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  • Run for It, Santa!

    For the first time in perhaps 50 million years, the thick ice covering the North Pole has melted, opening up an ice-free stretch of ocean about a mile wide, according to scientists who recently visited the scene. The melting is being seen by many as further evidence that climate change is upon us. James McCarthy, […]

  • Cherry Bomb

    Some Ontario lawn-care companies have begun covering up the smell of toxic pesticides with fragrances like bubble gum, mint, and cherry. Enviros and others worry that this new trend could endanger children, who might be attracted to the scents. Julie Langer of the World Wildlife Fund: “Pesticides give off a pretty recognizable smell and people […]

  • There's Methane to His Madness

    James Hansen, a respected global warming expert and director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, has spent nearly two decades urging countries to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) to help curb climate change, but now he’s started singing a different tune. In research to be published this week in the Proceedings of […]

  • Honorable Mention

    LOS ANGELES, Calif.    With much fanfare and an excess of recyclable confetti, Democrats sent Al Gore forth last night into what will be a grueling three-month campaign stretch. The vice president must convince skeptical voters that he has what it takes to lead and that electing him over Texas Gov. George W. Bush will make […]

  • Conventional Wisdom

    Al Gore may not have spent much time on the environment in his speech last night, but organizers of the Democratic National Convention said they did their darndest to make the convention the most green and waste-free one yet. Last night’s festivities ended, for example, with 700 pounds of 100-percent recyclable confetti being showered on […]

  • Claws for Alarm

    Blaming pesticide manufacturers for the deaths of thousands of lobsters last year in Long Island Sound, Connecticut and New York lobstermen on Monday are planning to file suit against the companies for $75 million in damages. The lobstermen say the pesticides applied by the companies to fight the West Nile virus last fall killed the […]

  • Cheetahs Never Prosper

    A well-known ecologist in Africa is charging that the Zimbabwe government’s policy of redistributing land owned by white farmers to poor blacks may create an environmental “disaster” threatening the country’s biodiversity. Johan du Toit of Pretoria University in South Africa says the land is home to rare animals such as black rhino, cheetah, and sable, […]

  • EV Riders

    The California Air Resources Board (CARB) will decide next month whether to keep, change, or toss out regulations requiring that at least 10 percent of the new cars and light trucks offered for sale in the state emit little or no pollution by 2003. As the regulations stand, at least 4 percent of the new […]

  • Like a Bump on a Kellogg

    While many European citizens are fighting bitterly against genetically modified (GM) foods, Americans have been more complacent and seem inclined to trust that the government and agribusiness corporations will keep their food supply safe. Enviro and consumer groups launched a campaign last month urging consumers to tell Campbell’s and Kellogg’s to drop GM ingredients from […]