Latest Articles

Great Bitten?

Large parts of England and Wales are at risk of becoming breeding grounds for malaria as global warming heats up local temperatures, according to a study by Durham University scientists commissioned by the Brits’ Department of Health. Increased temperatures encourage mosquitoes to breed and feed more rapidly, and they speed up the maturation of the […]

Election Day Is Green Day

If the voting record is any measure, most Americans are green at heart when it comes to conservation. Last year, voters approved spending $1.7 billion for parks and open spaces, according to a tally released today by the Trust for Public Land and the Land Trust Alliance. Seventy percent of 196 local ballot measures in […]

West Virginia, Mountain Maimer

The environmental movement was dealt a de facto blow yesterday when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider a case involving the practice of mountaintop removal mining in West Virginia. As its name suggests, the practice involves leveling hilltops with explosives to expose underlying coal seams. The remains of the mountain — tons of dirt […]

The Trials of Herculaneum

Residents of the town of Herculaneum, Mo., are unhappy about an emergency plan to relocate members of at least 92 households while their homes and properties are being stripped of lead contamination. The source of the lead is a 110-year-old smelter owned by the Doe Run Company. Last year, the company agreed to a cleanup […]

Coal-burning Bush

In other mining news, President Bush did not mince words about his energy plan during an address in the town of Belle, W.Va., yesterday: “We need to use coal. We got a lot of it,” he said. The president touted exploitation of domestic coal and other traditional energy resources as a way to avoid dependence […]

The Kids Aren’t Alright

Hundreds of thousands of children are at risk of developing asthma, cancer, learning disorders, and other diseases because they attend schools built on or near toxic waste sites, according to a new study released yesterday by a coalition called the Child Proofing Our Communities Campaign. The study found that most states and public school systems […]

Strip-Trees

Kurt Teichert, Brown University

Kurt Teichert is environmental coordinator at Brown University in Providence, R.I., where he develops initiatives with students, faculty, and administrators to reduce the negative environmental impacts of the university operations. Monday, 21 Jan 2002 POCASSET, Mass. My dog Auggie and I headed out before breakfast this morning for a sunrise walk in Mud Cove. Located […]

Humans are gobbling up too much of the sun’s energy

The energy of the sun, captured by plants and passed on to animals, powers everything in our world — dolphins leaping out of the ocean, geese moving across the sky, people stirring their morning oatmeal. Set in our ways. Photo: Art Wolfe, Inc. This truth contains beautiful poetry: It teaches us that in our children’s […]

Cafe Noir

In the latest sad setback for environmentalists in the battle over corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration decided Friday not to increase fuel-efficiency requirements for 2004-model-year pickup trucks, minivans, and sport-utility vehicles. Last year, Congress voted to lift a six-year-old, industry-backed ban that prevented NHTSA from examining fuel-efficiency […]