Latest Articles

Shays Rebellion

In the Cool Bills That Will Never Fly Department, a bipartisan duo last week introduced legislation in the House that would designate as wilderness all roadless federal lands in Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and western Wyoming — a total of 26 million acres. The Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act, championed by Reps. Christopher […]

Storm Troopers

The Bush administration announced on Friday that oil and gas companies will not be bound by new regulations that require storm water runoff plans to be developed for small construction sites, a means of keeping dangerous chemicals and metals from contaminating waterways. Saying it needs more time to study the situation, the U.S. EPA has […]

Between Iraq and a Hard Place

The U.S. Coast Guard has stationed members of its Strike Force in the Persian Gulf to respond to possible intentional oil spills by Iraq in retaliation for U.S. military action. The Strike Force, which responds to chemical and environmental crises, has been called upon in the recent past to manage hazardous debris from the space […]

Suburban Crawl

U.S. workers are playing musical chairs with their jobs at the price of less productivity and more congestion and pollution, according to new census data released this week. For example, take Arlington County, Va., where 70 percent of resident workers leave the county every day for jobs elsewhere — and an even greater number of […]

Sierras Clubbed

Logging would more than double, more cattle would be allowed to graze, and forests could be aggressively thinned under proposed revisions to a management plan for the Sierra Nevada unveiled yesterday by the U.S. Forest Service. The sweeping changes to the Clinton-era Sierra Nevada Framework would allow timber companies to cut trees up to 30 […]

Plastic, Man

In an effort to reduce its plastic waste by 30 percent, Taiwan has passed a law banning the free distribution of plastic bags and disposable tableware in some 75,000 establishments, including restaurants, department stores, supermarkets, convenience stores, and fast-food franchises. Taiwan currently uses 20 billion plastic bags per year (or 2.5 bags per person per […]

Crystal Mess

The city of Monterey, California, has permanently banned the Crystal Harmony cruise ship from docking in its bay after the ship’s owners, Crystal Cruises, confessed to dumping more than 36,000 gallons of wastewater in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, home to 27 species of marine mammals. The incident occurred in early October but wasn’t […]

Defense Offensive

Citing the specter of impending war in Iraq, the Bush administration asked Congress this week to exempt the Pentagon from a wide range of environmental laws. Congress rejected a similar request last year, but now, war looms and Republicans control both the House and the Senate. Under the plan proposed by the administration, the Pentagon […]

My Abalone Has a First Name

The word “abalone” probably doesn’t bring to mind the same connotations as, say, “heroin” — but conservationists in South Africa say that illegal trade in the ocean mollusk has wreaked the kind of havoc usually associated with narcotics, bringing guns, gangs, and violence to previously peaceful communities. Abalone is a prized gourmet food in much […]

Honey, I Shrunk the Budget

As states across the nation face massive budget shortfalls, many are aiming their axes at environmental and conservation programs. In South Carolina, for instance, the state legislature is considering cutting $16 million from conservation programs to help balance its upcoming budget. The South Carolina Wildlife Federation yesterday urged state legislators to protect the funds, noting […]