Latest Articles

Nothing Doing

After 10 days of bargaining, debate, protests, speeches, presentations, negotiations, renegotiations, and etcetera, the World Summit on Sustainable Development is over. What remains behind is a 70-page non-binding plan and a burning question: Was anything achieved? Well — the plan does include a relatively strong stance on improving sanitation and protecting fish stocks, leading one […]

A back-to-school lesson in consumption

Kindergarten is starting next week, and the worn-out old sneakers from last spring are pinching my daughter’s toes. No shoes fit at our favorite used-clothing store, and no neighbors have the right pair of outgrown sneakers to offer this season. There is no avoiding it. One morning, as early as I can manage, I load […]

Can’t See the Trees for the Forest Service

Two House Democrats have accused the U.S. Forest Service of cooking its books in order to blame environmentalists for the fires that raged across much of the West this summer. Reps. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) spoke out yesterday against a recent USFS report in which the agency claimed that environmental appeals delayed […]

Cleveland Greens?

Cleveland, Ohio — a city that earned ecological infamy when the Cuyahoga River caught on fire in 1969 — is hoping to make environmental and automotive history by becoming home to the nation’s first public hydrogen fueling station. The station, which will open off the Ohio Turnpike in about two years, is one of four […]

Like a Virgin

In better forestry news, a heretofore-unknown pocket of virgin forest has been discovered in Massachusetts and is believed to be the largest in the state. The area, which somehow escaped more than three centuries of logging and development, consists of up to 1,000 acres on the 2,608-foot Mount Everett, near the Connecticut and New York […]

Over and Out

“The Bush administration won this ballgame 44-0.” That was how Brandon MacGillis, a spokesperson for the Washington, D.C.-based National Environmental Trust, summed up the World Summit on Sustainable Development, which wraps up today in Johannesburg, South Africa. Like MacGillis, many greens saw the 10-day conference as a step backward or, at best, a stalemate, with […]

Sin Diesel

Long-term exposure to diesel exhaust probably triggers a wide range of respiratory illnesses and causes lung cancer, according to a study released yesterday by the U.S. EPA. Based on decades of research, the study found “persuasive” evidence that the diesel engines operating on highways, farms, and construction sites around the country are hazardous to human […]

Rhode Island Lead

Rhode Island has taken eight paint manufacturers to court in a first-ever attempt by a state to hold companies accountable for decades of child lead poisoning. Rhode Island, which has one of the highest rates of such poisoning in the country, is claiming the manufacturers created a public nuisance by selling the paint. The paint […]

Fire Him

Allan Fitzsimmons, the man chosen by the Bush administration to head its wildfire prevention program, does not believe in ecosystems and says the extinction of threatened and endangered species would not be a crisis. Fitzsimmons was tasked last week with reducing fire danger on Interior Department lands through the newly formed Healthy Forests Initiative, but […]

Hoopa It Up!

In a movement that could change the course of U.S. land management, Native Americans are pushing for laws that would give them veto power over development projects on historically sacred sites. Despite fierce opposition to granting Native Americans such power, especially on non-reservation land, the legal push has made some headway: A bill is nearing […]