Latest Articles
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Silicon Death Valley
Nineteenth century labor conditions and 21st century technology are clashing in impoverished areas of Asia, where millions of tons of obsolete high-tech gear are shipped from the U.S. to be stripped of valuable parts. The practice, which is highly dangerous for both workers and the environment, is documented in a new report released today by […]
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Solutia-ns
Chemical giant Monsanto and its spin-off company Solutia are legally responsible for polluting the town of Anniston, Ala., with PCBs, a jury ruled Friday morning. The verdict represents an initial victory for the people of Anniston, but the battle is far from over: Some 3,500 individual claims of illness and financial loss have yet to […]
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Scream of the Crop
Genetically modified crops should be subject to stricter and more public review prior to being approved for use, as well as more careful monitoring in the field afterward, a panel convened by the National Academy of Sciences determined yesterday. The panel said its recommendations were intended to “improve an already functioning system” of monitoring GM […]
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Gone With the Wind
Enron, the financially (and, some would say, morally) bankrupt energy trading firm, announced this week that it will sell its wind-turbine business to General Electric. If the transaction is approved by bankruptcy court and federal regulators, Enron will use the proceeds — a rumored $250 million — to repay creditors, while GE will use the […]
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Nothing New
In what was billed as her first major environmental speech of the year, Interior Secretary Gale Norton called Wednesday for “a new environmentalism” in which local residents and landowners, not just the government, would take responsibility for protecting the Earth. Norton also called for an environmentalism that did not threaten jobs. The Interior secretary said […]
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Mickey Mao’s
It might be the Magic Kingdom, but sometimes it has to face reality: That’s the message of an environmental study released today on a future Disney theme park in Hong Kong. Environmentalists have attacked the $1.8 billion project as an ecological nightmare, and now the report seconds the opinion. The park is slated to be […]
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Bay Watch
If three environmental groups have their way, California’s mammoth agriculture industry will be subject to state water-pollution laws for the first time in history. The three groups (San Francisco BayKeeper, DeltaKeeper, and the California Public Interest Research Group) filed suit yesterday against the Central Valley Regional Water Control Board to close a loophole that allows […]
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Green-chip Investment
One of the world’s largest financial organizations, HSBC, has earmarked nearly $50 million to create a five-year environmental program called Investing in Nature. The program will funnel money to three environmental nonprofits organizations — WWF, Botanic Gardens Conservation International, and Earthwatch — to support projects that enhance access to safe drinking water and help preserve […]
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There’s No Business Like Snow Business
Former President Clinton’s eleventh-hour ban on snowmobiles in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks just received yet another blow from the Bush administration, when the Interior Department, acting on the request of the snowmobile industry, offered three alternatives to an outright ban. Option one: Delay the phase-out by one year. Option two: Limit the number […]
