Latest Articles
-
Wind-Win Situation
Ten percent of the world’s electricity could come from wind by 2020, up from just 0.15 percent today, if governments make development of wind capacity a priority, according to a new report released by Greenpeace International, the European Wind Energy Association, and the Denmark-based Forum for Energy and Development. Wind power grew by an average […]
-
Snailed to the Wall
Freshwater species in North America are vanishing from lakes and rivers at the same startling rate as species in tropical rainforests, according to a new study published in the journal Conservation Biology. Widespread habitat destruction has already caused at least 123 freshwater species to go extinct this century, and surviving species are expected to disappear […]
-
Dumb-Dumb Bullets
The U.S. military used depleted uranium (DU) bullets, which are made of low-level nuclear waste material and which leave toxic and radioactive debris, as it chased Serbian forces from Kosovo. But the Pentagon won’t talk about how much DU ammunition was fired and has issued no warning to the people who live in Kosovo. DU […]
-
Hasta La Vista, Baby
Seeking to extricate itself from a contentious debate, Monsanto said yesterday that it would not sell seeds that produce sterile crops, which have been dubbed “terminator” seeds by vocal opponents around the world. The critics, who hailed yesterday’s announcement, had warned that the development of such seeds would make farmers more dependent on large agribusiness […]
-
Sean O'Brien, W. Alton Jones Foundation
Sean T. O’Brien, Ph.D., is a circuit rider for the W. Alton Jones Foundation in Charlottesville, Va. Monday, 4 Oct 1999 CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. People laugh when I tell them my job title is “circuit rider.” It sounds funny, but I love it. How many people have a job title that is a pun, much less […]
-
Shining a Light on Dark Corners of the Budget Process
I don’t know any other way to stop the ugly, destructive, sneaky, greedy, immoral, undemocratic goings-on in the dark corners of the congressional budget process, except to keep shining bright lights on them. This is time of year when it is decided how your and my tax dollars get spent, supposedly for our public welfare, […]
-
Golf Doesn't Attract Drivers and Beetles Don't Have the Juice
The winners on the EPA’s annual list of the most fuel-efficient cars and trucks are losers in the marketplace. The most fuel-efficient cars, those getting at least 40 mpg, represent just 0.57 percent of the U.S. market. Light trucks such as the Land Rover Range Rover — the least efficient SUV on the EPA’s list, […]
-
Kenyans' Ivory Weigh-In
Six months after Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe held controversial sales of ivory stocks, there is widespread disagreement over whether the sales sparked incidents of elephant poaching. An international ban on the sale and trade of ivory was imposed in 1989, but the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species allowed the three nations to hold […]
-
Enviros Teamster Up With Unions
After years of sometimes testy relations, labor unions and environmental groups in the U.S. are joining forces to push for stronger protections for jobs and the environment at World Trade Organization talks in Seattle beginning November 30. Their coalition, the Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment, is kicking things off today with a full-page […]
