Latest Articles

Umbra on cruises

Dear Umbra, My husband, though a very warmhearted man, does not follow the environmental tides quite as much as I do. He would desperately like to take a cruise for our second honeymoon. I know cruise ships dump waste in the oceans and are not good for the ecosystem in general, but could you tell […]

Umbra on Styrofoam

Dear Umbra, I continue to avoid buying Styrofoam, but I don’t really know why. In middle school, I remember being told not to chew on Styrofoam cups because the action of breaking the Styrofoam would deplete the ozone and ingesting it would make me ill. This information, given to me by the lunchroom woman, is […]

Salem Switch Trials

Massachusetts is sticking to its guns on clean air, Gov. Mitt Romney (R) announced this morning. The state refused to extend a deadline for heavily polluting power plants to reduce their emissions, meaning they’ll have to clean up their acts by 2004. In 2001, then-acting Gov. Jane Swift (R) imposed the deadline on the state’s […]

Military Might What?

After failing last year to wrest from Congress a wholesale exemption from many environmental laws, the Pentagon is trying to rally public support for its campaign this year. The Defense Department says that laws such as the Endangered Species Act have interfered with training and other programs in the past. It’s a hassle to have […]

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 […]