Latest Articles
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A Snowmobile's Chance in Hell
The National Park Service today banned the recreational use of snowmobiles in nearly all national parks, recreational areas, and monuments, saying they have had a “significant adverse environmental effect” on the park system. The only exceptions are parks in Alaska and Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota, where Congress has specifically allowed snowmobiles. More than 180,000 […]
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Uptown Girl, Downbeat News
The rate of infant deaths near five nuclear power plants dropped substantially after the nuclear reactors were closed, according to a new study published in the spring edition of the Journal of Environmental Epidemiology and Toxicology. The study suggests that the health of people who live within 50 miles of a nuclear power plant may […]
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Brand-Name Genes
A coalition of enviro groups yesterday petitioned the Agriculture Department to tighten its regulation of genetically engineered crops, accusing the department of approving new biotech plants without requiring adequate tests to assure that they won’t harm the environment. Plants that are artificially engineered to be resistant to pests could pass along resistance genes to weeds […]
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This Makes Us Yak
China has plundered Tibet’s natural resources and severely polluted the region’s environment, according to a report by the exiled Tibetan government based in India. The report, to be presented today to the U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development, accuses China of uncontrolled deforestation, mining, and dumping of nuclear waste. Forty-six percent of Tibet’s forest cover has […]
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Making Radio Waves
Hoping to give a boost to environmental issues in the upcoming elections, the Sierra Club yesterday launched an $8 million TV and radio ad campaign aimed at influencing 17 congressional races. The ads, most of which favor Democrats, will be accompanied by voter guides and fliers to be distributed at community events. Politicians targeted in […]
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From Russia With Lumps
The oil and gas that Russia loses each year in leaks and spills could provide enough energy to allow the country to close its nuclear power plants, Greenpeace said yesterday. Between 70 million and 140 million barrels of oil are spilled annually in Russia, out of the approximately 2.1 billion barrels the nation produces, the […]
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Bill vs. Bill
Keeping a long-standing promise, President Clinton yesterday vetoed a bill that would have required the Department of Energy to move nuclear waste from commercial reactors around the country to a central site in Nevada before completion of a planned permanent waste repository in the state. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is expected to decide as early […]
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A Bunch of Ash Holes
In a setback for enviros, the U.S. EPA yesterday decided against regulating ash and sludge from coal-burning power plants as a toxic hazardous waste. Instead, the agency will merely develop voluntary coal-ash disposal standards that states could choose to follow, such as a recommendation that disposal sites have liners. About 100 million tons of coal […]
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A Colorado family welcomes the simple life
Why would Dale Murphy, a senior geologist with Enserch Exploration, leave a $58,000-a-year job in Dallas and take his family to a remote town in Colorado where the employment opportunities range from sorting cherries to working a supermarket cash register? The Murphy family, home on the range. Photo: Lisa Jones. Sanity. He and his wife […]
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Bringing Us to Our Ruins
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt suggested yesterday that he will recommend that President Clinton create two more national monuments — one at Soda Mountain in southern Oregon and another at a southwestern Colorado area containing Indian ruins. Under the 1906 Antiquities Act, a president can designate national monuments without congressional approval. Clinton has created five monuments […]
