Latest Articles
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You Say It's Your Earth Day — It's My Earth Day Too, Yeah
Millions of people in 183 countries celebrated the 30th anniversary of Earth Day on Saturday, with rallies, marches, demonstrations, car-free days, and fairs, many of them focused on the theme of clean energy and global warming. At the flagship Earth Day event in Washington, D.C., hundreds of thousands came out to hear speeches from politicians, […]
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Business as Unusual
Student environmental activists are turning their attention anew to corporations, trying to cajole or shame them into changing their practices for the benefit of the planet. Last month, Yale student Glenn Hurowitz staged a demonstration at BP Amoco’s New York offices and delivered a stack of resumes from business and engineering students who had pledged […]
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We Doesn't Get It
Pollution and other environmental factors may be threatening the intelligence of millions of people around the world, according to a new research review conducted by Chris Williams of London University. Environmental problems that can lead to lower IQs include lead, PCBs, and radiation. Epidemiologists have detected an increase in the number of children born with […]
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It's All the Brady Bunch's Fault
In a move that is rattling the tourist industry in Hawaii and beyond, the Sierra Club filed suit in January against the Hawaii Tourist Authority, seeking to force the state agency to perform a statewide environmental assessment before launching an aggressive marketing plan aimed at luring more visitors to the islands. “Seven million tourists descend […]
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Set Phaseout on Stunning
Vice President Al Gore, speaking at the Earth Day fair in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, unveiled policy initiatives aimed at curbing emissions of greenhouse gases, including proposed tougher requirements for power plant emissions. Gore also reiterated his controversial claim that it is possible and necessary to phase out the internal combustion engine within the next […]
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Earth Day Turns 30
If, in the 30 Earth Day celebrations we have held since 1970, the human population and economy have become any more respectful of the Earth, the Earth hasn’t noticed. The planet is not impressed by fancy speeches. Leonardo DiCaprio interviewing Bill Clinton about global warming is not an Earth-shaking event. The Earth has no way […]
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Green Giant? Ho, Ho, Ho
In honor of Earth Day, we take a one-week respite from our dizzying political tour of the United States in order to take a dizzying political tour of Vice President Al Gore. What could be more fun? Perhaps you will require sedation before reading further. Gore-the-environmentalist blasted back on the scene just in time for […]
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Do we know enough about genetically modified foods?
Genetically modified foods — you’ve heard about them, but you probably don’t know whether you’re eating them. They’re produced by splicing genes, those little segments of DNA that code for particular traits, from one plant or animal species and inserting them into another. Biotechnology companies are cooking up all sorts of techniques to engineer organisms […]
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Everyone Talks About the Weather, but We Did Something About it
The new century has already seen a number of volatile weather events of the type scientists predict would accompany global warming. Tornado-like winds and torrential rain hit parts of Southern California this week. Devastating floods caused a major humanitarian disaster in Mozambique in February and March. Forest fires are starting up earlier than usual in […]
