Latest Articles

Urinetown

Speaking of water conservation, a waterless urinal designed by a Los Angeles company could save some 40,000 gallons per year for each model installed — but plans for expanding use of the urinals are plugged up in the L.A. bureaucracy. The device resembles a conventional urinal except that atop the drain is a plastic cartridge […]

Tribe-ulations

Oil and gas development on Indian lands in the U.S. could move forward unimpeded by environmental concerns if Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.) gets his way. The only Native American in the Senate, Campbell wants to exempt energy projects on Indian lands from federal environmental regulation — and as chair of the Senate Indian Affairs […]

Caffeine Buzz Kill

Wild tigers, orangutans, and other megafauna in Sumatra, Indonesia, are being pushed out of their native habitat as lowland forests are clear-cut to make room for coffee plantations. The cheap robusta beans grown in this region end up in instant coffee. From 1996 to 2001, land cleared for coffee production in the Lampung region of […]

Beverly Hills Flop

Erin Brockovich, the tenacious eco-crusader made famous by Hollywood, is back in the news: She says that many former Beverly Hills High School students have been stricken with cancer because of exposure to toxic fumes from an active oil field on school property. Brockovich and her boss, attorney Ed Masry, yesterday filed 25 personal injury […]

Miles Per Cup of Coffee

Well Done

With many makeshift wells in New Delhi, India, running dry, and many more in danger of following suit, citizens are turning to an old-fashioned solution: rainwater harvesting. Five pilot projects in the city have successfully tested out an inexpensive system for collecting monsoon rainwater and directing it underground to replenish over-tapped aquifers. New Delhi officials […]

Baby, You Can Drive My Car

A number of the U.S. EPA’s best-trained pollution cops are being taken away from their normal crime-busting duties and put to work as bodyguards, chauffeurs, and even gofers for EPA Administrator Christie Whitman. Frustrated EPA enforcement managers anonymously report that this practice disrupts high-stakes investigations into violations of environmental laws. Agents have been ordered to […]

Lettuce Study This More

A toxic chemical used in rocket fuel was found in four of 22 winter lettuce samples purchased at Northern California grocery stores, according to a report by the Environmental Working Group. The lettuce contaminated with perchlorate, a hormone disrupter, was traced to farms in Southern California and Arizona that irrigate their crops with Colorado River […]

Smokestack Heart Attack

Minor increases in urban air pollution can provoke heart attacks, new international research indicates. A study of seven European cities and regions, including London, Madrid, Paris, and Rome, found that when sulfur dioxide levels rose even slightly, hospital visits for coronary problems increased over the following 48 hours. The research, published in the European Heart […]

Karen Salinger, Go Greenbelt! Ride

Karen Salinger is a cyclist on the Go Greenbelt! Ride, a fundraiser for the San Francisco-based Greenbelt Alliance. When not balancing on two wheels, she promotes sustainable agriculture by distributing organic produce through Veritable Vegetable. Sunday, 27 Apr 2003 LOS GATOS, Calif. Every April for the past nine years, I have set out on a […]