Latest Articles
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Towering Infernal
Enviros estimate that more than 4 million migrating birds are killed each year in the U.S. as they collide with communications towers, and the problem is becoming more severe as thousands of new towers crop up to serve cell phones and digital pagers. Bird conservationists are particularly worried about new mega-towers that will be constructed […]
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Mutual De-fence Treaty
Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe plan to sign a historic agreement next month to create a massive wildlife park that will protect elephants, leopards, rhinos, lions, and buffalo. Wildlife ministers from the three nations will agree to remove the fences that divide their wildlands in order to create a reserve area of about 38,000 square […]
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Eek Coli
One of the worst North American outbreaks of E. coli has hit the small town of Walkerton, Ontario, presumably because water supplies were contaminated by runoff from nearby cattle feedlots after a heavy rainstorm on May 12. Five people have died and nearly 1,000, or about a fifth of the town’s population, have fallen ill […]
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Putin Up Their Nukes
The Russian government has come up with a plan to build as many as 38 new nuclear reactors by 2020, disregarding concerns that the nation could be setting itself up for a repeat of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Russian enviros are particularly disturbed that the Ministry of Atomic Energy plans to help pay for […]
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Won't You Be My Nader?
Russell Peterson, former governor of Delaware, ardent environmentalist, lifelong Republican until a few years ago when he switched to being a Democrat, was appalled when I told him I couldn’t bring myself to vote for Al Gore. Tell it like it is, Ralph. He gave me the undeniably rational argument. George W. shows no sign […]
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The British Are Coming Around
The British government announced yesterday that it will set new recycling requirements, hoping to turn around what Environment Minister Michael Meacher called the nation’s “pathetic” recycling rate. In England and Wales, people recycle just 8 percent of their household waste, compared to 45 percent in the Netherlands and 52 percent in Switzerland. Local authorities in […]
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To Protect and Surf
President Clinton will unveil a system today to create “marine protected areas” in sensitive ocean waters, comparable to creating parks or wilderness areas on land. Offshore oil drilling, mining, dumping, fishing, and other activities could be banned in the protected areas, which will be designated by the Commerce and Interior departments. Specifically, Clinton will call […]
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What, Snarl Traffic in L.A.? Impossible!
A number of environmentalists plan to join other activists in Los Angeles this August in hopes of disrupting the Democratic National Convention. Inspired by the World Trade Organization protests in Seattle last year and the World Bank and International Monetary Fund protests in Washington, D.C., last month, demonstrators intend to march, tie up traffic, make […]
