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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 […]

A Pregnant Pause

Women who were exposed to the pesticide DDT while in the womb had more difficulties getting pregnant as adults than did those who had no exposure, according to a new study published in the British medical journal Lancet. “This is the first research that shows it is possible that these exposures can cause problems 30 […]

Read U.S. EPA Deputy Administrator Linda Fisher’s letter of resignation.

Linda Fisher, second in command at the U.S. EPA, resigned from her post as deputy administrator on June 26, 2003, just one day before her boss, Christie Whitman, stepped down. Like Whitman, Fisher cited her family as her reason for leaving, but Beltway scuttlebutt suggested that she was upset at being passed over to head […]

Pump and Circumstance

The U.S. Supreme Court announced today that it will hear a case about the Florida Everglades that tests the scope of the federal government’s ability to fight pollution. At issue is how much power the feds have in controlling the amount of water pumped across the Everglades basin. State water managers say they should not […]

Fisher Cuts Bait

U.S. EPA Administrator Christie Whitman officially stepped down today — and she wasn’t alone. The agency’s second-in-command, Linda Fisher, unexpectedly resigned as well, leaving the EPA without an obvious leader until a permanent successor is nominated and approved, a process that is expected to take many months. Like Whitman, Fisher expressed pride in the work […]

Donkey Kick

The Bush administration received a serious dressing-down in absentia last night over its misbegotten environmental policies, as five of the nine Democratic hopefuls aired their own green views during a League of Conservation Voters forum held in Los Angeles. Rather than detailing the differences in their own positions, most of the candidates who were present […]