Latest Articles
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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 […]
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This Is Your Brain on SUVs
Remember the federally funded ad campaign that discouraged drug use by claiming that drug money benefited terrorists? Syndicated newspaper columnist Arianna Huffington does, apparently, and she’s taken a page of the U.S. government’s book by launching ads of her own that accuse owners of gas-guzzling SUVs of abetting terrorists. Huffington teamed up with some like-minded […]
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In Deep Du Du
The U.S. Navy regularly tests one of its weapons by firing radioactive ammunition into prime fishing waters off the coast of Washington state, a practice that fishers, scientists, and activists say could be harmful to human and environmental health. The weapon, known as the Phalanx or the Close In Weapons System, fires up to 4,500 […]
