Latest Articles

Tricky Dick

Critics have long suspected that the Bush administration’s energy policy was the result of very cozy relations with corporations, and now they’ve got the evidence to back it up: Eighteen of the energy industry’s top 25 financial contributors to the Republican Party advised Vice President Dick Cheney’s energy task force, according to interviews and election […]

Resigned to His Fate

In the most dramatic move yet relating to the Bush administration’s internal battle over federal clean air policy, a senior U.S. EPA official resigned this week to protest White House efforts to weaken tough emissions standards for power plants and oil refineries. Eric Schaeffer, head of the agency’s Office of Regulatory Enforcement, accused the Energy […]

Read the resignation letter from Eric Schaeffer, former head of the U.S. EPA’s Office of Regulatory

The following letter of resignation was submitted on Feb. 27, 2002, by Eric Schaeffer, head of the U.S. EPA’s Office of Regulatory Enforcement, to protest White House and Energy Department attempts to weaken federal clean air policy. Schaeffer’s resignation has prompted Senate hearings into the Bush administration’s environmental record. Christine Whitman Administrator U.S. Environmental Protection […]

Space Balls

The largest and most expensive satellite ever built by Europe blasted off today, beginning its mission to monitor the environmental health of Planet Earth. The environmental satellite, or Envisat, was launched from French Guiana into orbit about 500 miles above the surface of the Earth, where it will circle the planet every 100 minutes. Envisat’s […]

Talkin’ Trash

What do you do with 11,000 tons of garbage per day? That’s the problem — well, one of the problems — plaguing New York City, whose trash disposal system is becoming a political, logistical, and financial headache for the beleaguered metropolis. A $6 billion long-term garbage-management plan devised by the Giuliani administration is stalled and […]

Indecent Exposure

Radioactive fallout from Cold War-era global nuclear weapons tests has caused at least 15,000 cancer deaths in the United States, according to an unreleased government report obtained by USA Today. The report is the U.S. government’s first attempt to assess the affects of radiation stemming from aboveground nuclear tests in the former Soviet Union, on […]

Something’s Fishy

A coalition of lawmakers, environmentalists, and fishers are angling to ban genetically modified (GM) fish from California. One proposed ban would prevent live transgenic fish from entering the state; another plan would require special labeling for GM fish sold for consumption in California stores. One other state, Maryland, has restricted genetically altered fish, and federal […]

Kerry-ed Away

From the with-friends-like-these department: Environmentalists reacted with “stunned surprise” to an announcement yesterday by Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) that he would consider supporting increased use of diesel fuel in automobiles. Speaking to a reporter, Kerry said, “I would personally be willing to embrace bringing diesel into the mix. The gains in terms of fuel are […]

London Smog

A smoggy day in London town? Mayor Ken Livingstone plans to change that: Beginning next year, motorists entering central London between 7 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. will have to pony up five pounds ($7) per day. About 40,000 vehicles per hour enter central London, a figure officials hope will drop by 15 percent thanks to […]

Pander-monium

BP, the world’s third-largest oil company, announced last night that it will halt all of its political contributions worldwide. The decision appears to reflect a desire to avoid accusations of influence peddling in the era of Enron, and could set a precedent for other companies. It could also be seen as a triumph for anti-globalization […]