Latest Articles

How to find cleaner, greener beef and fix our broken food-safety system

In December, the vision of a “downer” cow stricken with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) caused indigestion in more than a few Americans, especially those who’d eaten beef in one of the six Western states in which the “mad” cow’s meat might have been sold. The potential hazards of this disease have been apparent since Britain’s […]

Shout, Trout, Let It All Out

Western Hunters and Anglers Oppose Energy Bill A group of outdoor enthusiasts descended on Washington, D.C., Wednesday to lobby against attempts by Republicans to revive the omnibus energy bill, defeated in the Senate last year. They object to provisions in the bill that would drastically increase oil and gas development on prime hunting and fishing […]

Oily Residue

Judge Imposes $4.5 Billion in Damages in Exxon Valdez Case A federal judge in Alaska on Wednesday imposed $4.5 billion in punitive damages on ExxonMobil Corp. for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil tanker spill in Prince William Sound. The judgment marks the third time the case has been through federal court; on two previous occasions, […]

Vultural Phenomenon

Indian Vultures Near Extinction Due to Cattle Painkiller Three vulture species in India are nearing extinction at an unprecedented rate due to a common painkiller used on cattle in the region. The drug, diclofenac, is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory in the same class as ibuprofen. It has been widely used on humans for decades; it was […]

Oversight Out of Mind

Bush Relaxes Safety at Nuke Facilities The Bush administration has a new plan to waive some safety standards at federal nuclear facilities. The administration apparently didn’t like being directed by Congress in 2002 to strictly enforce safety standards at the nuke sites — though, in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, you […]

Round and Round They Go

Florida’s Top Environmental Regulator Takes Job With Company He Regulated Florida’s top environmental official, David Struhs, resigned Wednesday to take a job with International Paper, a company he did controversial favors for while in office. As head of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Struhs received mixed reviews from enviros, with some lauding his tough […]

EPA attempts to defuse MTBE issue in New Hampshire

Folks who paid close attention to the speeches of New Hampshire primary victor John Kerry in recent weeks would have noticed an emphasis on MTBE — a gasoline additive that makes fuel burn more efficiently and cleanly, but is suspected to be carcinogenic* and widely known to contaminate groundwater. To outsiders, this may have seemed […]

Next They’ll Get Rid of All the Stop Signs

Bush Admin. to Eliminate Pesticide Regulations It Doesn’t Obey The provision of the Endangered Species Act that requires the U.S. EPA to consult with two other federal agencies when licensing new pesticides will be formally abandoned, if the Bush administration has its way. Government officials concede that the provision — meant to involve the U.S. […]

Irrigation Irritation

Agricultural Water Efficiency May Do More Harm Than Good Using water more efficiently in farming may ultimately increase long-term water shortages, warn some water experts. Although efficiency efforts — such as lining irrigation ditches to prevent leaks and delivering water directly to roots rather than flooding fields — are touted as a solution to problems […]

Tempest in a Teapot

Government to Bury CO2 in Teapot Dome Oil Field The U.S. Department of Energy is planning to bury some 1.6 million tons of carbon dioxide a year underneath the Teapot Dome oil field in central Wyoming, in the largest carbon-sequestration test project ever undertaken. The process, which involves compressing CO2 into liquid form and injecting […]