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Donald Ducks

Setting the stage for a congressional standoff, the U.S. House and Senate handed in opposite votes yesterday on a Pentagon-backed measure to ease endangered-species protections on military land. Four Republican senators broke with their party for a 51-48 vote against the measure, while the House supported it 252-175. Both houses of Congress are expected to […]

They Can’t Strongarm Armstrong

A federal judge has issued an excoriating dismissal of a lawsuit filed by 22 Southern California inland cities that challenged rules requiring them to help prevent trash from reaching the ocean. The ruling, from U.S. District Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong, is significant because it dismisses the first of 13 legal challenges to new state and […]

A Grist interview with Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean

With George W. Bush boasting perhaps the worst environmental record of any president in U.S. history, it almost goes without saying that any contender in the 2004 election will appear to be an environmentalist nonpareil by comparison. Indeed, nearly every Democrat running for president is advertising himself as just that, and former Vermont Gov. Howard […]

Whittled Away

U.S. EPA Administrator Christie Whitman handed President Bush her letter of resignation yesterday, citing the desire to spend more time with her family. Whitman, who was frequently at odds with the Bush administration and constantly under fire from conservationists and industry leaders alike, did not mention political differences as a factor in her decision to […]

Read U.S. EPA Administrator Christie Whitman’s letter of resignation

Christine Todd Whitman sent the following communication to all U.S. EPA employees on May 21, 2003, the day after she resigned her post as EPA administrator. The communication includes her letter of resignation to President Bush, dated May 20, 2003. To All EPA Employees: Yesterday afternoon, I met with President Bush at the White House […]

Dela-Wherewithall

The state of Delaware, which already distinguished itself this year by approving criminal sanctions for executives at polluting companies, has now announced a voluntary program designed to give manufacturers incentives to surpass state environmental and conservation standards. The Principles for Responsible Industry program, which was announced yesterday by Gov. Ruth Ann Minner (D), sets high […]

Forests Fired

The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday passed President Bush’s “Healthy Forests” initiative, which would limit environmental and judicial reviews of proposed tree-cutting projects in the name of preventing forest fires. Approval of the initiative came despite a report released last week by the General Accounting Office that found that, contrary to White House allegations, very […]

Neverglades

In more bad news for the environment, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) yesterday signed into law a highly controversial plan that will delay cleanup of phosphorus from the Everglades by a decade and, critics say, potentially result in the loss of $4 billion in federal funding for the massive restoration project. Bush — who said […]

Extra-Special Delivery

United Parcel Service, the world’s largest package-delivery company, announced yesterday that it will put a DaimlerChrysler fuel-cell car into service later this year in Ann Arbor, Mich., making UPS the first U.S. company to integrate fuel-cell technology into its commercial fleet. One or more fuel-cell vans will start delivering UPS packages in 2004. Not to […]

Turtle Wane

Having depleted their own nation’s once-plentiful turtle populations, Chinese buyers are now offering top dollar for turtles from the southern U.S. In the last three years, there’s been a dramatic upswing in the number of turtles exported to China, where the animals’ meat is considered a delicacy and their shells are ground up to make […]