Latest Articles
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Green Giant? Ho, Ho, Ho
In honor of Earth Day, we take a one-week respite from our dizzying political tour of the United States in order to take a dizzying political tour of Vice President Al Gore. What could be more fun? Perhaps you will require sedation before reading further. Gore-the-environmentalist blasted back on the scene just in time for […]
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Do we know enough about genetically modified foods?
Genetically modified foods — you’ve heard about them, but you probably don’t know whether you’re eating them. They’re produced by splicing genes, those little segments of DNA that code for particular traits, from one plant or animal species and inserting them into another. Biotechnology companies are cooking up all sorts of techniques to engineer organisms […]
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Everyone Talks About the Weather, but We Did Something About it
The new century has already seen a number of volatile weather events of the type scientists predict would accompany global warming. Tornado-like winds and torrential rain hit parts of Southern California this week. Devastating floods caused a major humanitarian disaster in Mozambique in February and March. Forest fires are starting up earlier than usual in […]
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For He's a Jolly Good Felon
Federal prosecutors are now charging about three times as many people for environmental crimes as they were 10 years ago, and the EPA is sending about four times as many criminal referrals to the Justice Department. And an increasing number of polluters are being punished with jail terms instead of just fines. Last summer, the […]
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Wheeler Dealer
Just in time for Earth Day, Al Gore is trying to burnish his green image. Today he travels to Detroit on behalf of the administration to announce a new deal under which heavy-duty engine and truck companies will produce more fuel-efficient buses, trucks, and 18-wheelers. Monday he announced new proposed drinking water rules. Tomorrow, Gore […]
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Adding Injury to Insult
Two environmental protestors have been injured this week while trying to interfere with the gray whale hunt that the Makah native tribe in Washington state started up a few days ago. Under a 1997 deal, the U.S. is allowing the Makahs to kill up to five gray whales a year. In a highly publicized and […]
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Extra Credit
A World Bank emissions trading program that will finance clean energy projects in developing countries has generated more money and more government and corporate interest than expected, and the bank hopes to expand it. About $135 million has been pledged to the program by 15 corporations, including BP Amoco and six Japanese electric power companies, […]
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How green is your pleasure machine?
They be jammin’. When you look at U.S. transportation habits, you start to wonder where in the world we’re all going, and why we’re working so hard to get there. The average household makes more than six car trips per day, each averaging nine miles. With busier schedules, we are each spending an average of […]
