Latest Articles

Flexible Fools

Automakers Can Dodge Fuel-Economy Rules with Flex-Fuel Vehicles U.S. automakers are dramatically boosting production of “flexible-fuel” cars and trucks that can run on either gasoline or E85, a mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gas that results in lower greenhouse gas emissions — but this trend is more likely to harm the environment […]

And other words from readers

  Re: Passing the Bucket Dear Editor: Bravo — some of the best news I’ve heard yet. Could schools get involved with a Bucket Brigade? Especially high school chemistry or environmental science classes or environmental clubs? If every school did a bucket, maybe air quality would improve in their cities. I love the concept. Karen […]

Double Billing

Surprise! Senate Passes 2002 Democratic Energy Bill — Again In an unexpected 11th-hour reversal, the U.S. Senate resolved its long deadlock over a comprehensive energy bill by passing, for the second time, a version of the measure approved last year when the Democrats were in control. The Republican leadership said they agreed to the earlier […]

Howard’s Beginning

Howard Dean Calls for Renewables, Fuel Efficiency, Global Cooperation Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean delivered the first major environmental speech of his campaign in San Francisco yesterday, calling for increased use of renewable resources, better fuel efficiency, and the elevation of the U.S. EPA to a cabinet-level agency. Specifically, Dean said that as president, he […]

Pigs in Open Space

Developers Preserve Open Spaces to Lure Clients and Please Regulators Multimillion-dollar houses, spas, golf courses, tennis courts, open space — sounds like the old Sesame Street game of “one of these things is not like the others.” But it turns out that untrammeled wilderness is one of the hottest new amenities people look for in […]

Julia Louis-Dreyfus and husband Brad Hall discuss their eco-friendly hideaway

Long before they joined the cast of “Saturday Night Live,” before she played Elaine on “Seinfeld” and he became a writer/producer for shows ranging from “The Single Guy” to “Frasier,” Julia Louis-Dreyfus and husband Brad Hall were devout environmentalists. Now they are key players in Hollywood’s green vanguard. Over the past decade she has been […]

4 X 4 X 10 Mpg

Popularity of Pickup Trucks Spreads Beyond Farms Once upon a time, the humble pickup truck was the vehicle of choice for hard-working, down-home, country-music kind of guys. These days, the pickup, in ever swankier incarnations, is coveted by a far broader audience, from stockbrokers to soccer moms — a trend that has sobering implications for […]

Their Own Private Park Service

Former Interior Secretaries Excoriate Plan to Privatize Park Service “Radical,” “reckless,” “hellbent” — those were some of the words Bruce Babbitt and Stewart Udall used to describe the Bush administration’s plan to privatize much of the National Park Service. Prior to this week, the two former secretaries of the Interior Department — both of them […]

The Sahara Club

Global Climate Change Heats Up Africa It’s the cruelest of ironies: Africa, the continent that contributes the least to global climate change, is suffering the most from its effects, according to a study conducted by scientists at Great Britain’s Hadley Center, one of the world’s leading facilities for climate-change research. And here’s another irony: Part […]

The Fine Line

British Polluters Undeterred by Penalties Some of the biggest and best known companies in the United Kingdom are also some of its worst polluters — but neither financial penalties nor shame seem able to keep them in line, according to the Environment Agency’s fifth annual Spotlight report on the environmental violations of companies in England […]