Latest Articles

Grateful Lakes

In a move that pleased environmentalists but irked industry, the U.S. Congress voted yesterday to ban new oil and gas drilling in the Great Lakes for two years. The measure, which was part of a $24.6 billion federal energy and water bill, was passed overwhelmingly in both chambers despite President Bush’s recent calls to tap […]

Fat City

Environmental problems ranging from toxic waste to air pollution have long been recognized as having human health effects — but what about urban sprawl? A study released yesterday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says sprawl creates or exacerbates many common health problems, such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and asthma. The report […]

"Failure to Act" — Can We Blame Hollywood?

A coalition of California environmental, health, and community organizations sued the U.S. EPA yesterday for neglecting to enforce clean air standards in the state’s infamously smoggy Central Valley. An EPA official acknowledged that the agency had “failed to act” on a 1997 plan to improve air quality and said the lawsuit would force the agency […]

Oak Ridges: Boy!

Almost 1.2 million acres of threatened land north of Toronto would be protected by legislation to be announced today by the Ontario government. The conservation effort would protect more than 90 percent of the Oak Ridges Moraine, which is the source of groundwater for much of southern Ontario. The province plans to establish a $250 […]

Our Snicker

The Bush administration tucked its tail between its legs and decided yesterday to toughen the limit for arsenic in drinking water from 50 parts per billion to the 10 ppb. The stricter standard was originally approved by the Clinton administration, but then rejected by current U.S. EPA Administrator Christie Whitman, who questioned the science behind […]

Climate Contrail

Of the many unprecedented events of Sept. 11, one of them — the near-absence of airplanes in the skies that day and the next — has given scientists important clues for studying the impact of aviation on climate change. Normally, the sky above 25,000 feet is full of contrails, cloud-like phenomena that form when ice […]

The Persistence of Mercury

Anyone who’s ever broken an old-style thermometer knows it’s tough to clean up mercury, but the state of Washington is undeterred. The state’s Ecology Department has created the nation’s only program to battle persistent bioaccumulative toxins, or PBTs, and mercury will be the first target. Found in substances ranging from eye makeup to industrial waste […]

Butterflies in Their Stomachs

Seventy-five percent of butterfly species in the United Kingdom are in decline, according to a study published this week in the journal Nature. Some experts had expected butterflies to be doing well as a result of global warming, because milder weather was expected to increase the ranges of many species. But temperature increases in the […]

Cold Comfort Farm Bill

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) will introduce a farm bill today that he describes as "good for family farmers and the environment and rural communities." Harkin, who is chair of the Senate Agricultural Committee, is generally well-liked by environmentalists, but not all of them agree with his assessment of the bill. Ken Cook of the Environmental […]

Level-heads Prevail

The government of Kenya plans to level more than 170,000 acres of forest, much to the dismay of environmentalists, who say the logging is politically motivated and would be an ecological disaster. Although green organizations have gathered signatures and initiated legal actions, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources is forging ahead with the plan, […]