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And other words from readers

  Re: Zed Dear Editor: Have you thought about putting your cartoon, Zed, in schools? I think that would be a wonderful idea. After all, I am a 7th (soon to be 8th) grader and I know what children of my own age like. Some kids would really enjoy it. I have seen my fair […]

Zed, last of his species, in "There Goes the Neighborhood"

Soft Wood, Hard Hearts

Environmental groups are joining with the U.S. timber industry (!) today in the fight over softwood timber imports from Canada. In a petition expected to be filed with the U.S. Commerce Department today, the groups argue that British Columbia is illegally subsidizing lumber producers by ignoring violations of the Canada Fisheries Act and letting logging […]

Parking Violation

In a move that has provoked conflict in Congress, the Bush administration has instituted a two-year moratorium on expanding national parks, arguing that its first order of business should be to clear up a $4.9 billion maintenance backlog at existing parks. Environmentalists and national parks advocates are up in arms over the moratorium. Less predictably, […]

Shape Up or Ship Out

Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles (D) yesterday ordered a special session of the state legislature to hammer out what would become the world’s first comprehensive law to control waste discharges from the cruise ship industry. The state House has easily passed a proposed package of regulations, but the measure has stalled in the state Senate. The […]

Congo Drummed

Mining in eastern Congo is bringing eastern lowland gorillas closer to extinction and destroying national parks, the World Wildlife Fund said yesterday. Thousands of miners are digging for the mineral coltan, which is used in cell phones, microchips, and nuclear reactors, damaging forests in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park and the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in rebel-held […]

Governor Moonbeam, Mayor Sunbeam

An alliance of religious groups began a campaign this week to make California’s 50,000 congregations more energy-efficient and to encourage them to use renewable power. Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown (D) joined Rev. Sally Bingham in screwing in a compact fluorescent in an Oakland church and in criticizing President Bush’s energy policies. Bingham said, “This is […]

Kawaguchi Lets the Good Times Roll

Japan’s new prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, has chosen the environment as a key policy area to focus on. Out of the gate, his environment minister, Yoriko Kawaguchi, has stressed the importance of acting to curb global warming. And Kawaguchi and Takeo Hiranuma, the country’s trade minister, planned to meet yesterday with top officials from the […]

Pesticide: Life on the Street

The amount of pesticide waste endangering people and the environment is five times greater than what had been thought only two years ago, according to a new report by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. The FAO says that nearly 500,000 tons of old and unused pesticides have been left on sites that are mostly […]

It's the Stupidity, Stupid

The Bush administration engaged in a bit of greenspeak yesterday, revealing that Vice President Dick Cheney’s secretive energy task force would recommend tax credits for consumers who purchase gas-electric hybrid cars. It also said it would encourage burning biomass to produce energy. But for the most part, as Cheney himself made clear on CNN yesterday, […]