Latest Articles

I Got Mine

Unprecedented Number of Drilling Permits Issued by Feds Last year, the Bureau of Land Management issued some 4,000 oil and natural-gas drilling permits; this federal fiscal year it’s on track to issue a record 6,000. This startling jump, which BLM geologist Richard Watson called “unprecedented in the history of the BLM,” is due almost entirely, […]

A bold lawsuit may have utilities reconsidering their fight against regs

A coal-fired power plant. Photo: U.S. Geological Survey. It may have sounded like the understatement of the year when a lawsuit was filed last week against five major U.S. energy companies, alleged to be among the biggest global-warming culprits in the nation, on the legal grounds that they’re causing a “public nuisance.” In reality it […]

Bye Polar

Polar Bears Are in Peril The latest charismatic megafauna on the chopping block of the modern age is the polar bear. Despite the work of dedicated conservationists, polar-bear populations are declining and experts worry they may disappear entirely within decades. The problems are manifold. For one, toxic chemicals from industrial countries tend to settle in […]

Umbra on whole-house fans and their righteousness

Dear Umbra, We just moved to the steamy climate of Washington, D.C., from the other Washington. Faced with our first experience using air-conditioning to cool our home, we’ve got some questions about efficiency. The house we’re renting has a central AC unit that we can control with a thermostat. It also has a roof ventilation […]

The Methane Is the Message

Bush Unveils Methane Plan Yesterday, Bush administration officials unveiled a plan that would encourage the manufacture and export of technology to harvest methane emissions for use as a fuel. The administration pledged up to $53 million as seed money (expected to be matched by considerably more private investment) to help private companies develop the technology […]

Kerry, Kerry, Not Contrary

Kerry Set to Unveil Swing-State-Friendly Energy Proposals As Grist revealed yesterday, energy — or more specifically, the national-security and economic dangers of dependence on foreign oil — is to be one of John Kerry’s top four campaign issues. Kerry has traditionally sided with the conservation folks against the drill-drill-drill folks, and that has included support […]

Around the World in 28 Ways

Intrepid Travelers Highlight Green Issues And now we take a break for a moment from our customary gloom and doom to bring you a little inspiration — two tales of travel and eco-activism. First we have Chris Swain, who yesterday finished his eight-week, 315-mile swim down the Hudson River, during which he developed a rash […]

Stuporfund

Superfund Project Funding Still Inadequate According to the U.S. EPA’s own data, some 111 of the nation’s 1,230 Superfund toxic-waste sites may pose ongoing risks to nearby residents of exposure to health-threatening chemicals, and 251 may pose ongoing risks to groundwater. Superfund program analyst Melanie Hoff notes that at “about 80 percent [of Superfund sites] […]

Batting Cleanup

Fed Audit Finds Hanford Cleanup Not Working According to a federal audit released yesterday, efforts to clean up the contaminated groundwater around the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in southern Washington state have basically sucked — “largely ineffective” was the report’s more delicate phrase. Thus far the Department of Energy has spent $85 million attempting to clean […]

I’m Gonna Git You, Succor

Panel Report Recommends Monitoring of GM Foods A new report from a 13-member panel of the influential National Academy of Sciences is serving as a bit of a Rorschach test in the debate over genetically modified foods. GM opponents found succor in the panel’s warning that modifying the genetic structure of foods could “create unintended […]