Latest Articles

What Can Brown Do for You?

Cow Poop Powers California Dairy A well-fed dairy cow produces 120 pounds of poop a day — some 43,000 pounds a year. What to do with all that doo? Dairy farmer Albert Straus of Marin County, Calif., puts it in a big covered lagoon, where it decomposes and generates tons of methane gas, which he […]

X-mice

Genetic Damage from Air Pollution May Be Heritable Air pollution can cause genetic mutations, and those mutations can be passed along to offspring, according to a new report in the journal Science. A pair of Canadian researchers ran a study on two groups of mice, both located downwind from two steel mills in air containing […]

A behind-the-scenes look at the making of Bush’s much-praised new diesel rules

Yes, dear skeptics, you heard correctly: The Bush administration done good this week. Digging these new rules. Landmark controls on diesel emissions, finalized Tuesday by the U.S. EPA, are expected to prevent 12,000 premature deaths and 15,000 heart attacks each year. And these were no warmed-over regs from the Clinton era, passed off as the […]

Dim and Dimmer

Earth Getting Dimmer; Air Pollution Is Prime Suspect No, you’re not just depressed: The earth actually is getting darker. The amount of sunlight reaching the planet’s surface, researchers say, declined by as much as 10 percent between the late 1950s and early 1990s. In some regions the drop was steeper, including the U.S., Asia, and […]

The Thing of Small Cods

Cod May Be Headed for Extinction, Says WWF Worldwide cod stocks are declining rapidly and could be entirely wiped out by 2020, says enviro group World Wildlife Fund. The global cod catch has declined from 3.4 million tons in 1970 to 1 million tons in 2000, a trend WWF blames on overfishing, illegal catches, and […]

Fined and Dandy

Wal-Mart Fined $3.1 Million for Clean Water Act Violations Wal-Mart has agreed to pay a $3.1 million fine for storm-water runoff violations of the Clean Water Act, in a settlement with the U.S. EPA and the Justice Department — marking the second time it has paid such a fine, after a $1 million penalty in […]

Ay Charisma!

Conservation Efforts Need to Look Beyond Charismatic Species A new article in the journal Nature seeks to change the way conservation efforts are conceived. Rather than focusing on single “charismatic” species like tigers or gorillas, say researchers Anthony Ives and Bradley Cardinale, conservation programs should focus on whole ecosystems. They support their contention with an […]

National Park Service employees muzzled on budget shortfalls and other problems

Bush addresses NPS employees in Sequoia National Park. Photo: NPS. It’s the reverse of the Midas touch — instead of turning to gold, everything they touch turns to shit.” That’s how Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, explained the recent activities of the Bush administration’s National Park Service to Muckraker. “Parks […]

A Rush and a Swoosh and the Land Is Ours

Nike and Other Outdoor Gear Makers Lobby for Roadless Rule A coalition of large manufacturers of outdoor gear is lobbying in support of the so-called roadless rule, put in place by President Clinton to protect nearly 60 million acres of undeveloped national forest from road-building and other development. Organized by enviro groups, the coalition — […]

Heavy Heart

Driving Is Bad for You Driving too much may not just be bad for the planet — it may be bad for your heart as well. According to new research by the U.S. EPA, tiny particulates that pollute the air inside cars can aggravate existing heart conditions. Rolling your windows up and closing your vents […]