Latest Articles

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark

Lights Out in Skyscrapers Can Save Birds Everyone knows that turning off the lights saves energy — but did you know it can save birds too? Migratory birds are drawn to lights in skyscrapers, an attraction that too often causes them to crash into the buildings’ plate-glass windows or die of exhaustion after flying confusedly […]

A look back at Reagan’s environmental record

Where’s the white hat? Photo: Eisenhower Library. The news of President Reagan‘s passing has sent waves of emotion and rapturous eulogizing through the Republican Party and beyond. Amidst all the heartfelt tributes, it’s clear that the 40th president of the United States is regarded as the true political father figure of George W. Bush — […]

Answers about thermal depolymerization

Dear Umbra, What is thermal depolymerization? AnnFreehold, N.J. Dearest Ann, A polymer is a large group of linked molecules. We’re made of polymers such as protein, eat polymers such as starch, and wear polymers such as leather and nylon. Thermal depolymerization is a heat-driven process that breaks down or transforms polymers into the shorter chains […]

Rue the Day

Paris May Ban SUVs From City Streets Parisian officials have determined that SUVs are no longer in vogue. The left-leaning city council yesterday passed a resolution that urges the capital’s Socialist mayor, Bertrand Delanoe, to effectively ban the bulky four-wheel-drive vehicles from the city center during peak pollution times and deny their owners parking permits […]

Those Were the Lost Days of Our Lives

Bush Pollution Plan Falls Short on Saving Lives More than 90 percent of the 23,600 deaths caused in the U.S. each year by pollution from old coal-fired power plants could be prevented if the federal government adopted tough emissions regulations, according to a new study, but President Bush’s preferred pollution-control plan falls far short of […]

Eats, Shoots and Leaves

China Finds More Giant Pandas than Expected Good news on the endangered species front (and you didn’t think there was such a thing!): A comprehensive survey has found 40 percent more giant pandas living in the wild in China than previously thought — nearly 1,600. The higher numbers may be the result of more sophisticated […]

Cobra Power

Hydrogen-Powered Sports Car May Sex Up Clean Energy The hydrogen revolution got an injection of sex appeal yesterday with the launch of the Hydrogen Shelby Cobra, a version of one of the world’s most admired sports cars. The new model, being sold by the Los Angeles-based Hydrogen Car Co., uses hydrogen to power a traditional […]

Prime Cut

California Plans Sizeable Cuts to CO2 Emissions from Autos California is moving right along with plans to cut carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles and hence make a dent in global warming. A regulation now being drafted will require new cars and light trucks sold in the state to emit less CO2 beginning in 2008, with […]

Declaration of Dependence

ExxonMobil Chief Says U.S. Can’t Shed Dependence on Mideast Oil The head of ExxonMobil — the bete noire of oil companies, from enviros’ perspective — declared this week that the U.S. cannot achieve energy independence and shouldn’t even try. ExxonMobil Chair Lee Raymond, speaking in Washington, D.C., suggested cozying up to Middle Eastern nations because […]

Raise Your Hand If You’re Insured

Insurance Industry Wants Action on Climate Change While the oil industry may be willfully blind to the dangers of fossil-fuel use and climate change, the insurance industry certainly is not. A new report from the Association of British Insurers warns that insurance costs are likely to climb in coming years as insurance companies are hit […]