Latest Articles

No Credence to Clearwater Revival

Stormwater runoff flowing into restored Seattle-area creeks and rivers appears to be killing salmon, according to a groundbreaking study by the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service. Eighty-eight percent of coho salmon studied last fall died within hours of swimming into a stream that was being inundated by runoff. Rainwater pours off streets, roofs, and parking […]

Invasion of the Habitat Snatchers

Invasive species are wreaking havoc on African wetlands to the tune of billions of dollars per year, according to a new study by the World Conservation Union (IUCN). For example, the water hyacinth, introduced from the Amazon Basin as an ornamental plant, has spread to most of Africa’s lakes and rivers, choking out other flora […]

Not Keeping Their Powder Dry

The Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming is the center of coalbed methane mining (CBM) in the United States — and now, for the first time, private citizens in the basin have sued a CBM company for damages to their land. Dan and Mary Brannaman, who own a ranch in the basin but not […]

A Connecticut Yank

Environmental-justice (EJ) activists in Connecticut are urging passage of a bill to protect the state’s low-income and minority citizens from bearing the brunt of pollution problems. Yesterday, a coalition of activists unveiled a map showing that power plants, transfer stations, and other heavily polluting facilities are disproportionately likely to be located in the state’s poor […]

Test Ban Treat

Here’s one unintended consequence of the impending U.S. war against Iraq: The Bush administration has delayed a formal challenge to the European Union’s ban on genetically modified food. Recently, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick blamed the ban for widespread starvation in the developing world and said the administration was considering taking a case against Europe […]

Mongoose Step

Invasive species are a problem throughout the world — but in Japan, with its fragile island ecosystems, the problem is particularly severe. The most prominent Japanese battle to protect native species is raging in Lake Biwa, the nation’s largest freshwater lake and a cultural icon frequently referenced in literature, theater, and film. There, voracious American […]

A Spoonful of Sugar Makes the Sustainability Go Down

The United Nations isn’t generally thought of as a marketing entity — but a little marketing savvy is just what’s needed to encourage sustainable consumption habits worldwide, according to the U.N. Environment Programme. Right now, the organization says, only 5 percent of people in developed countries maintain sustainable lifestyles, defined as “enjoying a good quality […]

Solar, Without Flair

President Bush’s proposed budget for the government’s 2004 fiscal year doesn’t contain much good news for renewable energy advocates: Total research funding for the Energy Department’s energy efficiency and renewable energy programs would increase just 0.1 percent. Last summer, though, the feds apparently had enough money to purchase a solar-energy system to heat the presidential […]

First Down

The parent company of a power plant in eastern Ohio has become the first of 36 energy utilities to be tried for causing smog and health problems in the Northeast. In a lawsuit that began yesterday, the U.S. Justice Department accused FirstEnergy Corporation of significantly upgrading its W.H. Sammis plant without installing new pollution controls, […]

Beam Me Up

The U.S. food industry is increasingly turning to irradiation to kill deadly bacteria such as E. coli and listeria in meat — a move environmentalists, food-safety advocates, and others say could amount to leaping from the frying pan into the fire. Irradiation uses high-energy electrons, gamma rays, or X-rays to kill bacteria. Critics say the […]