Latest Articles

We Who Are About to Pollute Cellucci You

Enviros are crying foul that Massachusetts Gov. Paul Cellucci (R) is considering gutting pollution limits for the state’s dirtiest power plants. To great fanfare last May, Cellucci announced a plan under which the plants would have to halve their emissions within three years. But an anonymous source in his administration told the Boston Globe that […]

Speedy Delivery

FedEx Express asked auto manufacturers this week to submit proposals for a commercial delivery truck that has 90 percent less emissions and is 50 percent more fuel-efficient than current models. The delivery giant has been working with the Alliance for Environmental Innovation since the spring of 2000 to figure out how to make its truck […]

Snow Mobilization

Snowmobilers are rushing to Yellowstone this winter to experience what might be the second-to-last year snowmobiles are allowed in the national park. The Clinton administration in December issued a rule to ban snowmobiles in the park by the winter of 2003-04 because of concerns about air pollution, noise, and harassment of wildlife. But Rep. Jim […]

Regulatory Maize

The European Parliament voted yesterday to establish strict rules on the production and marketing of genetically modified foods and pharmaceuticals. Under the rules, companies will have to apply for 10-year licenses to sell genetically modified products and all products will be tracked in a public database marking the locations of crops. A separate bill laying […]

Olive You Just the Way You Are, Except for the Erosion

Olive farming in southern Europe is leading to desertification and other environmental ills, according to a report prepared for the European Commission. The report said that soil erosion is the most serious problem linked to olive farming, and that "inappropriate" methods of weed control and poor soil-management practices are causing big runoff problems, with chemicals […]

This Ain't the Place

Utah is home to the country’s No. 1 air polluter and an enviro study has found that Utah’s Tooele County leads the country in chemical releases that affect child development and learning, reports the Salt Lake Deseret News in an eight-part series on Toxic Utah. Indeed, people across Utah talk about how public safety and […]

News Flash: Law Enforcement Leads to Enforced Laws

Even though North Carolina has the most far-reaching soil runoff laws in the U.S., it still isn’t keeping its rivers clean, say scientists who’ve been studying the issue for four years. The problem, they say, is that the state doesn’t have a strong enough inspection regimen in place. The scientists from the University of North […]

How Now Mad Cow

The European Commission yesterday called for more support for organic agriculture and decreased beef production throughout Europe as a way to counter the mad cow disease crisis. The crisis "demonstrates the need for a return to farming methods that are more in tune with the environment," said the European Union farm commissioner, Franz Fischler. In […]

Mike Houck, Audubon Society of Portland

Mike Houck has been urban naturalist for the Audubon Society of Portland since 1982 and is a cofounder of the Coalition for a Livable Future. He also sits on numerous city and regional natural resource advisory committees, and is coeditor of Wild in the City. 3:30 a.m.: Woke up, wondering what was amiss. I had […]

Hamster Dunce

Germany is not doing enough to protect native hamsters, says the European Commission. The commission has issued a formal warning to the country for allowing farming and development to occur in areas that are vital habitat for the endangered black-bellied hamster, a rodent that is both bigger and stronger than your everyday household hamster. Germany […]