Latest Articles

Born to Be Wild

In a blow to property-rights advocates, the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service said yesterday that wild salmon should continue to be protected under the Endangered Species Act even though hatchery-born salmon are thriving. Last year, in a lawsuit brought by opponents of salmon protection, a federal judge told the agency to go back to the […]

Beached Wails

You might want to think twice before you head out with your sunscreen and towel this weekend. The number of sewage-tainted beaches is on the rise, jumping 19 percent between 2000 to 2001, according to a report released yesterday by the Natural Resources Defense Council. The group said that 13,410 beach closings and water advisories […]

Unsettling

The Bush administration is asking a federal judge to put the kibosh on a settlement that it reached 19 months ago with environmental groups to protect endangered manatees off the coast of Florida. The feds last year agreed to tighten procedures for issuing permits for waterfront development plans that might affect manatee habitat; they also […]

Honda Prelude

Honda predicted yesterday that one of its hydrogen-powered fuel-cell cars could hit the road in California by the end of the year. The forecast came after the auto manufacturer’s FCX became the first fuel-cell car to be certified by the U.S. EPA and the California Air Resources Board as a low-emissions vehicle. Honda hopes to […]

Look for the Onion Label?

It’s not quite like a pie in the face or mashed potatoes on the cafeteria ceiling, but Oregonians can still expect a food fight come November. The state seems poised to be the first in the nation to vote on a labeling law for genetically modified foods, now that the backers of the initiative, Oregon […]

The Bycatcher in the Rye

“Save the whales!” “Save the dolphins!” Those were rallying cries of the environmental movement in the 1980s and ’90s, and they culminated in a successful campaign for “dolphin-safe” tuna — that is, tuna-fishing practices in the Pacific Ocean that wouldn’t harm marine mammals. Unfortunately, scientists now say that commercial fishing in the Atlantic and elsewhere […]

Caterpillar Metamorphoses Into Beautiful Lobbyist

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and a coalition of Republican colleagues, manufacturers, and trucking industry reps are pressuring the Bush administration to postpone a strict new anti-pollution standard for diesel trucks. Why? Because Illinois-based Caterpillar, Inc., one of the leading manufacturers of 18-wheel diesel tractor-trailers and a significant Republican campaign contributor, could face millions […]

Kenny Get Your Guinn

President Bush signed into law yesterday the measure approving Nevada’s Yucca Mountain as the nation’s nuclear-waste burial ground, which was approved two weeks ago by Congress. The signing, closed to journalists and attended by only a handful of allies who were instrumental in brokering the bill’s passage, marks the official end of Nevada’s legislative fight […]

Flow-rida

The Bush administration yesterday revised its proposed rules for the $7.8 billion renovation of the Florida Everglades, with environmentalists greeting the changes as imperfect but undeniably better than the last draft. Under the new rules, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the South Florida Water Management District would still lead the restoration effort, but […]

Johnny Panic-grass Seed

As New Zealand wrestles with the fate of very new crops, a seed bank in the U.S. Southwest is wrestling with the fate of very old ones. Based in Tucson, Ariz., Native Seeds/SEARCH preserves and passes on rare seeds planted by Native Americans. Although the growing conditions in much of the Southwest are harsh — […]