Latest Articles

Lack of Response Ability

The U.S. EPA is “not fully prepared” to handle a large-scale nuclear, biological, chemical, or radiological attack on the country, according to an internal assessment by the agency. The report was commissioned by EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman in response to the attacks of Sept. 11 and strongly suggests that if those attacks had involved […]

Plant Nein

A controversial decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service not to set aside protected areas known as “critical habitat” for eight imperiled plant species has been challenged by a federal judge in California. The ruling by Judge Irma Gonzalez was greeted triumphantly by environmentalists, although it merely orders the USFWS to reconsidered its position […]

National Parking Service

Washington, D.C., is cursed with some of the heaviest traffic and worst air pollution in the country. But the obvious solution — reducing the number of drivers on the road — faces a major obstacle: the federal government, which supplies free parking, thereby eliminating a major incentive to take public transportation. The federal government is […]

Right Tern

Barge traffic could grind to a halt on a 250-mile stretch of the Missouri River, after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ruled last week that two endangered species of shorebirds cannot be moved to accommodate the release of water from two dams in South Dakota. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers planned to release […]

Unbridled LUST

Leaking underground storage tanks (LUST) of gasoline have contaminated at least 25,000 sites around Florida, giving rise to concerns that the state’s drinking water supplies could be tainted, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Scientists say the contamination is a result of Florida’s love affair with gas; the state ranks third, after California […]

Under Loch and Key

After 50 years of debate, Scotland will get its first-ever national park this month. The area around Loch Lomond, where the park will be established, attracts 5 million visitors annually but currently lacks an effective management structure to balance the area’s conflicting interests and protect the landscape and wildlife that are its main attraction. Establishment […]

Ken Norwick, electric vehicle advocate

Ken Norwick is a systems analyst and an electric vehicle advocate who converted his 1996 Saturn to electric power two years ago. Monday, 8 Jul 2002 CALGARY, Alberta, Canada I’m a programmer by way of occupation, but a “Curious George” by nature. I like to spend my free time out in my garage tinkering away. […]

Darwin’s Flinches

Just weeks after scientists found that an apparently harmless oil spill in the Galapagos Islands in January 2001 in fact led to a massive iguana die-off, another spill has tainted the pristine archipelago. Late last week, a small barge spilled close to 2,000 gallons of diesel near the island of Puerto Villamil, home to turtles, […]

Umbra on flushing medications

Dear Umbra, I work with a number of older women who try to be environmentally conscientious. When it comes to discarding outdated medications though, there seems to be conflicting advice. Medical doctors tell me that all such medicines should be flushed down the toilet. Water resource people say, don’t flush, because all those discarded medicines […]

Umbra on chlorinated swimming pools

Umbra, I recently managed to mangle my knee and am going through all the 4,673 steps necessary to unmangle it and make it happy and functional again. One of the things my doctor advised me to do was swim. Well, swimming pools are of course full of chlorine! Hey, I just bought an expensive filter […]