Latest Articles
-
Blowing His Top
The Bush administration appealed a federal court decision yesterday that would limit mountaintop-removal mining and asked the judge to clarify that the ruling “should be read as not applying nationwide or to activities other than coal mining.” On May 8, U.S. District Judge Charles H. Haden II of West Virginia ruled that coal mining valley […]
-
Buying the Farm
There might be a severe drought facing much of the nation, but billions of dollars in subsidies is soon to rain down on the bread-basket states, thanks to a farm bill signed by President Bush yesterday. Notwithstanding a White House pledge to wean farmers off of government funding, the bill is expected to cost $190 […]
-
Rwandering Fools?
Tragically, education seems to have been insufficient to protect animals in Rwanda, where poachers last week killed two of the world’s last remaining mountain gorillas. The poachers were attempting to capture and sell baby gorillas. According to Rwandan wildlife conservation officials, two men killed two female gorillas and trapped one baby gorilla, in the first […]
-
Bear With Us
In northwestern Montana, the human population has grown by about 30 percent in the last decade. That’s a problem for some of the region’s other notable inhabitants: grizzly bears. At least half of the grizzlies in the Lower 48 live in northwestern Montana, and as the area becomes more crowded, regrettable bear-human interactions become more […]
-
A primer to help fight despair
Just now despair lives close to the surface in many people I know, and leaks out at surprising times. Taking a walk with my neighbor Phil, a bottle of milk in his arms, my daughter on my back, I’m thinking how warm the spring day feels when he stops suddenly and speaks. Maple leaf sag. […]
-
Andy Driscoll, Citizens Alliance for a Safe Environment
Andy Driscoll, a writer and communications consultant in St. Paul, Minn., is a founding organizer of Citizens Alliance for a Safe Environment (The CASE). Monday, 13 May 2002 ST. PAUL, Minn. July 2001: It’s decided. We’re going to take legal action. Here’s why: With nary a question nor an environmental impact statement, the Minnesota Pollution […]
-
Go Get ’em, Tigers
The world’s largest mangrove forest, Sundarban, spans the border between Bangladesh and India, but the countries don’t have a joint plan to manage the 3,700-square-mile area. The United Nations is hoping to change that. Two U.N. entities, the International Partnership Fund and the Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, are providing funding to help Bangladesh and […]
-
Bloomsday Doomsday
Ah, a lovely rolling meadow in springtime bloom. What could possibly be more British — or more endangered? Flower meadows in the U.K. are declining at an alarming rate, putting some species at risk, according to a survey of eight English counties conducted by Wildlife Trusts, an organization that manages 2,400 nature reserves in the […]
-
Vera, Vera Good
Portland, Ore., has long had a reputation for attracting Birkenstock-wearing, bike-riding, tree-hugging residents. Now city officials hope to attract Birkenstock-wearing, bike-riding, tree-hugging companies. (Okay, yes, we know companies can’t really ride bikes.) Last month, Danish wind-power company Vestas Wind Systems chose Portland as the base of its U.S. operations, bringing as many as 1,000 new […]
