about baldness, but men who live in heavily polluted areas may experience hair loss sooner or more dramatically than those in less polluted […]

Projected nuke-power renaissance spurs U.S. uranium-mining bonanza

Due to the escalating price of uranium, a flurry of uranium-mining claims has been staked in the United States recently, with one of the greatest concentrations around the Grand Canyon in Arizona. On public lands within five miles of Grand Canyon National Park, there are now 1,100 uranium-mining claims, compared with just 10 in January […]

Captured sea lions on Columbia River assassinated

Six salmon-eating sea lions captured on the Columbia River in the U.S. Northwest were shot and killed over the weekend near the Bonneville Dam by an unknown assailant. A few weeks ago, the federal government itself announced it would allow wildlife officials in Oregon and Washington to kill up to 85 sea lions a year […]

On Clinton’s gas tax challenge

“Senator Clinton claimed yesterday that I either stand with her on this proposal or stand with the oil companies. To that I say: I stand with the families of Colorado, who aren’t looking for bumper sticker fixes that don’t fix anything, but for meaningful change that brings real relief and a new direction for our […]

Snippets from the news

• An educational website says it’s auctioning the ozone hole on eBay. • Thailand proposes a Southeast Asian rice cartel to control the price of rice. • The U.S. has officially shut down most salmon fisheries on its West Coast. • Tyson Foods ordered to suspend its ads touting antibiotic-free chickens. • Dead zones in […]

U.S. EPA to tighten standard for airborne lead

Compelled by court order to review its 30-year-old standards for airborne lead, the U.S. EPA proposed a new, tougher standard this week that would cut allowable lead levels by over 90 percent. True to form, though, the agency proposed a range of standards that exceeded the maximum limit of what its scientific advisers recommended as […]

Bush admin ousts top EPA official over Dow Chemical pollution case

The Bush administration forced out the U.S. EPA’s top Midwest regulator on Thursday, after months of contention over a pollution case involving Dow Chemical, the Chicago Tribune reports. Mary Gade, who was appointed by President Bush in 2006, had been tussling with Dow over plans to get the company to clean up extensive dioxin pollution […]

Highlights from the American Lung Association’s annual ‘State of the Air’ report

It's become an annual spring ritual, but the American Lung Association's "State of the Air" report -- essentially a report card on the country's air -- contains some valuable lessons.

First is that we have seen progress in dealing with widespread air pollutants such as ozone, or smog, and fine particle soot. States with the most aggressive cleanup approaches, such as California, have seen the most improvement.

But second, and equally important, we still have a major public health problem from air pollution. This is important since virtually all public attention regarding smokestacks and tailpipes concerns global warming. The ALA found that about two in five Americans live in areas afflicted by dirty air. (That number will increase under the new EPA ozone standard.)