Latest Articles

The Brown Lagoon

Lagoons of animal waste from large factory farms are threatening drinking water and recreational waters across the country, according to a report released Tuesday by the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Clean Water Network. The groups want new lagoons to be banned and existing ones to be phased out within the next five years. […]

Backstroke to the Future

Christopher Swain of Eugene, Ore., plans to swim all 1,243 miles of the Columbia River to call attention to what he describes as “a contaminated beauty.” The feds are now investigating the river for sources of mercury and other nasties. Swain, who works for Columbia Riverkeeper, will embark on the 160-day swim next summer; in […]

Get Your Solar Kicks on Route 66

The longest solar-powered car race came to end yesterday in Claremont, Calif., with a University of Michigan team in the lead. The victorious single-passenger car took 56 hours and 10 minutes to cover 2,247 miles in a 10-day race along Route 66. Twenty-eight teams finished the race, the sixth since the first U.S. competition in […]

Caffeine Fix

With the support of environmentalists and other activists, some eco-friendly coffees are hitting the big time. Borders Books, Hyatt hotels, Safeway, and Starbucks are all selling sustainable blends. Bird-lovers point consumers to “shade-grown” coffee that protects the trees used by migratory songbirds; other greenies talk up “organic” coffees; and still others tout “fair-trade” coffees that […]

Lease Me Alone

Michigan Lt. Gov. Dick Posthumus (R) made pit stops in three Great Lakes cities on Monday to spread the word that he doesn’t support the plan by his boss, Gov. John Engler (R), to end a moratorium on new leases for oil and gas drilling under the lakes. Engler says the drilling would be environmentally […]

Hudson Hawk

General Electric is in the midst of a multimillion-dollar PR blitz to try to sway the Bush administration to withdraw a proposed plan to clean up the Hudson River. The Clinton-era plan calls for dredging a 40-mile stretch of the river to remove PCBs dumped there for decades by GE. The company would have to […]

Turning Over a New Leach

After spending more than $80 million on the project, the U.S.’s largest gold-mining company has ended plans to open the first major open-pit, cyanide-leach mine in Washington state. The Crown Jewel Mine in northeastern Washington would have blown the side off a mountain to extract about 1.4 million ounces of gold. Houston-based Newmont Mining Corp. […]

My Bonn Lies Over the Ocean

While the rest of the world moves forward with the Kyoto treaty, the Bush administration claims it is cooking up its own strategy to fend off global warming. But some officials involved in the administration policy review say there has been little real pressure from the White House to come up with a new plan […]

Irrigation Irritation

U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton said yesterday that she had the legal authority to release a small amount of irrigation water for farmers to use in the Klamath Basin on the Oregon-California border. All irrigation water from Upper Klamath Lake has been cut off since April to protect endangered suckerfish and threatened coho salmon. Farmers […]

EV Rider

As part of a pilot program by California to reduce pollution and increase the popularity of gas-free vehicles, Anaheim is offering free use of 10 electric cars in some of its lower-income neighborhoods. The golf cart-like cars are available to people who have a valid driver’s license and a decent driving record. With a maximum […]