Latest Articles
-
Lake Woe-be-here
The pristine environment around Lake Baikal in Siberia, the world’s deepest freshwater lake, is endangered by a joint Russian-Chinese plan to build an oil pipeline through the region, Greenpeace warned yesterday. A month ago, Russian and Chinese oil companies signed a 25-year deal to pump 30 million tons of Russian crude oil to China every […]
-
Down, but Not Out
Here’s a spot of good news: Releases of toxic chemicals by U.S. industries declined 15 percent between 2000 and 2001 (the most recent year for which data are available) and dropped by more than 50 percent since 1988. That’s the latest word from the U.S. EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory. Of course, that means there are […]
-
Clear and Present Danger?
For months, the U.S. EPA has withheld findings indicating that President Bush’s proposed “Clear Skies” legislation would lead to more pollution-related deaths than a bipartisan Senate bill to fight air pollution, and that the bipartisan bill would not be much more costly than Clear Skies. A leaked copy of the EPA’s data showed, among other […]
-
A Bug’s Death
The “splatometer” is poised to become the next hip conservation tool. Worried that insect numbers seem to be falling in Britain, and that the drop may be leading to a decline in birds, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is gearing up for a nationwide survey next year to gather data on insect […]
-
Kirk Henderson, Integrated Roadside Vegetation Management Program
Kirk Henderson is program manager for the Integrated Roadside Vegetation Management Program, a project of the Native Roadside Vegetation Center at the University of Northern Iowa. Monday, 30 Jun 2003 CEDAR FALLS, Iowa In 1989, Iowa passed a bill creating a new state program — Integrated Roadside Vegetation Management (IRVM). Groundwater protection was the objective. […]
-
The Rhode to Recovery
Enviros and river lovers are celebrating the remarkable recovery of the Blackstone River in Rhode Island, the result of a 30-year grassroots effort to clean up what locals once dubbed the Black Hole of the Northeast. The river, lined by many industrial revolution-era mills, had suffered from more than 200 years of pollution and was […]
-
New clean-energy coalitions talk up national security and the economy
Two ambitious clean-energy coalitions made headlines this month, sweeping out from under the rug vital and far-reaching environmental issues that the Bush administration has steadfastly ignored. The Energy Future Coalition, boasting endorsements from heavies on both sides of the party line as well as from high-profile industry and environmental interests, called for a one-third reduction […]
-
The Feminine Mistake
Water contaminated with residue from birth-control pills can bend the gender of male fish, according to Canadian researchers who presented scientific findings last week to the American Chemistry Council. In the most controlled experiment to date to examine the effects of estrogen on ecosystems, Canadian scientists deposited birth-control pills in a remote lake in Ontario […]
-
Clear Skies Looking Dirty
One of President Bush’s most ambitious environmental proposals is in jeopardy — the goal of cutting mercury emissions from coal-burning power plants 46 percent by 2010. Many in the utility industry are complaining that such a requirement, which is part of Bush’s “Clear Skies” legislation, would cost far more than expected and could force some […]
