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Jeanne Genie

In the absence of federal leadership on climate change issues, New Hampshire yesterday passed a precedent-setting bill to curb global warming. The measure, which was approved 21-2 by the state Senate, was supported by a broad bipartisan coalition, the state’s largest environmental groups, and its largest utility, Public Service Company of New Hampshire. It would […]

Rio Pequeno

The Rio Grande no longer reaches the sea. In fact, it falls almost a hundred yards short, a telling illustration of the water crisis that threatens the river and the cross-border region that depends on it for survival. Years of drought and a population explosion on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border have strained limited […]

Pests Aside

For the first time in a decade, the U.S. EPA will assess the impact of 18 common pesticides on endangered salmon and forest plants, as part of a settlement of a lawsuit filed by three California environmental groups. The pesticides — several million pounds of them — are used every year in the state’s fields, […]

ANWR Sedate

In a major defeat for President Bush and a hard-won triumph for environmentalists, the Senate this morning effectively killed a proposal to allow oil and gas drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Drilling advocates fell 14 votes short of the 60 needed to end a Democratic filibuster and force passage of the bill. All […]

A Rocky Start

Before you celebrate too much … The Bush administration has already set its sights on another drilling target: the Rocky Mountains. Dozens of petitions to drill on public lands throughout the Rocky Mountain states have been submitted to the White House, which has established a Task Force on Energy Project Streamlining “to expedite the increased […]

Privates Exposed

The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, is coming under fire from environmentalists after the London Guardian published information from apparently secret E.C. documents describing efforts to liberalize trade by privatizing state-run services in poor nations. The market for such services is estimated at more than $1 trillion per year. Under the […]

Dunces With Wolves

The age-old conflict between wolves and livestock owners is erupting again. Last year, at least 40 farm animals in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming were killed by wolves, which were reintroduced to the American West in the mid-1990s. In response, a significant number of the predators have been killed this year as well (including all 10 […]

Death to Coughy

Almost 6,000 people will die prematurely from respiratory illness due to emissions from power plants owned by eight utility companies that the Clinton administration sued for violating the Clean Air Act, according to a private report released yesterday. In addition to the deaths, the report predicted that the pollution would lead to 140,000 asthma attacks […]

7.7 Degrees of Separation

Two new studies on global climate change, both appearing in the latest issue of Nature, predict that the Earth will get even hotter by the end of the century than previously estimated by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. One study, from Switzerland, sees a 7.7 degree Fahrenheit increase by 2100; the other, from […]

A breakdown of the Arctic Refuge vote in the Senate

The Senate today effectively voted down Amendment 3132, which would have allowed oil and gas drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. “Effectively,” because the issue never actually came up for debate: The Democrats filibustered, and drilling advocates fell 14 votes short of the 60 needed to break the blocking tactic and force passage of […]