Latest Articles

If You Build It, Sprawl Won't Come

In the wake of the destruction of the World Trade Center tower, environmentalists are calling for a rapid rebuilding of lower Manhattan as a way to fight increased urban sprawl and traffic congestion. They worry that the sudden shortage of office space downtown, combined with concerns about security and the economy, could drive corporations out […]

Fill Up Yer Camel, Sir?

A court in Pakistan ruled yesterday that Britain’s Premier Oil can go ahead with plans to test for natural gas in the country’s largest national park, which is home to rare urial sheep, ibex, and chinkara gazelle. Shehri-Citizens for a Better Environment and Friends of the Earth International say Premier’s exploratory surveys would threaten the […]

Going With the Grain

In a closely contested vote yesterday, the U.S. House defeated an amendment to a massive farm bill that would have shifted $19 billion from crop subsidies to conservation efforts. The defeat, which was engineered largely by lawmakers from traditional farming states, paves the way for approval of a 10-year, $171 billion farm bill that would […]

Just Say Noah

In a project known as Operation Ark — because, as one environmental official put it, “The only person that has come close to doing something like this is Mr. Noah” — 1,000 elephants are being moved from South Africa’s Kruger National Park to a neighboring protected area in Mozambique. The relocation project will ease pressure […]

Safety Pinned

Despite increased safety concerns following the terrorist attacks, Great Britain has approved the opening of a radioactive fuel reprocessing plant by the state-owned British Nuclear Fuels. Although British officials said the plant, which would convert used plutonium from a nearby facility into mixed oxide fuel, presented a “negligible” security risk, others fear the plant and […]

Green Camouflage

The Pentagon spends about $5 billion a year on its “environmental security program,” trying to reduce the environmental impact of the armed services. But many greenies think that’s not enough, and up until the terrorist attacks, the military was facing growing pressure to take the environment more seriously. A proposal in Congress would require the […]

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Former President Bill Clinton paid a visit to Hollywood yesterday to speak at a fundraising dinner for the American Oceans Campaign. Leonardo DiCaprio, Barbra Streisand, Dennis Quaid, Rhea Perlman, and other stars were on hand to honor the president for his past environmental work. The event raised $600,000 for American Oceans, which was founded by […]

Flying Fish

A proposal to create marine parks off the coast of California has led to shouting matches between environmentalists and scientists on the one side and the fishing industry and recreational anglers on the other. The proposal would prevent fishing and other human activities in as much as 20 percent of state waters — a 100-fold […]

Precedent of the United States

A federal judge dismissed an effort by the timber industry and users of off-road vehicles (ORVs) to overturn former President Clinton’s order to designate 328,000 acres of federal land in California’s Sierra Nevada as Giant Sequoia National Monument. The plaintiffs challenged the 1906 Antiquities Act, which gives the president the authority to establish monuments. They […]

Benzene Wring

A five-year study by the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission found that two chemical companies, Marathon Ashland Petroleum and BP Chemical, have been releasing unacceptable amounts of benzene into the air around Texas City, 60 miles southeast of Houston. The levels of benzene, which is a known carcinogen, were three to six times higher than […]