Latest Articles

A special edition on elections and the environment

“Information is the currency of democracy,” said Thomas Jefferson, who, as the oft-cited father of democracy, presumably knew whereof he spoke. Alas, a couple of hundred years later, it seems more accurate to say that currency is the currency of democracy. Here at the height of the Information Age, information about the workings of our […]

Hey There, Tiger

ExxonMobil Contemplates Cleaning up Its Act It’s tough to think of a company with a worse reputation among environmentalists than ExxonMobil — so it comes as a pleasant surprise that the world’s largest oil and gas company may be preparing to change its tune. Historically, ExxonMobil has dismissed the importance and viability of renewable energy […]

A Chile Reception

Canadian Mining Company Halts Project in Patagonia Few places in the world are more synonymous with remote, rugged, and untouched natural splendor than Patagonia, so it was with relief that environmentalists learned that they had triumphed over a proposed mining project in southernmost South America — at least for the moment. For more than a […]

Navy Gravy

U.S. Navy Agrees to Reduce Use of Sonar System Linked to Whale Deaths In a sweet but possibly temporary victory for environmentalists, the U.S. Navy has agreed to dramatically decrease its use of a low-frequency sonar system that has been associated with the deaths of whales and other marine mammals. A court agreement announced yesterday […]

City Sickers

City Dwellers in Asia Face Rising Tide of Pollution-Related Illnesses Residents of urban areas throughout Asia will suffer from a broad range of serious health problems unless environmental conditions improve in a hurry, according to the World Health Organization. About 1.5 million Asians die every year from diseases related to air pollution, and many more […]

Coffee Roasting on an Open Fire

Eco-Friendly “Java Log” Aims for More of the Fake Firewood Market Ah, winter — icicles on the eves, smoke rising from the chimneys, a crackling fire, and emerging from it, that fragrant, familiar smell of … coffee? Yep, that’s right: A Canadian company is marketing fake logs made of recycled coffee grounds. Other fake logs, […]

Gulf Clubbed

Gulf of Mexico Beset by a Bevy of Environmental Ills The Gulf of Mexico is in deep trouble, reports the Naples Daily News in an extensive 15-part series. Named last year by the U.S. EPA as the dirtiest coastal body of water in the U.S., the gulf takes a beating from leaking hog-waste lagoons, fertilizer […]

On Thin Ice

Sierra Nevada Glaciers Are Shrinking Glaciers that have topped California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains for the past 1,000 years are shrinking markedly and even vanishing altogether, according to research by scientists from Portland State University and the U.S. Geological Survey. Seven Sierra Nevada glaciers that were surveyed over the summer are smaller than they were a […]

Dump Struck

Bush Lets Mining Companies Dump on More Public Land The Bush administration announced yet another environmental rollback on Friday, following a pattern of releasing such news right before a holiday weekend, presumably in hopes that it will slip past the public’s notice. This time the beneficiaries are mining companies, which, thanks to a reinterpretation of […]

Solar Flair

U.S. Companies Are Getting Hip to Solar A growing number of U.S. companies are installing solar-power systems at their facilities, driven at least in part by government tax credits and incentives that make solar more financially attractive. Johnson & Johnson, for example, has built a large solar installation on the roof of a major facility […]