Latest Articles

A solar entrepreneur answers questions

What environmental organization are you affiliated with? What does it do? Greenstar. We invest in solar-powered community centers for small villages in the developing world — currently in the West Bank, Jamaica, India, Ghana, Brazil, and Tibet. The community center provides basic electricity and a connection to the world through the Internet, which enables the […]

Apocalypse Later

Pentagon Report Details Apocalyptic Climate Change Scenario Major European cities are submerged and become uninhabitable. Famine spreads across the globe. Countries race to develop nuclear capabilities to fend off invaders seeking food and resources. China and India devolve into chaos. The U.S. becomes a large fortress to prevent an onslaught of millions of refugees. “Once […]

A Green and Pleasant Continent

Europe’s Green Parties Unite Thirty-two national Green parties united on Saturday to become the European Green Party, predicting that a unified voice will gain them influence and votes in the coming elections. The Greens, now the first pan-European political party, will run under a common banner and with a common agenda focused on environmental protection, […]

Turning Over an Old Reef

Great Barrier Reef Is Doomed, Says Report Australia’s Great Barrier Reef — the world’s largest chain of living coral and one of the seven wonders of the natural world — will be almost completely destroyed by rising sea temperatures by 2050, predicts a new report released by Queensland University’s Center for Marine Studies. “Coral cover […]

Bush plan to overhaul CAFE standards is a mixed bag

Clean up the bus, gus. Photo: NREL. The Bush administration has taken to singing the clean-car gospel lately, but it’s not quite hitting all the notes. Last month, U.S. EPA chief Mike Leavitt joined Detroit kingpins in a splashy D.C. conference to trumpet the arrival of new vehicles and fuels that reduce sulfur emissions — […]

To Your Health!

Science Panel Okays Pesticide Testing on Humans A National Academy of Sciences panel said yesterday that testing of pesticides and other toxic chemicals on human subjects — including, in appropriate circumstances, children — is ethical as long as such tests meet stringent safety and scientific standards. The decision came as a surprise to environmental groups, […]

A More Perfect Union

Sierra Club and Auto Workers Unite Against Bush Fuel-Economy Plan Bush’s new fuel-economy plan is even ticking off the United Auto Workers union. The UAW has often been at odds with enviros over auto efficiency standards, but now it’s teaming up with the Sierra Club to fight the administration’s proposal. In a joint op-ed published […]

Barton Fink

Big Recipient of Industry Money to Head House Energy Committee With Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.) retiring at the end of this year, the plum leadership spot on the House Energy and Commerce Committee is poised to go to Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), a true friend of the energy industry if ever there was one. Barton […]

Prize and Shine

Prizes Go to Community Programs Doing Environmental Good Competition for the U.N.’s Equator Prize — rewarded for community initiatives that reduce poverty and preserve environmental health — was so intense this year that there were seven winners instead of the normal six. The prize, awarded by the Equator Initiative, amounts to $30,000 — plus a […]

North Dakota “reduces” pollution by measuring it differently

From Badlands to worse. Photo: NPS. To Theodore Roosevelt, a man who battled chronic asthma, the remote Badlands of North Dakota were as beloved for their fresh air as for their dramatic views and big game. “Wildflowers and sagebrush spiced the clean, dry North Dakotan breeze. Roosevelt’s asthmatic lungs rejoiced in this air, as did […]