Latest Articles
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King of the Roadless
Environmentalists are pushing hard to convince the Clinton administration to expand its proposed plan to prohibit road-building on millions of acres of national forest land. The first version of the plan, unveiled in May, would ban roads on 43 million acres of roadless lands, primarily in Western states; the next version, which will take into […]
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The dumbing and demeaning of politics is not a minor matter
In the spirit of celebrating good news wherever it appears, I would like to point out one excellent development in the presidential campaign. The candidates have flailed at each other so much about numbers — how much of that tax cut really goes to the top 1 percent? how much surplus is there really? — […]
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Possible Merger: World Wildlife Wrestling Federation
The World Wildlife Fund, one of the world’s best-known conservation organizations, has filed suit in London against the World Wrestling Federation over the use of the WWF initials. The two groups had reached an agreement on the issue in 1994, but now the conflict has rekindled over Internet addresses. The World Wildlife Fund, which uses […]
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People in Solar-Paneled Houses Shouldn't Throw Stones
Last week on the stump, George W. Bush mocked Al Gore’s proposal to give tax credits to homeowners who install solar panels to generate electricity. “How many of you own a rooftop photovoltaic system?” Bush crowed at campaign rallies. But it turns out that Bush’s own energy plan includes what amounts to the very same […]
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Atom-antly Opposed
Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian stopped construction of a controversial nuclear plant on Friday. Prime Minister Chang Chun-hsiung, who announced the decision, said that the plant, which would have been the nation’s fourth, was unnecessary and would have created serious environmental and safety risks. The decision, though not a surprise, angered the Nationalist Party, which was […]
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Cooked Islands
Rising sea levels and sea temperatures caused by climate change could wreak havoc on the economies of small South Pacific nations, costing $3 billion to $3.9 billion over the next 20 years, according to a report conducted by scientists and economists for Greenpeace. The report said that rising sea levels combined with the loss of […]
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Framing: the Debate
A judge in Mexico is expected to issue a ruling within days on the appeal of two environmental activists who have been convicted of illegally possessing drugs and guns even though the country’s National Human Rights Commission has found that they were framed. The two activists, Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera, say they were arrested […]
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Rudolf, the Sunburned Reindeer
Within 20 years, a new ozone hole could develop over the North Pole, similar to the one that has been expanding dramatically in recent years over the South Pole, according to one of the three British scientists who discovered the damaged ozone layer over the Antarctic in 1985. A hole over the Arctic could affect […]
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Bend Over
Big Bend National Park in Texas frequently has the dirtiest air of any of the national parks in the Western U.S., says the National Park Service. On clear days, visibility at the remote park can reach 180 miles or more, but such days are becoming less and less common. Last year there were only 43 […]