Latest Articles

Markey's Mark

Drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would mark a departure from more than three decades of government practice, according to a new report by the General Accounting Office, the congressional watchdog agency. The report shows that some type of energy extraction takes place in 13 percent of refuges, but that […]

The Throng Song

Throngs of environmental activists are protesting a shipment of nuclear waste making its way by train from France to Germany, and at least 100 have been detained by the police. The six containers of radioactive waste originated at a reprocessing plant in La Hague, in northern France, and will be stored in Gorleben, Germany, 375 […]

Monkey Business

Illegal trafficking in wildlife has become Brazil’s third-most profitable illegal activity after arms and drugs smuggling, generating up to $1 billion annually. An estimated 38 million wild animals are stolen from the country’s forests every year, according to a new report by the National Network Against the Trafficking of Wild Animals (RENCTAS). Eighty-two percent of […]

Patriot Games

When America entered World War II, the folks at home reduced, reused, and recycled in the name of patriotism. Now, as we enter a new war, it’s time to do the same, says David Hochschild, coordinator of San Francisco’s successful solar power initiative, in an op-ed co-authored by his mother, well-known writer Arlie Hochschild. Because […]

In the Navy, You Can Soil the Seven Seas

Donald Schregardus, who was nominated by President Bush to head the U.S. EPA enforcement division but withdrew from consideration following public outcry and opposition in the Senate, has been appointed to an environmental post in the Navy. Schregardus spent 17 years with the federal EPA and was director of the Ohio EPA for eight years; […]

Nema-toads

A federal appeals court upheld a Vermont law last week requiring manufacturers to label items that contain mercury. The 1998 law, the first of its kind in the United States, was challenged by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association on behalf of companies that produce fluorescent light bulbs containing mercury. NEMA argued that labeling the products […]

I Want to Be an Army Rearranger

Measures designed to protect the remaining wetlands in the U.S. could be substantially weakened by a new U.S. Army Corps of Engineers policy, environmentalists and federal officials warn. A recent Corps letter outlines a retreat from a decade-old policy, instituted under George Bush the Elder, stating that the country’s total amount of wetlands cannot decrease. […]

States of Disgrace

New York, Massachusetts, and Vermont may postpone for four years a requirement that automakers increase sales of electric cars to improve air quality. Two years ago, the states adopted California’s standard, which mandates that by next year, 8 percent of cars sold must be much cleaner than current cars and another 2 percent must be […]

Morocco On!

As day broke on Saturday, delegates in Marrakech, Morocco, reached an 11th-hour agreement on the rules for implementing the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. The agreement, which was the culmination of a two-week conference and four previous years of tough negotiations, mandates an average global reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 5.2 percent from 1990 […]

Lake It or Not

Overuse and pollution of the world’s lakes threaten nearly 1 billion people who depend on lake water for fishing, irrigation, transportation, tourism, sewage, and drinking water, global experts said during an international conference on lake management being held this week in Japan. More than half of the world’s lakes and reservoirs are already suffering from […]