Latest Articles

Tricks of the Trade

In a blow to environmentalists and unions, Republicans in the U.S. House pushed through a plan yesterday to give President Bush broad authority to negotiate trade agreements. The bill, which was approved by a single vote, would take away from Congress the power to amend trade deals brokered by the administration; lawmakers could merely vote […]

Nuclear and Present Danger?

With allies in the White House and energy issues on everybody’s mind, the nuclear power industry was on something of a roll this summer. Now, the momentum has shifted. David Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said, "Sept. 11 has been the biggest challenge to nuclear power since Chernobyl." Elected and […]

Reserve Judgment

Concerned about threats to Africa’s remaining rainforest, the New York City-based Wildlife Conservation Society has been forming closer ties with logging companies. The group believes that in some cases, working hand-in-hand with loggers is the best way to protect what’s left. Last year, the group helped negotiate a deal that traded away 260 square miles […]

Sony-side Down

Sony said yesterday that it would replace the peripheral cables for 1.3 million PlayStation 1 consoles destined for sale in Europe, in response to environmental concerns raised by the Dutch government earlier this week. A European Union rule forbids the sale of products that contain more than 0.01 percent cadmium; the Dutch say the cables […]

Daschling Through the Senate

U.S. Senate Democrats unveiled an energy bill yesterday that would place more emphasis on conservation and efficiency than the GOP alternative, while keeping the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge drill-free. Currently, about 2 percent of the country’s electricity comes from renewable sources; the new bill would require the number to jump to 12 percent by 2020. […]

Patriot Missiles

Hopping aboard the post-Sept. 11 anti-terrorism bandwagon, some Republicans have set their sights on so-called eco-terrorists. U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis (R-Colo.) and six other Republicans have asked mainstream environmental organizations to publicly disavow groups like the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front, which have claimed responsibility for many acts of vandalism and arson […]

Once More Out of the Breach

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said this week that it would recommend against breaching four hydroelectric dams on the lower Snake River in Washington state to help restore salmon populations. The agency’s stance on salmon restoration, which is shared by the White House, is that it would be less disruptive to communities in eastern […]

Cod Peace

Concerned that some fish populations are bottoming out, the European Commission has proposed deep new cuts in fishing quotas. For example, cod catches in the Kattegat strait between Denmark and Sweden would be reduced by 60 percent; haddock catches in the Irish Sea by 52 percent; and sole in the North Sea by 25 percent. […]

The Dredge Great-Scott Decision

U.S. EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman said yesterday that her agency would order General Electric to spend almost $500 million to dredge PCBs from the upper Hudson River. In doing so, Whitman disregarded a multi-million-dollar P.R. campaign by the giant company claiming that dredging would not improve the river’s health. Enviros, who had feared that […]

Tree? No Thanks, I'm Trying to Cut Back

Indonesia said this week that it would tighten its forestry laws to rein in illegal logging. Under the new rules, companies will lose their licenses to log in 2003 unless they can prove they are managing forests sustainably. Enviros cheered the change, though it remains to be seen just how the theory will translate into […]