Latest Articles
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Super-efficient Cheeseheads
Going green could save Wisconsin more than $225 million over the next two years, according to a coalition of state environmental groups. Yesterday, the groups released a “Green Budget” itemizing ways Wisconsin could save money while protecting the environment. One of the budget’s simplest recommendations — using more efficient lighting and turning off unused electronic […]
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Drinking Problems
As concerns grow about possible global water shortages, the United Nations Environment Programme has published a new report on the quantity, quality, and availability of worldwide water supplies. But unlike many scientific studies that are all-but-incomprehensible to the general public, this report uses simple visual images to convey its message. The graphs and photos illustrate […]
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Board Stiffs
In what may be the most significant regulatory backdown in state history, the Oregon Board of Forestry yesterday sharply reduced its obligation to review private timber sales on landslide-prone land. In the past, the state forester was required to approve all such logging and could be held liable if an approved project later resulted in […]
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Penn Is Mightier Than the Sword
Following in the footsteps of nine other northeastern states, Pennsylvania went to court yesterday to block new, less stringent federal air-pollution regulations from taking effect. The Pennsylvania case is separate from one filed by the other states, but the issue is the same: the New Source Review rules of the Clean Air Act, which once […]
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Rick Johnson, Idaho Conservation League
Rick Johnson is executive director of the Idaho Conservation League. After working for ICL in the mid-1980s, he spent eight years in Seattle, working with the Sierra Club to protect the Northwest’s ancient forests, often as a “frequent-flyer lobbyist” in Washington, D.C. He returned to Idaho in 1995. Monday, 27 Jan 2003 BOISE, Idaho On […]
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Private Eyed
The Bush administration is considering privatizing about 70 percent of National Park Service jobs, according to the Interior Department. The jobs in question range from maintenance workers to secretaries to scientists. Law enforcement officers, managers, and most park rangers would not be affected. About 4 percent of current employees could lose their jobs. Interior Deputy […]
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Bottlestar Galactica
If Michigan environmentalists get their way, the state will dramatically expand its bottle law to cover 750 million additional beverage containers per year, including juice, water, and tea bottles that currently wind up as litter or in landfills. The state’s 1976 bottle law, which quickly cleaned up roadside litter, is both popular and successful. Every […]
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Order in the Court
With a staunchly anti-environmental White House and a Republican-dominated Congress, environmentalists are turning to the third branch of government to fight their cause. Happily, the courts have presented a relatively safe haven for greens, upholding strict clean air standards the Bush administration sought to water down, blocking oil and gas exploration in the West, limiting […]
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Liquid Assets
Saudi Arabia is home to the world’s largest oil reserves, but it’s desperately short on another, equally precious resource: water. There isn’t a river or lake to be found anywhere in the nation, and the only renewable water sources are shallow aquifers refilled by infrequent rains. A growing population, a fondness for showy swimming pools […]
