Latest Articles
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Bhopal — or RuPaul
Friday marks the 15th anniversary of a very unhappy occasion. On Dec. 3, 1984, a Union Carbide industrial plant in Bhopal, India, released a deadly cloud of the gas methyl isocyanate into the air, killing at least 6,500 people (and some say more) and injuring tens of thousands. Ever since, Union Carbide and Bhopal have […]
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Me Thinks Thou Dost Protest — But Not Too Much
Protestors against the World Trade Organization in Seattle continue to press their views that the trade body tramples on the environment, labor standards, and human rights, while police in full riot gear continue to trample on the rights of demonstrators and some bystanders. Pres. Clinton tried to mollify WTO opponents in two speeches yesterday by […]
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Hey, Caterpillars, Make Tracks
Even as the EU started giving ground on the issue of genetically modified foods at the WTO talks, a new study is showing that a widely used variety of GM corn leaves traces of toxin in the soil that can remain there indefinitely. The corn has been modified to produce a natural insecticide, the bacterium […]
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Dumbo and Dumber
Poachers in Zimbabwe have killed as many as 400 elephants in the past year, according to park officials and internal park documents. Gangs have used AK-47 automatic rifles to kill the animals, then axes or chain saws to hack off the elephants’ ivory tusks, leaving hundreds of carcasses in the remote Zambezi valley near the […]
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This Plastic Is Not Fantastic
EU governments yesterday unanimously approved an emergency ban on some baby toys made from PVC plastic containing chemicals called phthalates. Some scientists believe that phthalates, used to soften plastics, could leach out of toys that babies put in their mouths and pose serious health risks. The EU’s executive commission points to research that has linked […]
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My Way or No Highway
Pressed by a lawsuit from environmentalists, the EPA yesterday said that smog clean-up plans are inadequate in nine of the nation’s most polluted urban areas, including New York City and Houston. EPA Administrator Carol Browner said that although the nine areas in question have made some progress, state governments still need to take additional steps […]
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Soon, They'll Be Calling It the Greenhouse
Energy-efficiency measures and other steps taken to make the White House more eco-friendly have saved taxpayers nearly $1.4 million since 1993, according to an administration report to be released today. The savings, now totaling about $300,000 a year, have been achieved through more efficient lighting, heating, and air conditioning; new insulation; double-paned windows; and energy-saving […]
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Don't buy their official version of Tuesday's events
SEATTLE, Wash. An eerie half-calm, enforced by marching columns of police and troops in full-body armor, settled over downtown Seattle today. Street corners that had been scenes of dramatic confrontation yesterday saw small-scale, unthreatening protests this morning and early afternoon, as demonstrators, trade delegates, journalists, and everyone else in this stunned city got down to […]
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To Have and Have Not
5 percent of the world’s human population resides in the U.S. 30 percent of the world’s resources are used by the U.S. 8 motor vehicles are on the roads in China for every 1,000 Chinese citizens 750 motor vehicles are on the roads in the U.S. for every 1,000 U.S. citizens 15 kilograms of paper […]
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What a Riot, What a Gas
Tens of thousands of protestors, including many environmentalists, took to the streets of Seattle yesterday and succeeded in disrupting talks of the World Trade Organization. While a small minority of the protestors damaged some property, most were resolutely nonviolent as they tried to make their point that the WTO places corporate profits above human rights, […]
