Latest Articles
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Pumices, Pumices
After a decade-long struggle, 13 Native American tribes and the Sierra Club have finally succeeded in closing down a strip mine in Arizona that supplied much of the pumice used around the world to make stonewashed denim. Federal officials and the mining company signed an agreement yesterday to shut down the mining operation within six […]
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Ice Capades
Global warming was top-of-the-hour news last week because of a report in the New York Times that open water had been spotted at the North Pole for the first time in perhaps 50 million years. Turns out the Times overstated the development; in a correction today and a follow-up article, the newspaper reports that some […]
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Burning Questions
As the U.S. endures its worst forest fire season in 50 years, some enviros and scientists are wondering whether climate change might be one of the catalysts. “It’s very difficult to say with a great degree of certainty, but what you can say is that this summer’s events are very typical of the kinds of […]
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Crash-Test Smarties
Automakers have long argued that to make fuel-efficient vehicles, they must compromise on safety, but a new report from the General Accounting Office contradicts that claim. The report, requested by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), found little research linking tougher government fuel-economy standards with decreased vehicle safety. If given six to 10 years advance notice of […]
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Money Does Grow on Trees
National forests are 10 times more valuable if used for recreation and to protect wildlife and water quality than they are if used for logging, mining, and grazing, according to a new report commissioned by the Sierra Club. Measured by these new standards, the forests are worth $234 billion and generate 2.9 million sustainable jobs, […]
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The Gambler
“If I gamble, I usually gamble at high-stakes, high-payoff games.” That’s a boast not from James Bond, but from a chemist speaking to the prestigious journal Science (the July 14 issue, from which all quotes but the last one in this column are taken). His name is Peter Schultz. He works at Scripps Research Institute […]
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The Chemical Bothers
Phthalates, a family of chemicals used in everything from plastics to beauty products, have been detected in humans at levels that some scientists believe are worrisome. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tested urine samples from people around the U.S. and were surprised to find phthalates at much higher levels than other […]
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For Whales, LaDuke's a Hazard
During a weekend campaign swing through the Northwest, Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader outlined his views on a number of environmental issues. He called for a total ban on logging in national forests, for an end to federal land swaps, which he says usually benefit private interests rather than the public, and for the […]
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Bangla-death?
About 25 million people in Bangladesh, nearly 20 percent of the country’s population, are at risk of injury or death from arsenic in their drinking water, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund. UNICEF is working to raise awareness of the problem and encourage water filtering and collection of rainwater for drinking. In the past, […]
