Latest Articles

Alcoa-holics

Two of the nation’s corporate giants, Alcoa and Archer Daniels Midland, have agreed to settle charges of violating the New Source Review rules of the federal Clean Air Act by making upgrades ballparked at some $700 million, according to people familiar with the settlements. Alcoa, the world’s largest producer of aluminum, has 12 months to […]

Ecological economist Robert Costanza puts a price tag on nature

The idea of slapping a dollar value on to an alpine meadow or the dappled green shade of a forest strikes a chill into the very bones of most environmentalists. Like love, nature is the kind of thing that money just can’t buy. Or is it? A small but growing chorus of ecological economists are […]

A three-part series profiling ecological economists

In 1776, the year the Scottish economist Adam Smith invented free-market economics with his book The Wealth of Nations, the total population of the globe was less than 700 million people. The coal-hauling locomotives and steamships that were to drive the Industrial Revolution were still 30 years off. Free-market economic theory grew and flourished in […]

Wheat in the World?

South Dakota is home to the largest unbroken stretch of prime waterfowl nesting habitat in the nation — but if farmland continues to gobble up natural areas, the state’s wildlife, landscape, and water quality could all suffer. South Dakota has seen almost 1.1 million acres of rangeland and pasture disappear in the last 20 years, […]

An interview with the Indigo Girls’ Emily Saliers

Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. Photo: Frank Ockenfels. In the lead-up to Earth Day on April 22, the folk duo Indigo Girls will hit the road with Native American activist Winona LaDuke for a two-week Honor the Earth tour. Beginning April 10, Grammy Award-winners Emily Saliers and Amy Ray will talk — and sing — […]

Great, Britain!

Industries in Great Britain have surpassed goals for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by almost three times national targets and almost twice international obligations, the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs announced this week. In 2000, the British government signed 10-year climate change agreements (CCAs) with 44 industries (including steel, aluminum, cement, chemicals, paper, and […]

Attack of the Clones

Move over, Dolly: For the first time in history, scientists have successfully cloned an endangered animal, giving rise to speculation about what role technology will play in preserving — and even reviving — imperiled species. Using a single frozen skin cell, scientists at the San Diego Zoo cloned a Javan banteng, a cattle-like animal native […]

Scott Hoffman Black, Xerces Society

Scott Hoffman Black is executive director of the Xerces Society, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the diversity of life through the conservation of invertebrates. Monday, 7 Apr 2003 PORTLAND, Ore. Email and a large cup of coffee — pretty much how all my Mondays start. My daughter River is off to school, my […]

Dishspotting

Made to Border

Mexico and the U.S. shook hands Friday on a 10-year agreement to fight pollution along their shared 2,000-mile border, while some enviros contended that without money behind the deal, it won’t make a real dent in the region’s many problems. The intent is to reduce air pollution, protect water supplies, and prevent pesticide contamination in […]