Latest Articles

Trash Cows

South Africa Contemplates Legislation to Reduce Solid Waste Hoping to stem a rising tide of solid waste, South Africa is introducing a new tax on consumer goods designed to discourage trash dumping and promote recycling. The tax would amount to a compulsory deposit on items ranging from bottles and cans to car tires and plastic […]

Good Judgment

Judge Rules Against Utility Company in Federal Clean Air Act Case A utility company in Ohio violated federal clean air laws by failing to install pollution controls when upgrading seven of its power plants, a judge ruled yesterday. The precedent-setting case marks the first time a federal judge has ruled against a utility in one […]

Raze the Alarm!

Conservative Group Sues Bush Administration Over Climate Report Europe is sweltering, Pakistan is flooding, Alaska is melting, and China is in the grips of a devastating drought, but has any of this convinced the skeptics that global climate change is a reality? On the contrary: The conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute sued the Bush administration yesterday […]

A Tern for the Better

Judge Orders Army Corps to Lower Missouri River Water Level In a victory for environmentalists, a federal judge in Minnesota has ordered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to lower water levels in the Missouri River to protect three endangered species. The ruling represents the latest twist in a 20-year battle that pits enviros against […]

Zuni tribe member Pablo Padilla talks about beating back a strip mine

Earlier this week, Native Americans and environmentalists won a surprising victory when a power company abandoned plans to build a highly controversial coal mine in New Mexico. Zuni Salt Lake. Photo: Zuni Salt Lake Coalition. For 20 years, the Salt River Project, an Arizona-based utility company, had sought to build an 18,000-acre strip mine near […]

The Postman Always Recycles Twice

U.K. to Increase Recycling of Junk Mail 70 Percent Over 10 Years The U.S. has finally got a “Do Not Call” registry to ward off would-be telemarketers — but will it ever get a “Do Not Mail” registry to stem the endless tide of junk mail? Maybe not, but across the Atlantic, the U.K. is […]

Working on the Chain Gang

California Cancels Use of Prison Labor to Recycle Electronics California will no longer use underpaid federal prisoners to recycle the tons of potentially dangerous electronics discarded by state workers. The decision to stop shipping e-waste to prisons came in response to pressure from environmental and labor activists, who also successfully protested a similar arrangement by […]

Greens plan to field a presidential candidate in 2004 — consequences be damned

For the 2004 presidential race, the Green die is cast. “The Green Party emerged from a national meeting … increasingly certain that it will run a presidential candidate in next year’s election, all but settling a debate within the group over how it should approach the 2004 contest,” the Washington Post reported on July 21. […]

Let the Games Be Green

Enviros Accuse 2004 Athens Olympic Organizers of Green Failings Organizers of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens are already getting poor scores from environmentalists, who say the Greeks have missed numerous opportunities to make the games more eco-friendly. Greece won its bid to host the games in part by pledging to protect vulnerable natural and […]

Mass Destruction of Weapons

Chemical Weapons Incineration in Anniston, Ala., Delayed Just as local residents were scrambling for gas masks, the U.S. Army announced yesterday that it would delay startup of a controversial chemical-weapons incinerator in Anniston, Ala., until Friday, when a federal judge can consider an environmental group’s request for a temporary restraining order against the facility. The […]