Latest Articles
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The Gas They Pass
In other news from the Golden State, California’s two Democratic senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, have introduced legislation that would prevent energy companies in Mexico from using Californian natural gas in their plants near the California-Mexico border unless those plants complied with the state’s strict air-quality standards. The legislation would apply to natural-gas-powered generators […]
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Wet ‘n’ Not-so-wild
New guidelines unveiled by the Bush administration on Friday could spell trouble for 20 million acres of wetlands across the United States. The guidelines were prompted by a 2001 Supreme Court decision that found that isolated, non-navigable ponds and wetlands in Illinois did not merit protection under the Clean Water Act. Environmentalists say that narrow […]
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Thank God
Environmentalism is getting a big boost from religious communities that increasingly see protecting the Earth as central to their theology, according to the Worldwatch Institute. In its annual “State of the World” report released late last week, Worldwatch found that religious organizations from all corners of the globe are urging their congregations to save wildlife […]
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Less Than Zero
Under California’s zero-emissions vehicle (ZEV) regulation, 2003 was supposed to be the year that thousands of nonpolluting cars hit the road — but on Friday, the state’s air quality officials proposed amending the regulation to postpone the deadline by a decade. The proposal seemed to be an acknowledgement by the California Air Resources Board that […]
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Polar Bear Market
The polar bear — that pinnacle of megafauna adulation — could disappear from the planet this century as a result of global warming, according to a top scientist. The Arctic-dwelling animal, which is the world’s largest land predator, is thought to be particularly susceptible to climate change because it relies on floating sea ice to […]
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Big Ban Boom
Robert Zoellick, the Bush administration’s chief trade official, is calling on the U.S. to challenge the European Union’s ban on genetically modified food. Zoellick claims the ban is both scientifically backward and “immoral,” arguing that it deprives starving people in the developing world of food. The U.S. and the E.U. have adopted polar positions when […]
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Pombo and (Unfortunate) Circumstance
U.S. Rep. Richard Pombo (R-Calif.) was chosen this week to lead the House Resources Committee, much to the dismay of environmentalists. As head of the committee, Pombo, who earned only a 9 percent approval rating from the League of Conservation Voters in the last session of Congress, will have significant say in shaping federal legislation […]
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Do Tell
The General Accounting Office, the investigative branch of the U.S. Congress, will meet with regulators from the Security and Exchange Commission next week to discuss whether companies sufficiently disclose environmental risks to shareholders. The meeting was prompted by concerns from Sens. Jim Jeffords (I-Vt.), Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), and Jon Corzine (D-N.J.) about corporate liability for […]
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Start Spreading the News
It was just your basic annual address to the legislature — until New York Gov. George Pataki (R) surprised and thrilled environmentalists yesterday by announcing that he would require 25 percent of the state’s electricity to be generated from renewable resources within the next decade. New York already gets about 17 percent of its electricity […]
