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If Only Enron Had Known About This

New Erasable Ink Could Be Boon to Office Recycling Invisible ink was once the province of spies, then of children — and now of environmentalists? Beginning Monday, tech industry giant Toshiba will sell a new, disappearing ink in Japan that is designed to enable easier reuse and recycling. The ink, called “e-blue,” can be used […]

Give Us This Day Our Daily Frankenbread

Next GM Product to Hit Market Could Be Your Daily Bread The stakes in the debate over genetically modified (GM) food are about to jump significantly, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration prepares to complete a safety and nutrition review of wheat that has been genetically altered by biotech giant Monsanto. To date, GM […]

Putin: His Foot in His Mouth?

Russia Might Ratify Kyoto Protocol, After All Mark Twain once famously commented that rumors of his death had been greatly exaggerated. Much the same could be said of the Kyoto Protocol on global climate change, which was pronounced dead by gun-jumping news sources (Grist among them, we regret to say) when Andrei Illarionov, chief economic […]

Jumping for Joy

Famed Frog Rediscovered After Years of Presumed Local Extinction Speaking of Mark Twain, the amphibian he made famous in “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” has been discovered in the eponymous California region, 34 years after it was thought to have disappeared. A few of the threatened frogs were found by the 6- and […]

Through Sick and Thin

“Healthy Forests” Becomes Law While Endangered Species Rules Are Relaxed President Bush signed his “Healthy Forests” initiative into law yesterday, a move that, never mind the name, left many environmentalists feeling sick. The Bush administration says the law will prevent fires by increasing the amount of logging permissible in forests, especially near populated areas, but […]

News Flash: Air Pollution Bad for You

Exposure to Air Pollution Increases Risk of Developing Lung Cancer Air pollution has long been associated with respiratory ailments such as asthma. Now, it seems that poor air quality may also increase the risk of developing lung cancer. A team of Norwegian experts studied more than 16,000 men over nearly 30 years and found that […]

Anglers Not Obtuse

Dismayed by Enviro Policies, Some Anglers and Fishers Turn Against Bush Put President Bush in waders or camouflage and, what with his cowboy hat and rugged Western looks, he could easily grace the cover of Field &amp Stream. Yet the hunt-and-fish crowd, normally a loyal constituency of the Republican Party, is increasingly unhappy with the […]

The Icky 500

New EPA Chief Calls for Cleaner Air in 500 Days Newly minted U.S. EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt gave his first major speech yesterday, promising to embark on the “most productive period of air-quality improvement in American history.” The former Utah governor spoke of a 500-day plan for cleaner air but offered no details on it. […]

Markey-Mark and the Nukey Bunch

GAO Finds Shortage of Money for Closing Atomic Reactors Nearly half of the nuclear-reactor owners in the U.S. are not setting aside sufficient money to decommission the plants when they are shuttered, according to a report by the General Accounting Office. As a result, 42 plants might not have enough money to be safely shut […]

Skiing Downhill

Global Climate Change Could Spell End of Winter Sports Industry Bad news for ski bums: As global climate change heats up the planet and pushes snow lines ever higher, many winter resorts in Europe might have to shut down. Less expensive, low-altitude destinations will be particularly hard hit, with some slopes in Italy, Austria, and […]