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Story of the Morrill

A consumer activist and political organizer hopes to be Pennsylvania’s next governor — and its first Green one. Michael Morrill of West Reading announced yesterday that he will run for the state’s top office in 2002 as the Green Party candidate, on a platform that includes tougher protections for the environment, an $11 per hour […]

Illegal Eagles

Federal species protection laws and the religious rights of Native Americans are clashing in a U.S. District Court in Seattle this week, where a 47-year-old man is on trial for violating the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. Terry Antoine, a member of the Cowichan band of the Salish Tribe in British Columbia, is charged […]

Gulf Not Up to Par

Global warming will bring troubled times to the Gulf Coast in the next 50 to 100 years, according to a study released yesterday by the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Ecological Society of America. The report predicts flooding, droughts, and shortages of fresh water from Laguna Madre to the Florida Keys. Rising sea levels […]

Morocco and Roll

The success of the next round of climate change negotiations, which open in Morocco next week, will be determined by the European Union, Russia, and Japan. The talks will attempt to translate the principles of the Kyoto treaty on climate change into a set of binding rules that aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by […]

Singa Song

Singapore drivers may soon be able to fill ‘er up with hydrogen by 2004, following a letter of intent signed yesterday by BP to build hydrogen-refueling stations in the island nation. The letter is similar to one signed in May by DaimlerChrysler promising to develop hydrogen-powered cars for the Singapore market. BP plans to start […]

Enduring Spirit

In the latest in a sad string of politically motivated murders in Latin America, prominent Mexican human rights lawyer Digna Ochoa, 37, was shot to death in her office late last week. Ochoa is best known for defending Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera, two peasant environmental activists who have been tortured and remain jailed on […]

Anti-air Force?

In yet another environmental compromise made in the wake of last month’s terrorist attacks, the U.S. EPA has backed off from pressuring the Air Force to eliminate the use of the gas Halon in its fighter planes. Although Halon is banned for most purposes because it breaks down the ozone layer, the Air Force continues […]

Hang In, Chad

Nearly 10 percent of African bird species are threatened with extinction, according to a newly completed eight-year study published by BirdLife International, an international coalition of conservation groups. The study said many of the species could be saved if 7 percent of the African continent was protected. It identified 1,228 important bird areas, and found […]

Wherefore Art Thou Romero?

There’s death, taxes and now — garbage. So says California state Sen. Gloria Romero (D), who is concerned about the state’s increasingly inescapable waste problem. California’s population is expected to reach 40 million by the end of the decade, and Romero and others see a waste management nightmare in the combination of a mushrooming poor […]

Dam Nation

The Amazon Basin could become home to the world’s third-largest dam if Brazil continues with plans to build a hydroelectric plant to stave off the nation’s energy crisis. Energy consumption in Brazil is growing by 5.3 percent annually, a rate that far outstrips supply increases. The energy shortage was compounded this year by a severe […]