Latest Articles
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Mao-ie Zow-ie
China is moving forward with a massive project to redirect water from the nation’s longest rivers (including the Yangtze and Yellow) to the arid north, helping to quench the thirst of Beijing and other major northern cities. The water will travel via a canal network built over 50 years; costs could eventually exceed $24 billion. […]
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Big Bang
As if terrorist attacks weren’t enough of a threat, unexploded munitions at 16,000 inactive military ranges in the United States present “imminent and substantial” public health risks, according to newly released U.S. EPA documents. The agency said the problem might require the largest environmental cleanup program ever implemented by the feds. Jeff Ruch, director of […]
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Gonna Be a Bright Sunshiny Day
A year after voters approved a $100 million bond to boost solar power in San Francisco, planning is well underway to position the city as the country’s largest municipal generator of solar power and other renewable energies. Within five years, San Francisco hopes to add 10 megawatts of solar power to the electricity grid. In […]
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The Shipping News
Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn has announced an agreement in which several of the largest shipping companies in Asia will work with L.A. to clean up air quality in the city’s port. Last year, the port received 2,200 cargo ship visits, each burning about 14 tons of heavy bunker fuel. Under the new plan, the […]
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Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down
The Bush administration and environmentalists are at loggerheads over what should happen to national forests burned in last summer’s wildfire season. The administration is pushing for aggressive logging of scorched forests, including older and larger trees; next month, it will propose new rules meant to reduce delays in timber sales due to environmental appeals. Enviros, […]
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New Source, Same Old Crap
In the most far-reaching move to relax air pollution rules in years, the Bush administration on Friday gave refineries new flexibility to upgrade their facilities without having to reduce emissions. The U.S. EPA also outlined proposals that would give aging coal-fired power plants a similar advantage — allowing them to upgrade and increase energy output […]
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And other words from readers
Re: Hitting the Bottle Dear Editor: We would like to thank you for the article by Keith Schneider. Many of the people of Michigan have never heard of Mecosta County. They have no idea that this is their fight also. My husband and I are members of Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation; we believe […]
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Rome If You Want to
One-third of Italy’s most important cultural sites are in a state of emergency, according to the Italian environmental group Legambiente, which studied 36 areas in the country that have been designated World Heritage sites by the United Nations. The group said water pollution was threatening Venice, while smog and sprawl were damaging Naples, Florence, and […]
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Like Padre, Like Son
With no public announcement, the Bush administration has given the go-ahead to two new natural gas wells in the Padre Island National Seashore, which boasts the nation’s longest stretch of undeveloped beach and 11 endangered species. Oil and gas drilling have occurred in the Texas park before, but the rate of drilling dropped sharply in […]
