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  • Unlisted Numbers

    Nearly 90 percent of all violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act are not reported in the government database that is made available to citizens and that triggers legal action when there are problems, according to a new audit by the EPA. Violations range from missed water quality tests to contamination problems. Most of the […]

  • Activists Go Critical

    More than 130 environmental, health, and anti-nuclear activists this week protested the composition of a new panel of scientists that will try to determine the cancer risks from low doses of radiation. In a letter to the National Academy of Scientists, under which the high-profile panel has been formed, the activists charged that the 20-member […]

  • States to Air Differences in Court

    A proposed compromise clean air plan between Midwestern states and Northeastern states has been rejected by parties on both sides, making it highly likely that the long-running dispute will be resolved only in court. Some of the Northeast states, which are forced to cope with pollution that blows in from power plants and other polluters […]

  • From the Folks Who Brought You the Bomb

    Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory say they have found a way to help tackle the problem of climate change by combining carbon dioxide, the most abundant greenhouse gas, with common magnesium- or calcium-bearing minerals. The resulting mixture, a mineral carbonate, would trap the CO2 and prevent it from reaching and […]

  • At Loggerheads

    Several dozen environmental groups will send a letter to Pres. Clinton today expressing “deep disappointment” over administration policy on Northwest forests. The enviros believe the administration’s Northwest Forest Plan, put in place in 1993, provides far too little protection for old growth. The timber industry, for its part, maintains that the plan is unworkable because […]

  • Hal Brill, Jack A. Brill, and Cliff Feigenbaum on their new book Investing Your Values

    Turn on any financial talk show and you will be deluged with advice about how to make more money. You'll learn which kind of IRA is best for you, and hear arguments rage about the pros and cons of no-load mutual funds. This is useful information, but it doesn't go far enough. Given the central, powerful role of money and business in both our society and our personal lives, it is astonishing that so little attention is given to the social, ethical, and spiritual dimensions of money. Even the most caring commentators seem oblivious to the enormous impact our financial decisions have on communities, the earth, and our own peace of mind. We've ignored the fact that our money carries our voice to the world.

  • Go with the Flow

    After decades of disputes, eight states and 30 Indian tribes along the Missouri River have agreed on a compromise plan to share the river’s flow. The plan would, among other things, keep more water in upstream reservoirs in Montana and the Dakotas during dry times to boost recreation and protect fish and wildlife habitat, a […]

  • De-beige-ing China

    In an effort to clear Beijing’s thick smog before the 50th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China next month, the city plans to shut down furnaces, outlaw bonfires, and ban the use of trucks and tractors for 10 days. Meanwhile, in Nepal, officials are instituting an immediate ban on the import of two-stroke motorcycles […]

  • Grow with the Flow

    A state commission in Arizona yesterday backed a change to the state’s constitution that would let the state set aside some of its trust land for conservation instead of selling it for development. Still, the Growing Smarter Commission dodged the tough questions of how much land to set aside and who should choose it. And […]

  • Hondurans Flushed over Sewage Problems

    Honduras is urgently seeking $220 million in aid to repair its sewage system and stop the open flow of human waste through the streets of its capital Tegucigalpa. The city’s sewage system was severely damaged when Hurricane Mitch hit the area last year; some 80 percent of the pipes were destroyed and the remaining ones […]