Latest Articles
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Salt Water Daffy
Climate Change Alters Salt Levels in Atlantic Ocean, to Europe’s Dismay The Atlantic Ocean seems so vast that it’s almost impossible to imagine fundamentally altering it — and yet, its salt levels have changed so drastically over the last 40 years because of global warming that the whole flow of ocean water is being disrupted, […]
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Bank Warms Chile
Bank Protects Land in Tierra del Fuego Environmentalists in Chile have reason to be muy feliz of late. First, the government agreed to turn a vast tract of land owned by U.S. multimillionaire Doug Tompkins into a public nature reserve. Now, investment bank Goldman Sachs has announced that it will create another such reserve in […]
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A Smog-and-Pony Show
Bush Team Unveils Plan to Cut Smog-Forming Pollution A new rule proposed yesterday by the Bush administration would cut emissions of smog- and soot-causing pollutants from power plants in the Midwest and East — but not deeply or quickly enough, say enviros. The plan would reduce sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide pollution by implementing a […]
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Oh, You Meant Clean
Bush Administration Scraps Proposed Changes to Clean Water Act In another policy turnaround, the U.S. EPA and Army Corps of Engineers jointly announced yesterday that they will not move forward with proposed changes to the Clean Water Act that would have sharply reduced the number of waterways and wetlands protected from development. The proposed rules, […]
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We Love to Fly and It Shows
Britain Mulls Ways to Limit Impact of Aviation Industry With the holidays looming, the airports and skies are fuller than ever — unfortunately for the environment. Air travel is the most environmentally damaging way to get around, with planes using vast quantities of fossil fuels and emitting toxic byproducts and greenhouse gases. The issue is […]
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Judge to Bush: Are You Yellowstoned?
Federal Judge Reinstates Clinton Snowmobile Ban in Yellowstone In a sharply worded ruling issued just hours before the start of the winter snowmobiling season in Yellowstone National Park, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan nixed the Bush administration’s plans to allow nearly 1,000 snowmobiles in the park every day. The 49-page ruling pointed out that a […]
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May the Enforcement Be With You
EPA Enforcement Officials Removed From Homeland Security Duty But wait, there’s more! The Bush administration abruptly changed tack on yet another issue this week, when it announced that it will stop diverting federal environmental enforcement officials from pollution investigations to homeland security matters. The U.S. EPA will also stop using enforcement officials as bodyguards, chauffeurs, […]
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The Supreme Court may alleviate Cheney’s energy task force troubles
On Monday, the Supreme Court offered Vice President Dick Cheney a possible escape hatch from the great energy task force imbroglio. The high court agreed to hear an appeal from Cheney, who for more than a year has been defying a federal judge’s order to pony up documents about his infamous 2001 task force. Those […]
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The Weak in Review
Bush’s Mercury Plan Was Rejected by Clinton EPA as Too Weak The Bush administration’s new plan for regulating mercury emissions from power plants is virtually the same as one that the Clinton administration considered and dismissed because it appeared to violate the federal Clean Air Act, former U.S. EPA officials said yesterday. The Bush proposal […]
