Latest Articles

It's a Small World After All

The world’s human population may stop growing sooner than expected, according to a study published yesterday in the journal Nature. Using a statistical computer model that takes into account uncertainties like birth rates, migration, and mortality, the study says there is an 85 percent chance that the world’s population will dip to 8.4 billion in […]

Puerto Wreakin'

Environmental lawyer Robert Kennedy, Jr., was freed from prison yesterday and quickly returned to the Puerto Rican island of Vieques, where he ripped into the U.S. Navy for continuing its bombing exercises there. Kennedy says the bombing is harming islanders’ health and damaging the environment. He served 30 days in prison for trespassing on Navy […]

Arctic Meltdown

In a big win for the White House and a loss for enviros, the U.S. House passed a broad energy bill last night after rejecting attempts earlier in the day to block drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and boost fuel efficiency significantly. The 223-206 vote in favor of drilling surprised even […]

A Rash Attack

A flight attendant for United Airlines has sued the airline for exposing flight crews to pesticides on planes serving Australia and New Zealand. The attendant, Susan Matthews, says she developed a full-body rash after contact with the pesticides. The spraying — which has been banned in the U.S. — occurs about once every eight weeks […]

Ranch Dressing

Deep in cattle country, where enviros and ranchers often clash, the Sante-Fe-based Quivira Coalition says it is developing ways to ranch in an economically and environmentally sustainable way. Cofounder Jim Winder says some ranchers using the Quivira methods have doubled beef production without damaging the environment. Formed in 1997, the coalition has four “New Ranch” […]

Riverdance of Joy?

U.S. EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman gave the go-ahead yesterday to a Clinton-era plan requiring General Electric to spend half a billion dollars to dredge PCB pollution from 40 miles of the Hudson River. Her draft order, which has been sent to New York state for a 30-day review, came after weeks of speculation that […]

DeLay It on Thick

Republican leaders said yesterday they were hopeful that the U.S. House would vote to allow oil and natural gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas), the House majority whip, said, “We feel very, very confident we will be able to crack the backs of radical environmentalists.” The Arctic […]

Flat-bottomed Lizards, You Make the Rockin' World Go 'round

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton to reconsider her decision not to list the flat-tailed horned lizard as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Norton argued that the lizard has plenty of public land on which to live in southwestern Arizona and Southern California. But the court […]

Smoke on the Water, Fire on the Hill

Four firefighters may have lost their lives last month in Washington state because of the Endangered Species Act, U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis (R-Colo.) charged yesterday. McInnis, chair of the House Resources forests subcommittee, cited unnamed sources who said that fire crews delayed helicopter water drops for three hours or more while dispatchers determined whether water […]

Just Spray No

Despite a judge’s order to temporarily cease fumigating coca and poppy plants with the herbicide glyphosate because of environmental and health concerns, Colombia said yesterday it would not stop the antidrug operation. The judge on Friday asked the Colombian government to explain what it knows about the effects of glyphosate on people and the environment. […]