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Activist says he was shot in confrontation with whalers

The captain of the radical anti-whaling Sea Shepherd Conservation Society says he was shot in a clash with Japanese whalers on Friday. Paul Watson says he found a bullet in his Kevlar vest; Japan’s fisheries agency disputed the accusation, saying those onboard the whaling ship retaliated with non-lethal flash grenades after activists threw stink bombs […]

FWS drops plans to cut critical habitat for marbled murrelet

In a significant and unexpected victory for environmentalists, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has reversed its plans to significantly cut critical habitat for the marbled murrelet. The tiny seabird is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act and the FWS had threatened to cut over 90 percent of its critical habitat as part […]

EPA versus the antimicrobial keychain

The EPA is deciding whether to class an antimicrobial keychain as a pesticide, according to an article in the New York Times.

The product, called the handler, is basically a small, plastic pirate's claw impregnated with nanoscale silver particles. The particles prevent bacteria from getting a foothold on the hook. Have to go to the ATM and come into contact with filthy keys that other flu-ridden people have pawed? No problem, just pull out your hook.

Not so fast!

Apparently, the EPA thinks that, because of those pesky silver particles, the product may be considered a pesticide according to a 1947 law:

Bush talks up nukes, ethanol, and technology at renewable-energy meeting

President Bush addressed a renewable-energy conference in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, repeating earlier declarations that the United States is dependent on oil and that investment in technology will solve the country’s energy problems. “[W]e’ve got to reduce our dependence on oil and fossil fuels, and replace them with alternative energy sources to power our homes and […]

Off-topic thread of the day

When Moses brought the Ten Commandments down from Mount Sinai, he may have been high on a hallucinogenic plant, according to a new study by an Israeli psychology professor. … The thunder, lightning and blaring of a trumpet which the Book of Exodus says emanated from Mount Sinai could just have been the imaginings of […]

Navy responds

In case you missed it, a Navy Public Affairs Officer has responded to the recent post on Navy sonar and its effects on marine mammals. FYI: “the Navy does not engage in propaganda.”

Public health pitted against polluter pressure

The EPA is about to decide if national health standards for smog should be made tougher. What's at stake is the quality of the air we breathe.

The EPA's independent science advisers unanimously think the standards should be made tougher. So do the EPA's career experts. So do lung doctors and many other medical groups. But big polluters are putting on a smog squeeze. They want the White House to keep the existing standards. And they are urging the Bush administration to break the law by considering costs (code for politics) instead of science.

The EPA is under a court order to make a decision by March 12.

Spokespeople from the American Lung Association, Clean Air Watch, Environmental Defense Fund, and the National Association of Clean Air Agencies are planning a briefing Thursday, March 6, at 12:00 p.m. EST.

Call-in Information: 1-888-206-2266

Pin: #244448#

First wolverine in 30 years spotted in California

A camera array in California's Sierra Nevada mountains captured confirmed evidence of a wolverine for the first time in more than 30 years, a Forest Service official told colleagues yesterday.

The photo was taken in a relatively pristine part of Tahoe National Forest that Senator Barbara Boxer and Representative Hilda Solis have proposed to protect as a Wilderness Study Area under their California Wild Heritage Act.

Lessons the United States can learn from the drought in Australia

The brutal drought has ended over large parts of Australia -- and consumers are obsessively reducing their demand for water -- and yet water "prices are set to double in the next five to 10 years," Water Services Association Australia executive officer Ross Young told a drought briefing in Canberra.

The focus on water conservation has never been higher:

Water is a dinner table topic. People are quite passionate about water and they are quite concerned about water in the context of climate change.

And the results are impressive:

Ralph Nader picks running mate, ‘doomsday’ seed vault opens in Arctic, and more

Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: Mate? … Check An Eye for a Buckeye The Damages Done How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Vault Well, Shoot Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: Pearly Writes Bruce Almighty