Latest Articles

Off-Road Hogs

Off-road vehicles (ORVs) pose the fastest growing threat to America’s wild areas and should be banned from federal lands, the Wilderness Society says in a report released yesterday. The report lists the 15 most endangered wildlands in the U.S., many of which the group says are threatened by ORVs as well as by logging, mining, […]

Beyond a Shadow of a Drought

January through April 2000 was the hottest such four-month period ever recorded in the U.S., according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Seventy percent of the country was much warmer than usual during the period, while less than 1 percent was significantly cooler than usual. Drought has hit much of the Midwestern U.S. this […]

Nader As Vote Raider?

Ralph Nader’s presidential campaign under the Green Party banner, which is attracting a growing number of environmentalists and labor union members, could cause headaches for Al Gore and give a boost to George W. Bush. Friends of the Earth has suggested that it might endorse Nader, and the United Auto Workers union has praised Nader […]

Organic Farming: It's for the Birds

Organic farms support substantially more birds, wild plants, and other wildlife than chemical-dependent farms, according to Britain’s Soil Association, which surveyed biodiversity studies conducted in Britain and Denmark over the last 13 years. The findings will likely prompt calls for wider use of organic farming methods to help reverse the decline of once-common British farmland […]

Recalling All Cars

The European Union reached a final deal yesterday on a law that will force automakers to pay for the recycling of old cars. Starting with vehicles sold after January 1, 2001, automakers will have to pay most of the cost of taking back and recycling cars at the end of their lives. And beginning in […]

Arsenic and Old Delays

Under threat of a lawsuit from enviros, the U.S. EPA yesterday proposed strict new regulations that would cut by 90 percent the permissible levels of arsenic in tap water. Arsenic, which can cause cancer and other health problems, is currently found at harmful levels in at least 10 percent of the nation’s community water supplies. […]

Take That Smog and Shove It

New York Gov. George Pataki (R) signed a controversial bill yesterday that aims to limit pollution drifting into New York from coal-burning power plants in the Midwest and South. The measure will fine New York companies that sell pollution allowances, which they earn by cleaning up their own emissions, to polluting facilities in Midwestern and […]

Chamber of Horrors

You’d think the U.S. Chamber of Commerce wouldn’t have much free time on its hands these days, what with the raging debate over permanent normal trade relations for China. But the industry-friendly group recently managed to cobble together a charming volume called The Environmentalists’ Little Green Book, a compendium of off-the-wall quotes and blistering bon […]

The Bonus Collector

A man enviros love to hate, Charles Hurwitz, chair and CEO of Maxxam Inc., got a good deal richer last year when he finally acceded to a government buyout of the Headwaters stand of ancient redwoods in Northern California. Filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission show that Hurwitz, whose company owns Pacific Lumber, was […]

Zion Tamer

Zion National Park in Utah yesterday became the first national park in the lower 48 states to ban automobiles from its most popular area. The National Park Service launched a shuttle-bus system that requires most visitors to leave their vehicles at the park entrance; people are also encouraged to bicycle and walk in the park. […]