Latest Articles
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Pest-o, Change-o
About 30 percent of pesticides sold in developing countries do not meet international health and environmental standards, according to two U.N. agencies, the Food and Agriculture Organization and World Health Organization. The FAO’s Gero Vaagt said the pesticides “frequently contain hazardous substances and impurities that have already been banned or severely restricted” in developed countries. […]
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Taking It on the Chen
The debate over whether to continue construction of Taiwan’s fourth nuclear power plant continues to roil the country. Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian, a Democrat Progressive who swept the Nationalist Party out of power after 55 years of rule last March, stopped construction in October, saying the $5.5 billion plant was unnecessary and would create serious […]
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Wild Horses Couldn't Keep Them Away
The fate of 600,000 acres of high desert in Wyoming now lies in the hands of President Bush. Just before leaving office, former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt ruled that conservation should be the top priority for the land, which is home to some of the continent’s largest herds of desert elk, antelope, and wild horses. […]
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The Whole Kitz and Kaboodle
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) told Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham on Friday that the Bush administration should focus on conservation rather than “drilling and digging and burning” as a way to solve energy problems. His comments came as Abraham met with Western governors about the California energy crisis and its effects on other states. California […]
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Susan Davis, WaterPartners International
Susan Davis is the director of outreach for WaterPartners International, a nonprofit organization that addresses the water supply and sanitation needs of people living in developing countries. Susan Davis is the director of outreach for WaterPartners International, a nonprofit organization that addresses the water supply and sanitation needs of people living in developing countries. Monday, […]
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Climate change is threatening Arctic critters
The place to watch for global warming — the sensitive point, the canary in the coal mine — is the Arctic. If the planet as a whole warms by one degree, the poles will warm by about three degrees. Which is just what is happening. Polar bears are walking on thin ice. Ice now covers […]
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Crop Failures
Almost 30 percent of farmers in the U.S. who grew genetically modified corn last year violated planting restrictions meant to keep insects from becoming resistant to the crop, according to a biotech industry survey submitted to the U.S. EPA this week. More than 90 percent of the farmers thought they had followed the rules, but […]
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A Trader to Their Cause
Several U.S. corporations are doing an about-face: To get Democrats in Congress to stop holding up free-trade agreements, some representatives of Big Business are abandoning their long-held opposition to linking free trade with environmental and labor standards. For example, Caterpillar CEO Glen Barton said in a letter last month to the Clinton administration that the […]
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Trash Talking
The first piece of legislation signed by Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo requires local governments to reduce waste disposal by 25 percent across the county in five years, mostly through re-use, recycling, and composting. Macapagal, who came into office the same day as U.S. President Bush, said, “I am told no other country in the world […]
