Latest Articles

Slope a Dope

Four decades of resource extraction in Alaska’s North Slope has been a mixed bag for the region’s environment and people, according to a study released yesterday by an 18-member panel of the National Research Council, the research arm of the U.S. National Academies. The study, which is the first-ever assessment of the cumulative impact of […]

We’re Not Gonna Rock Down to Electric Avenue

The electric car could soon go the way of the dodo, as California moves toward eliminating a rule first approved in 1990 to force automakers to sell a fixed number of electric cars in the state. The proposed changes to the zero-emissions-vehicle rule would allow car manufacturers to earn credits for low-emissions hybrid vehicles, instead […]

Shipping to Gomorrah

Washington state went to court yesterday to try to prevent the federal government from continuing to ship radioactive waste to the Hanford Nuclear Reservation until the U.S. Department of Energy makes good on a commitment to clean up the site. The state claims that the DOE reneged on an agreement to clean up 78,000 barrels […]

Just Say No to Water?

Even those parts of the world lucky enough to have reliable access to drinking water might have cause to pause. Take New Jersey: According to two reports released yesterday, the state’s drinking-water supply contains hundreds of chemicals, from prescription medication and deodorant residues to flame retardants and fuel additives. The contaminants were present in tiny […]

Watery Grave

The environment, public health, and global political stability all stand to suffer from shrinking freshwater supplies around the world, according to a report released yesterday by the United Nations. In the most complete appraisal of global water resources to date, the U.N. found that the average per-person water supply will decline by one-third in 20 […]

New Formula for Infants

For the first time, the U.S. EPA’s proposed guidelines for assessing the dangers of pesticides and other carcinogens presume that such chemicals pose a higher risk to infants and children. The guidelines call on environmental regulators to assume that children who are two or younger be considered 10 times more susceptible to hazardous chemicals than […]

Crisis of Confidence Game

California yesterday submitted new evidence to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission of a widespread plan by electricity generators, traders, and even municipal power companies to produce the state’s 2000-2001 energy crisis in order to turn a profit. State officials said the evidence, which was the result of a 103-day investigation, was just the “tip of […]

Kids ‘n’ Play

Generating power for developing nations could be child’s play — literally — according to an engineering professor at the University of Michigan. Raj Pandian has proposed harnessing the energy from playground equipment (such as teeter-totters, merry-go-rounds, and swing sets) in Third World villages, then using it to power light bulbs, radios, sewing machines, telephones, and […]

Bring Back My Bonnie to Me

The Bonneville Power Administration, the largest hydroelectric power producer in the Northwest, is abandoning some of its wildlife conservation plans due to financial woes. The quasi-governmental agency is required by law to compensate for any damage it causes to natural habitats; recently, however, the Northwest Power Planning Council criticized the BPA for failing to spend […]

Let’s Not Be Frank

If Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski (R) gets his way, environmental organizations that sue state agencies and lose will have to pick up part of the state’s legal bills. At Murkowski’s request, bills were introduced yesterday into the Alaska House and Senate proposing changes to the state’s public-interest litigant rules. Currently, the rules allow public-interest groups […]