Latest Articles

Celling Like Hotcakes

Canadian company Ballard Power Systems announced yesterday that it had signed a three-year, $22 million deal to provide Ford with fuel cells for a line of vehicles the automaker hopes to launch by 2004. Ballard is providing fuel-cell technology to DaimlerChrysler, Honda, Nissan, and Volkswagen, among others. General Motors expects to have a fuel cell-powered […]

Hip, Hip, EPA!

In its largest enforcement action ever in a pesticides case, the U.S. EPA is seeking $3.7 million in penalties from a Memphis, Tenn.-based pesticide manufacturer for using chemicals from unapproved foreign manufacturers. The agency says that the Micro Flo Company imported thousands of drums of insecticide ingredients from 1996 to 1999 under the pretense that […]

They Have Found What They're Looking for

Following a negative environmental report from the California Energy Commission, a major energy firm has ended its plans to build a big power plant seven miles from Joshua Tree National Park. Environmentalists had feared that a new state law to speed power-plant approval, which was created in the wake of California’s energy "crisis" this spring, […]

Better Schemes for Better Living

The U.K. government is the first out of the gate with a scheme to allow trading in greenhouse gas emissions within its borders — and U.S. chemical company DuPont and Japanese trading house Marubeni have made the first swap under the system. Dupont, which operates plants in the U.K., has sold to Marubeni the rights […]

The Bee's Knees

Roxanne Quimby, owner of Burt’s Bees natural products, is buying up land in Maine in the hopes of laying the foundation for a new national park in the state. So far, she has bought 8,000 acres at a cost of $3 million, with the purchase of another 5,700 acres pending, and she has contributed millions […]

Adding Bite to Their Bark

Enviros in Brazil have created a certification organization to help consumers learn whether wood they are purchasing from the Amazon was cut on the up and up — or whether it was cut illegally. The World Wildlife Fund said yesterday that the organization would function as an arm of the international Forest Stewardship Council. So […]

Green Acre$

In a pleasant surprise, the Bush administration called yesterday for less money to be spent on traditional farm subsidies and more to be spent on boosting conservation efforts and gaining access to international markets. The administration said traditional subsidies have allowed wealthy cotton and grain farmers to expand their acreage without losing benefits because subsidies […]

A Snow Job

In its first major move on air pollution since President Bush took office, the U.S. EPA yesterday proposed the first emissions rules for snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, forklifts, and diesel-powered boats. The proposal, which is particularly aimed at reducing pollution in national parks, would cut total carbon-monoxide emissions from the vehicles by 56 percent and hydrocarbon […]

Clap for the Wolf, Man

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week confirmed the discovery of a new northern gray wolf pack in Idaho, moving the recovery timetable for the species ahead by one year. For the gray wolf to be removed from the list of endangered species in the region, 30 pairs must breed for three consecutive years […]

Not in Shipshape

For years, the wealthy nations of the world have been dumping their massive old ships on poor countries, leaving the extremely hazardous work of breaking them down to workers elsewhere. About 4,000 civilian and military ships are slated to go out of service each year. “Only a fraction of the world fleet is being recycled […]