Latest Articles

A visual guide to global pollution

New Scientist has a nifty piece running.  Eighteen months of satellite data was aggregated to show a pictorial representation of concentrations of nitrogen dioxide around the globe -- i.e., pollution.  Things aren't looking too good for the American Northeast, bits of Europe, or China.

Victoria’s Dirty Secret

Enviro group launches campaign against Victoria’s Secret catalogs An enviro group called ForestEthics has trained its sights on the Victoria’s Secret catalog, urging the company to make the shift to more eco-friendly paper and avoid fiber that comes from endangered forests. The real target is Victoria’s parent company, Limited Brands Inc. Limited Brands procures coated […]

Martial Flaw

Bush admin fights off environmental restraints on military In the presidential campaign of 2000, Bush vowed to force the military to “comply with environmental laws by which all of us must live,” but according to a comprehensive investigation by USA Today, he has done the opposite. Since assuming power, the Bush White House has worked […]

The White Man’s Halliburton

White House favoring Halliburton over clean water OK, you might want to sit down, because we’ve got a real shocker here: The Bush administration, headed by two former oil executives, one of whom was the CEO of Halliburton, from which he still receives payments, may be pulling strings to help shield the company against environmental […]

Umbra on UV ratings

Dear Umbra, Our radio station provides daily information regarding ultraviolet ratings. I am curious about what these ratings actually represent, and why they change so dramatically. For example, for the past few years, most ratings have been between three and seven. Now we are getting ratings of 10. I doubt the ratings are directly related […]

The flu?

Following up on Shalini's post below:  Where the $#%! was the environment last night?  I actually think Bob Schieffer did a decent job overall, but he found time to ask about gay marriage, strong women, and ... the flu?  Listen, I love marriage, and gay people, and strong women, and I don't like the flu, and I don't want strong married gay women in this country coughing and sniffling, but those are relatively peripheral issues, are they not, compared to mercury in our fish? Soot in our air? Shortages in our water supply?  Oil and gas execs swarming over our public land like ants on a discarded Krispy Kreme?

Kerry wisely ignored the flu question and addressed health care squarely.  Bush unwisely ignored jobs questions and talked about education -- several times.  And Bob Scheiffer unaccountably ignored one policy area about which majorities in this country consistently express concern, over which the executive branch has considerable control: the environment.  A full debate transcript is here.

Bush-appointed judges rule against environmental regs more often than others, report finds

Bush speaks his mind at the second debate. Photo: Joe Angeles/WUSTL. President Bush‘s remarks about Supreme Court appointees during the debate last Friday left many Americans scratching their heads, what with his perplexing reference to the 1857 Dred Scott slavery case (a coded wink to pro-life factions, as it turns out) and some classic Dubya-style […]

Final prez debate

Just watched the final presidential debate, and I guess the environment isn't a domestic issue. I say that because it came up more in the first debate, which focused on foreign policy, than it did last night.

Am I the only one repulsed by the cheesy question about strong women? Do compliments about Laura Bush really matter more to voters than arsenic in drinking water, global climate change, and the end of Superfund?

Another voice calling Kyoto a potential boon for business

L.A. Times business columnist James Flanigan has joined the ever-growing chorus asserting that Kyoto can -- even will -- be good for industry.  

"Global warming is suddenly looking like a hot business opportunity," he writes.  "The funny thing is nobody seems to fear the Kyoto Protocol anymore. In fact, some might even get rich off it."

Italy jumps on the SUV-bashing bandwagon

Europeans don't take as kindly to mobile global-warmers as do their American counterparts.  Latest country to join in the anti-SUV backlash:  Italy.  The nation's Environment Ministry is plotting to slap a new tax on big gas-guzzlers, and possibly use the funds to incentivize people to scrap old cars and buy more efficient ones, Reuters reports.