Latest Articles

Crop the Insanity

USDA to Revisit Rules Governing GM Crops The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Thursday that it will begin revising rules governing genetically modified crops. Several of the proposed revisions sounded like good news to wary enviros. One proposed a wide-ranging environmental impact statement assessing the ecological impact of current regulations, something environmental and consumer […]

Streaming Media

Judge Bans Pesticide Use Near Northwest Salmon Runs A federal judge Thursday banned the use of a wide range of pesticides in and around thousands of miles of waterways in the Northwest frequented by endangered salmon, and required stores selling seven of the most dangerous banned pesticides to display signs reading “salmon hazard.” U.S. District […]

Veteran environmental leader gives Kerry the green light

Ted gets Kerry-ed away. Photo: Lou Dematteis, Kerry for President. A mischievous grin spread across John Kerry’s face last week as he was introducing Ted Kennedy, his fellow Massachusetts senator, to an Iowa crowd. It caught my eye because I hadn’t seen Kerry smile for quite a while. “I’m now pleased to introduce,” he said, […]

Rhode Island lawsuit pinpoints lead poisoning as an environmental, not medical, problem

In the spring of 2000, in Manchester, N.H., a two-year-old Sudanese girl named Sunday Abek, just three weeks removed from an Egyptian refugee camp, was treated at an emergency room for a low-grade fever and vomiting. A throat culture turned up positive for strep, and she was sent home with an antibiotic prescription. Three weeks […]

Citigroup Hug

Citigroup Adopts Green-Friendly Policies After four years of pressure and protests from the Rainforest Action Network, the world’s largest financial institution announced today that it will adopt a comprehensive corporate policy stressing eco-friendly investment. Citigroup will carefully assess financing requests for projects that might adversely affect natural habitats and will not finance any logging in […]

Zinc Positive

Supreme Court Sides With EPA in Clean Air Case A narrowly divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the U.S. EPA has the authority to override state government decisions on what constitutes the “best available” anti-pollution technology. Enviros hailed the decision as a victory for clean air, while libertarian think tanks, a coalition of […]

Rubbers? Ducky!

Condom Factory in Brazil to Fight AIDS, Deforestation Giving new meaning to the promise of “protection,” a new condom factory in northwest Brazil is expected to not only fight the spread of AIDS in that country (one of the world’s hardest-hit by the disease) but also to slow the destruction of native old-growth forests. The […]

Genetic Drift

GM Will Be Difficult to Contain, Say Scientists Current techniques for preventing the unplanned spread of genetically modified organisms are in their infancy and are unlikely to prevent some GM plants and animals from having unforeseen health or environmental effects, said a panel of scientists from the National Research Council on Tuesday. While the most […]

Fool Proof

Patently Absurd

GM Giant Monsanto Sues Canadian Farmer Speaking of genetic drift: The Canadian Supreme Court began hearing arguments on Tuesday in a case that has become a cause celebre for both opponents and fans of agricultural biotechnology. Agro-giant Monsanto Co. sued Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser when its patented biotech canola was found growing in his fields […]