Latest Articles

Breathing Sleazy

The U.S. EPA assured New Yorkers that the smoky, dusty air around Ground Zero was safe to breathe in the days immediately following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, but an independent federal investigation has found plenty of evidence to the contrary. In making its claims, the EPA assumed a cancer risk level 100 times […]

No More Take-out Sushi

Japan’s landfills are filling up fast, prompting the national government to launch an initiative intended to cut the nation’s waste stream in half by 2010, from 56 million tons per year to 28 million. In this densely populated archipelago, locals don’t take kindly to plans for new landfills and they don’t like the idea of […]

Ontario Clean-air Scenario

In Ontario, Canada, the three major political parties have agreed to shut down all five of the province’s coal-burning power plants by 2015, the biggest success so far in an anti-coal campaign that is gaining momentum in Canada. Enviros will be particularly glad to get rid of the Nanticoke power plant on the northern shore […]

We Shall Call Them Mini-cells

President Bush predicts that his grandkids will be part of the first generation that will learn to drive in fuel-cell vehicles, but society may not have to wait for First Twins Jenna and Barbara to settle down to family life before we’ll see some benefits from fuel cells. By the end of this decade, miniature […]

Senior Citizen Diss-count

Anti-war protestors have accused President Bush of placing too little value on human life. Now the Bush administration is trying to literally devalue not Iraqi lives but American ones. The White House is pushing federal agencies to cut the dollar value they place on a human life when determining the costs and benefits of policy […]

No Fly Zone

Although it’s hardly what Iraq is most famous for right now, the nation is an ornithologist’s paradise — and war there could be a disaster for migrating birds. If combat begins during March or April, as expected, the situation will be especially grave, because during these spring migration months, millions of birds cross Iraq en […]

Canada Too Dry

Riverside forests across Alberta, Canada, are dying off as a result of too many dams on the Bow River and other important waterways. The dams create reservoirs for drinking water and irrigation, prevent flooding, and generate electricity — but at a steep price, say Alberta environmentalists. Natural floods in the river valleys spread water and […]

Batten Down the Hatcheries

Hatchery salmon could spell trouble for their wild-born cousins by spreading genetic traits that impede survival, according to an article appearing in the current issue of the journal Science. The authors of the article found that Chinook salmon raised in a Canadian commercial hatchery laid significantly smaller eggs within four generations than wild salmon. In […]

Drilling Team

Speaking of which, advocates of opening up Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling say they are just one vote shy of getting their wish. As a result, they’re upping the pressure on four senators seen as potential swing voters: Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), and Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln, […]

Bye-bayou?

Louisiana’s wetlands problem is the country’s wetlands problem, according to Karen Gautreaux, chair of the state’s wetlands restoration panel and executive assistant to Gov. Mike Foster (R). Speaking before the Louisiana House and Senate Natural Resources committees, Gautreaux said the state’s coastline can never be returned to its original condition and can only be restored […]