Latest Articles

Shell Dommage

An Italian tanker carrying 6,000 tons of toxic chemicals sank this week in the English Channel not far from the French coast after being abandoned by its crew during a storm, and it has begun leaking highly toxic styrene. The tanker, which was carrying chemicals for Shell and ExxonMobil, was the second to sink off […]

Die Like an Eagle

In keeping with an ancient tradition, Hopi Indians would be allowed to gather and smother golden eagles from the Wupatki National Monument in Arizona, under a proposed Interior Department rule expected to be announced next month. Environmentalists fear that the proposal would set a broad precedent, allowing Native Americans to hunt and trap animals in […]

Going Soft on Pollution

About 20 to 30 percent of adult men in China are suffering from impotence or other sexual problems, an escalating trend that may be attributable in large part to serious pollution, experts say. In an unrelated development, the Chinese government has unveiled an environmental plan with the aim of reducing pollution levels in the country […]

Party Favors

Germany’s Green Party, which has been sharing government power with the Social Democrats since 1998, is trying to advance environmental goals, but has also become more business-friendly of late. Party leaders still call for a nuclear phase-out, higher energy taxes to help combat global warming, and more eco-friendly transportation and technologies. And the Greens are […]

I'm Cuckoo for Cocoa

With help from the enviro group Rainforest Alliance, some farmers in Ecuador have pledged to grow cocoa without cutting down forestlands and earn the right to be labeled rainforest-friendly. Within a few weeks, the cocoa — the first to be so certified — will become available to U.S. manufacturers. Enviros say cocoa, like coffee, can […]

Cabinet Fever

Speculation is running rampant about whom George W. Bush or Al Gore might choose to fill Cabinet-level positions, and what the environmental ramifications would be. For the Interior secretary spot, it’s thought that Bush might go for Montana Gov. Marc Racicot (R) or Sen. Slade Gorton (R-Wash.), if Gorton loses his bid for reelection; Rep. […]

James Grimmelmann, Microsoft

James Grimmelmann is a resident of Seattle, Wash., a software design engineer with the Microsoft Corporation, and the madman behind The Laboratorium. Monday, 30 Oct 2000 SEATTLE, Wash. I’ve worked at Microsoft for a year and half total, and in that time I’ve received two spider Koosh balls (Kooshes with only 20 or so hairs, […]

King of the Roadless

Environmentalists are pushing hard to convince the Clinton administration to expand its proposed plan to prohibit road-building on millions of acres of national forest land. The first version of the plan, unveiled in May, would ban roads on 43 million acres of roadless lands, primarily in Western states; the next version, which will take into […]

The dumbing and demeaning of politics is not a minor matter

In the spirit of celebrating good news wherever it appears, I would like to point out one excellent development in the presidential campaign. The candidates have flailed at each other so much about numbers — how much of that tax cut really goes to the top 1 percent? how much surplus is there really? — […]

Possible Merger: World Wildlife Wrestling Federation

The World Wildlife Fund, one of the world’s best-known conservation organizations, has filed suit in London against the World Wrestling Federation over the use of the WWF initials. The two groups had reached an agreement on the issue in 1994, but now the conflict has rekindled over Internet addresses. The World Wildlife Fund, which uses […]