Latest Articles
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The Dirt on Pesticides
4.1 billion pounds of pesticides are used throughout the world each year 30 times more pesticides are used today than were used in 1945 30 percent of insecticides are believed to be carcinogenic 60 percent of herbicides are believed to be carcinogenic 90 percent of fungicides are believed to be carcinogenic 23 of the 28 […]
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One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish — That's All
Tighter fishing limits are needed in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank fishing grounds in New England on everything from cod to winter flounder to meet new conservation goals set by Congress, according to a report released yesterday by a scientific panel that tracks the region’s stocks. Fishing stocks continue to decline despite efforts […]
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U.S. Department of Frankenculture
The U.S. Department of Agriculture frequently approves the use of new genetically engineered crops based on unsupported claims and shoddy studies by seed companies, say many scientists who have studied the approval process. The USDA, the primary agency responsible for assuring the ecological safety of such plants, has not rejected a single application for a […]
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A Tarriffying Story
A new White House study argues that logging around the world would increase by no more than 0.5 percent if the World Trade Organization liberalized global trade in forest products, as the U.S. is advocating. The study admits that logging in Indonesia, Chile, Malaysia, and several other nations would increase sharply under a proposal to […]
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Bonn Fire
Emissions of carbon dioxide, the primary cause of climate change, would be cut by 4.6 percent if eight major developing nations scrapped their energy subsidies, according to a report released yesterday by the International Energy Agency. Energy consumption in the nations, which include China, India, Indonesia, and Iran, would be reduced by 13 percent and […]
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Mr. Smith Stays in Washington
In a move that worries enviros, Sen. Bob Smith, a New Hampshire conservative who recently bolted the GOP, then rejoined it on Monday, was elected yesterday by Senate Republicans to be chair of the important Environment and Public Works Committee. The position had been held by Sen. John Chafee (R-R.I.) until his death last month. […]
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Russ Feingold plants seeds in the Senate for more wilderness
It was a beautiful night spent sitting by a waterfall in the southern Utah wilderness that convinced Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) of the need for more discussion in the Senate about wilderness and public lands issues. “I’ve had the good fortune to sea kayak the Apostle Islands, to canoe the Boundary Waters, and to hike […]
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If We've Said It Once, We've Said It a Thousand Times …
Without action to curb emissions of greenhouse gases, average global temperatures would rise about 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit over the next 80 years, causing sea levels to rise and landlocked glaciers to melt, according to new research conducted by the U.K.’s Meteorological Office. Up to 94 million people would be displaced as sea levels rose by […]
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Bag It, Tag It, Sell It to the Butcher in the Pet Store
The world’s coral reefs are threatened by consumers seeking tropical fish and coral for home aquariums, scientists said yesterday at a reef protection conference organized by the U.S. Home aquarium owners, mostly Americans, are buying live coral at a rate that has been growing by 12 to 30 percent a year since 1990, according to […]
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Hi, Ho, Quicksilver
Debate is brewing over safe levels of exposure to mercury and whether new limits should be imposed on mercury emissions from coal-burning power plants. While most industrial uses of mercury are declining, concentrations of methylmercury, a particularly toxic form of mercury, are increasing in the environment and the food chain. Consumption of fish is the […]
