Latest Articles
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Why-oming
In a much-anticipated decision, the Wyoming Bureau of Land Management announced yesterday that it would approve the development of as many as 51,000 coalbed methane wells in Wyoming and Montana’s Powder River Basin. Although the BLM also called for a team of government representatives to monitor the air- and water-quality effects of the wells, environmentalists […]
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Golden Brown
California is home to six of the 10 most polluted metropolitan areas in the U.S., according to national smog rankings released today by the American Lung Association. In fact, the top four areas were all in the Golden(Brown) State: Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, Fresno, Bakersfield, and Visalia-Tulare-Porterfield. Those rankings mask the fact that California’s air quality […]
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Umbra on the Bush administration’s environmental record
Dear Umbra, I hope you can answer this or direct me to someone who can. I am a member of the local Williamson County Democratic Party. I would like to print up a leaflet to distribute to the public at our next gathering on April 26 and 27 that shows just what the present Republican […]
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Umbra on peeing al fresco
Dear Umbra, If I am going to pee outside, is it more environmentally sound to squat in the back yard where the pee salinates the soil, or next to the road where the liquid runoff can enter sewers, or in the woods where there are no ornamental plantings to disturb, but there might be snakes? […]
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Umbra on keeping compost rat-free
Hi Umbra, I live in Providence, R.I., and I have a basic composting bin; it’s about three feet tall, made of black plastic with ventilation shafts on all four sides and on top, but it has no bottom. I want to set this up in my tiny side yard for my neighbors and me to […]
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Umbra on composting toilets
I would think that outhouses would be a lot better for the environment than a toilet. You don't have to use water in them and when one fills up (like the ones made now do after 15 or so years, depending on how deep your original hole is), you just fill it
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Gone With the Flow
The Khasi Hills of northeastern India are one of the wettest places on Earth, typically experiencing torrential rains throughout the monsoon season and laying claim to the world record of 1,000 inches of rainfall in just one year. Now, though, the Khasi Hills are drying up due to environmental changes wrought by pollution, deforestation, the […]
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Wow We
For the second time in the last two weeks, a major utility company has reached a settlement with the U.S. EPA to clean up its act under the New Source Review rules of the federal Clean Air Act. Last week, it was the Richmond, Va.-based Dominion Resources; now, it’s We Energies, a Wisconsin electric company […]
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Otter Destruction
In true whodunit style, there are many suspects in the puzzling deaths of sea otters up and down the California coast, but, as yet, no clear solution to the mystery. By yesterday, 44 dead sea otters had washed ashore from San Francisco to Santa Barbara, well above the 10-year high for the month of April […]
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Colorado’s proposed water projects could sink the environment
This March, the Denver Broncos football team agreed to spend $40 million on a seven-year contract with its new quarterback, Jake Plummer. Since winning two Super Bowls at the end of the 1990s, the Broncos have struggled just to make the playoffs. At his introductory press conference, Plummer predicted, “Winning a Super Bowl is what […]
