Latest Articles

Umbra on snowy sidewalks

Dear Umbra, Being a new homeowner, I’ve realized the responsibility of keeping the sidewalk slip-proof during the winter months. Of course, shoveling will be the first line of defense, but that never seems to do the trick, often leaving that thin layer of slippery snow. And then there is the ice. I know that salt […]

Umbra on wrapping paper

Dear Umbra, Any suggestions on where to find recycled wrapping paper? I know the real environmental choice is to reuse stuff I have around the house, but sometimes newspaper, etc., just doesn’t have the right look. Any ideas where I can find recycled/tree-free wrapping paper for the holiday season? I’ve been looking around (both online […]

G.A.Oh, No!

In a victory for the Bush administration and a significant setback for congressional oversight of White House goings-on, a federal judge ruled yesterday that the investigative arm of Congress does not have legal standing to sue Vice President Dick Cheney for refusing to turn over documents related to the development of the national energy policy. […]

The Mice That Roared

Researchers at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, have established a first-ever link between urban air pollution and genetic damage that can be passed on from generation to generation. In a study published in the most recent issue of the U.S. journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, biologists at the university found that […]

Filling Up Wide Open Spaces

Forget about urban sprawl; the new menace facing the U.S. landscape is rural sprawl, according to some experts. In seeking refuge from city life, Americans started by moving to the suburbs; then they started building beyond the suburbs, creating “exurbs”; now, they’re gradually expanding into some of the country’s most remote areas. Growth rates of […]

Imperious

Ignoring threats of dire consequences by state and federal officials, California’s Imperial Irrigation District refused yesterday to approve a huge water sale to San Diego County. Members of the Imperial Valley irrigation district’s governing board said they resented the threats, which ranged from intimations that the board would be disbanded to suggestions that the valley’s […]

Perc Up

The nation’s first-ever ban on perchloroethylene, or “perc,” went into effect on Friday when Southern California air quality officials approved a regulation mandating a phase-out of the chemical by the year 2020. The long lead-time to the phase-out is a concession to the dry-cleaning industry, which relies on perc to remove stubborn stains from delicate […]

Prodigal Son

The U.S. Agriculture Department has levied more than $3 million in fines against biotech company ProdiGene for mixing GM corn containing an animal vaccine with soybeans meant for human consumption. The contaminated soybeans were stopped before they reached the market, and the company, which makes pharmaceutical and industrial enzymes and proteins by growing them in […]

Rebel Without a Forest

The state of Chiapas, in southeastern Mexico, is home to the last remaining stands of rainforest in the nation — and also to almost half a million impoverished people, many of them living on the brink of starvation. In the past, the forest has been ravaged by monied interests, such as foreign companies looking to […]

A Blow to the Solar Plexus

Renewable energy use in the U.S. dropped sharply in 2001, according to a new report by the Department of Energy. Much of that decline stems from a drought that cut hydroelectric power generation by 23 percent, but the DOE’s Energy Information Administration also found that in 2001, solar equipment was retired faster than it was […]