Latest Articles

An improbable plan would use Arctic Refuge drilling proceeds to fund transportation projects

Beltway insiders waited with bated breath yesterday to see if Sen. Peter Domenici (R-N.M.) would succeed in tacking his stalled-out energy bill onto the huge highway transportation bill now wending its way through Congress. The consensus from his Senate Republican colleagues? No deal. In need of refuge. Photo: FWS. But another cockamamie plan that would […]

Snowmobefuddlement

Judge Issues Yet Another Reversal of Yellowstone Snowmobile Ban An already-confusing winter for tourists and tour operators in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks got more muddled yesterday, when a federal judge overturned severe restrictions on snowmobiling in the parks. For those of you keeping score at home, a quick rundown of the story so […]

Ballast Off!

Invasive Species in Ballast Water Messing With World’s Oceans Ships that carry ballast water — used to balance and stabilize the vessels — also carry thousands of aquatic species across the globe to foreign habitats, where they can have environmentally catastrophic effects. Recognizing this as one of the top four environmental problems facing the world’s […]

Natural Gas, Unnatural Allies

Unlikely Coalition Opposes Bush’s Plan to Drill in New Mexico New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) is leading an improbable coalition of enviros, ranchers, hunters, and property-rights activists in a fight against the Bush administration’s plans to drill for natural gas in the Otero Mesa area of New Mexico, a vast and largely untouched expanse […]

When Irresistible Cuts Meet Immovable Pork

Senate Republicans Flailing as They Try to Push Through Energy Bill Senate Republicans are having a bad week. A proposal to push the energy bill through Congress by attaching it to the more popular and pressing transportation bill was roundly rejected yesterday. President Bush told Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) on Monday that he […]

Bush nominates eco-hostile lobbyist to federal appeals court

My, oh, Myers. Photo: DOI. Environmental advocates are bristling over President Bush’s nomination of William G. Myers III to the San Francisco-based U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, calling Myers the most anti-environment judicial candidate the president has ever put forward. With rhetoric like that being thrown about, don’t be surprised if Myers becomes the […]

The Gas Is Always Greener …

American Cars Conspicuously Absent from List of 2004’s Greenest Vehicles An annual ranking of the year’s “greenest” and “meanest” automobiles released today found America’s Big Three auto manufacturers absent from the former list — and well-represented on the latter. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, widely considered a top source for info on eco-friendly […]

Cloud Nein

World’s Cloud Forests Threatened The world’s cloud forests, which strip moisture from clouds and supply millions of poor people in developing nations with fresh water, are in danger of being wiped out by climate change, claims a report released Monday by the U.N. and the World Conservation Union at the Convention on Biological Diversity in […]

Ash Holes

Enviro Groups Ask EPA to Halt Ash Dumping A coalition of 125 environmental groups has filed a petition with the U.S. EPA, asking it to immediately halt the dumping of waste ash from coal-fired power plants. They claim the ash contains a variety of toxins and pollutes ground, surface, and drinking water. The EPA promised […]

Snoop Doggy Doggs

Robotic Dogs Sniff Out Environmental Toxins Engineers at Yale have developed robotic dogs that can sniff out environmental toxins at contaminated sites. The mechanical critters were originally designed and marketed as toys by Sony and other companies, but an intrepid crew at Yale modified the robo-puppies with sensors that detect environmentally damaging chemical compounds and […]