Latest Articles

Drug Busting

Enviros Sue USDA Over Biopharmaceuticals A coalition of green groups and consumer advocates took the U.S. Department of Agriculture to court yesterday in an effort to halt experimental planting of “biopharmaceutical crops,” plants genetically engineered to produce medicine. The coalition, which includes Friends of the Earth and the Center for Food Safety, wants the USDA […]

Chromium and Punishment

New Jersey Wins $17 Million Settlement in Chromium Case A 20-year battle over chromium pollution in northern New Jersey came to an end yesterday when three companies agreed to pony up $17 million to clean hundreds of sites contaminated by the deadly chemical. From the 1890s to the 1950s, Honeywell International, Tierra Solutions, and PPG […]

The Non-Peace Non-Dividend

U.K. Cuts Funds for Amazon Protection to Pay for Operations in Iraq In the latest evidence that war is bad for the environment, biodiversity in the Amazon rainforest stands to suffer because of the conflict in Iraq. Sounds a bit roundabout, but the reason is simple: money. Straining to come up with almost $900 million […]

Activists and small-scale farmers are going “beyond organic” to push local foods

A-tisket, a-tasket, an organic produce basket. Photo: USDA. Organic food has hit the big time. The Whole Foods Market chain, the largest natural-foods retailer in the world, boasts 145 stores throughout North America; its leading competitor, Wild Oats, has 101 stores in 25 states and Canada. Last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture put in […]

Feel the Burn

Wildfires Likely to Worsen as Planet Warms From Southern California to the French Riviera and beyond, big wildfires have dominated headlines this year — but you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Out-of-control blazes are likely to become an even more vexing problem as climate change intensifies, say a number of scientists. Warmer weather, stronger winds, and […]

Zoo Doo Voodoo

Zoo Doo in Tokyo Will Be Used to Produce Energy A Tokyo-area zoo, weary of spending more than $275,000 a year to dispose of 1,060 tons of animal waste, has a new plan: It will ferment the droppings to create biogas that can be used as fuel. An experimental processing plant at the zoo should […]

The Bush administration is jettisoning real scientists in favor of yes-men

Craig Manson. Photo: USFWS. In the final days of October, Craig Manson, assistant Interior secretary for fish and wildlife and parks, dealt a “Godfather”-style blow to a team of government biologists that was about to release a final report with flow recommendations for the Missouri River — a blow that could have a sizable ripple […]

Butterfly Flutter: Bye!

Climate Change Could Wipe Out Monarch Butterflies Monarch butterflies could find themselves in serious trouble within 50 years because of climate change, according to new research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Monarchs make an annual migration of more than 2,000 miles from spots as far north as the U.S.-Canada […]

Winged Victory

Endangered U.K. Bird Coming Back from the Brink of Extinction Now, for a bit of good species news: One of the rarest birds in Britain, the cirl bunting, has made an impressive comeback from the brink of extinction, thanks to a proactive government plan that pays farmers to maintain their fields in cirl bunting-friendly ways. […]

L’enfant, Terrible!

Truck Pollution at U.S.-Mexico Border Is Killing Kids, Study Says Hundreds of kids have died and tens of thousands have been hospitalized in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, just south of the U.S. border, because of respiratory illnesses seemingly caused by air pollution, according to a five-year study released yesterday by the environmental watchdog group created under […]