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  • Urban Bright

    In a groundbreaking move, New York state has developed guidelines for ensuring that low-income and minority neighborhoods are not disproportionately subjected to environmental health risks by developers. The environmental-justice guidelines were drafted by the state Department of Environmental Conservation to limit the ability of developers to build unpopular and potentially hazardous projects in communities that […]

  • Bad Medicine

    South Africa’s indigenous forests cover less than one-half of 1 percent of the country — and the wooded land that remains is severely threatened by people who illegally gather medicinal plants to turn a profit. Michael Peter, director of the nation’s Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, said the problem isn’t traditional native herbalists but […]

  • A Kulongoski Time Coming

    In his first major speech on the environment since taking office, Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski (D) promised yesterday that economic concerns would not undermine environmental protections in the state. In a speech to conservationists, the governor pledged to oppose efforts to roll back environmental regulations such as the state Endangered Species Act; to provide sufficient […]

  • Dean of Emissions

    The federal government has changed its tune on air quality in California, with the U.S. EPA easing pressure on the state to impose more stringent air-pollution controls on farms. Just last month, the EPA said the state should repeal a law exempting large farms from air-pollution monitoring permits; now, it is calling instead for an […]

  • Spokes Person

    Meanwhile, good news for those who entirely eschew the internal combustion engine: If a representative from Oregon gets his way, people who commute to work by bike will soon get a tax break. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), founder and chair of the bipartisan Congressional Bike Caucus, has biked to his Capitol Hill office for years; […]

  • Everybody’s Gone, Surfing

    Summer is on its way to Biarritz, France, the surfing capital of Europe — but despite the surf and sun, no one is yet riding the waves. That’s because surfing is banned in Biarritz and along some 160 miles of coastline in southwestern France, due to lingering environmental problems from the oil spill of the […]

  • Light Truck at the End of the Tunnel

    What’s in a name? In the case of “car” versus “light truck,” the name means a lot — so the auto industry and environmentalists are watching closely as the Bush administration begins redefining cars and trucks as it revamps fuel-economy standards. Currently, light trucks are subject to far weaker gas-mileage requirements than passenger cars, a […]

  • Glenn Hurowitz, WILD PAC

    Glenn Hurowitz is the associate director of WILD PAC, a political action committee that works to elect leaders at all levels of government who will champion protection of America’s wilderness and public lands. Monday, 24 Mar 2003 NEW YORK, N.Y. I’m back from Minnesota. During this past week, I had the great opportunity to meet […]