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Don Cry for Me

A landmark conservation bill sponsored by Alaska Rep. Don Young (R) and Sen. Frank Murkowski (R) — which also has the support of environmentalists, sports groups, local governments, and federal officials — may not make it out of Congress. The bill, the Conservation and Reinvestment Act, would direct $3 billion a year from offshore oil […]

Deborah Tabart, Australian Koala Foundation

Deborah Tabart is executive director of the Australian Koala Foundation, an independent organization dedicated to the conservation of the koala and its habitat. Monday, 11 Sep 2000 BRISBANE, Australia When the Olympics begin this Friday, the world will be watching Australia. Beautiful images of koalas will be beamed across the globe, but there will be […]

And We'll Have Fund, Fund, Fund

Last year investors put nearly $3 trillion into investment portfolios and funds that are screened for social responsibility, up from $639 billion in 1995, according to the Social Investment Forum. And 79 percent of those portfolios focus on companies’ environmental records, up from 37 percent in 1997. Advocates of eco-friendly investing argue that companies with […]

Why do we compete even though we know it hurts us?

Not beary funny. Photo: Art Wolfe, Inc. I’ve heard the joke about the bear before, and so, probably, have you. Two guys are sitting outside their tent in a forest campsite when they see a huge angry bear charging toward them. One starts lacing up his running shoes. The other says, “Are you crazy? You’ll […]

We're Gonna Rock Down to Electric Avenue

Against automakers’ objections, the California Air Resources Board on Friday voted unanimously to stick with a rule requiring that 10 percent of the cars offered for sale in the state in 2003 emit little or no pollution. CARB estimates that the rule will prompt automakers to put 22,000 electric vehicles (EVs) on the market in […]

Into Thinner Air

The ozone hole over Antarctica is the biggest it’s ever been, 11 million square miles, or three times the size of the U.S., scientists at NASA said on Friday. Synthetic compounds in refrigerants, aerosol sprays, and foam-blowing agents cause depletion of the ozone layer. The amount of such chemicals in the atmosphere is leveling off, […]

Underbrush With the Law

President Clinton on Saturday endorsed a report by Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman calling for a big increase in the number of national forest acres to be swept clean of the thick, flammable underbrush that led to many of the wildfires in the West this summer. Clinton’s comments came during his […]

Go Ahead and Jump

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Friday proposed designating 5.4 million acres as critical habitat for the threatened California red-legged frog, a move likely to affect development and agriculture in the state, particularly in Southern California. This designation, which would be the largest of its kind in the state and one of the largest […]

Wild and Crazy Guy

U.S. Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck this weekend said his agency should be leading the effort to protect what’s left of wild spaces and that he would increase the number of people on his payroll working on wilderness issues. Speaking at a national wilderness conference in Denver, Dombeck said, “Five percent of our land area […]

Development runs wild in the upper Midwest

In an arm-wrestling contest, you’d probably pick Paul Bunyan over John Lawlis. Bunyan, after all, wielded his mighty ax with mythic strength and endurance, leveling the great forests of the upper Midwest. John Lawlis merely works the phones, selling vacation lots in what’s left of these woods. “I think Paul would definitely win,” laughs Lawlis. […]