Latest Articles

Population Not Da Bomb

The environmental outlook for our planet is bleak if we cannot control mushrooming birthrates, according to the United Nation’s annual “State of the World Population” report, released today. The study predicts that world population could grow from 6.1 billion to as many as 10.9 billion people by mid-century, unless dramatic gains are made in women’s […]

They've Got Our Vote

Environmentalists scored significant victories in yesterday’s gubernatorial elections, with Democrats James McGreevey and Mark Warner taking office in New Jersey and Virginia, respectively. McGreevey defeated Republican candidate Bret Schundler in a race where environmental issues, especially open spaces and clean air and water, were often front and center. Warner, who will be the first Democratic […]

Take a Spill Pill

Four environmental and angler groups sued the Bonneville Power Administration yesterday for unlawfully harming migrating salmon by increasing power production and reducing water flow at Columbia River dams this spring and summer. The BPA, the largest energy provider in the Northwest, is required by a federal salmon recovery plan to spill billions of gallons of […]

Spending Some Green

Fifty percent of Americans consider themselves environmentalists, according to a recent Gallup poll, but how many put their money where their mouths are? In a survey by Roper, only 29 percent of respondents reported recently purchasing a product because it was advertised as environmentally friendly. Despite efforts to standardize labeling practices, market analysts say consumers […]

Earning Some Green

Business for Social Responsibility, the brainchild of such lefty companies as Patagonia and Ben & Jerry’s, is holding a conference in Seattle this week that is attracting companies not exactly known for their progressive politics: Chevron, Weyerhaeuser, Ford, The Gap, Nike, and the like. Homegrown giants Starbucks and Microsoft will also attend the conference, where […]

Erin Brockovich Gets Slick

When the Exxon Valdez ran areef in 1989 and spilled 11 million gallons of oil into Prince William Sound, 15,000 workers from around the world rallied to help with the cleanup. Now it’s the workers themselves who need help: More than a decade after the spill, hundreds of them say they are suffering from problems […]

A Sucker Evolves Every Minute

For the first time, scientists have identified an animal — the pitcher-plant mosquito — that is evolving in response to global warming. Two University of Oregon scientists found that some of the mosquitoes are taking advantage of the longer summers brought about by global warming by delaying their hibernation — a process that is controlled […]

Dragon Slayers

Decades of rapid economic growth have brought China increased wealth, longer lives, and lower infant mortality rates — and spectacular environmental problems. The tiny village of Dragon Range tells the story writ small. In the 1960s, the rural town welcomed nearby factories because the workers there purchased their crops; four decades later, Dragon Range is […]

The Greatest Cape

The Global Environment Facility has awarded $1 million to help preserve a rugged wilderness area in South Africa’s Eastern Cape. In addition to being the largest protected area in the Eastern Cape and the source of 85 percent of drinking water for nearby Port Elizabeth, South Africa, the Baviaanskloof wilderness preserve contains more than 1,100 […]

Summertime, and the Conservin' Was Easy

Summer has passed and dire predictions of blackouts in California as a result of the state’s much-publicized energy crisis have gone unfulfilled. Instead, California now has more power than it can use and leads the country in energy conservation. A whopping third of the state’s ratepayers have taken part in a new state initiative that […]