Latest Articles
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Sneaky, Pete
A fight will soon reach the Senate floor on whether to allow oil drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a 1.5 million-acre pristine coastal plain that is home to caribou and many other animals. Opponents of opening up ANWR to drilling failed yesterday to kill a provision in a 2001 budget bill that calls […]
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Big Three's No Charm
Vice President Al Gore is pushing the Big Three American automakers for a firm commitment to begin producing vehicles in the near future that use fuel-efficient technology developed in a joint government-industry project, the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles. PNGV, launched in 1993 with the goal of producing a reasonably priced “supercar” by […]
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Wake Up and Smell the Petrochemicals
President Clinton said yesterday that rising gasoline prices should serve as a “wake-up call” for the nation to take energy conservation more seriously. Speaking at his second press conference of the year, he said that OPEC’s decision to boost oil production should reduce oil prices soon, but Americans should still do their part by using […]
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Gas 'n' Uh-oh
40 percent — petroleum’s share of global energy consumed in 1998 $246 — amount spent by the author on gasoline to drive a 1987 Honda Accord 5,700 miles on a cross-country road trip from Feb. 15 to March 15, 2000 $433 — estimated amount the author would have spent if he had driven a new […]
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The Lead Story
A Romanian mine has dumped a new load of pollution into the Tisza River, less than three weeks after the same mine spilled some 20,000 tons of lead, zinc, and other metals into the river, which flows through Hungary before reaching the Danube. On Sunday, heavy rains and melting snow washed away part of an […]
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Let Me Take You Down, 'Cause I'm Going to Strawberry Fields …
California farmers are increasing their use of pesticides and other carcinogenic and harmful chemicals, according to a new study by the watchdog group Pesticide Action Network. In the first comprehensive investigation into pesticide use in California, the group found that more than 50 million pounds of harsh chemicals were applied to California farm fields in […]
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Pretty Soon, They'll Be Selling Decaf Water
Rivers and groundwater are being contaminated with minute amounts of everything from antibiotics and birth control pills to chemicals used in cosmetics, scientists said this week at the American Chemical Society’s annual meeting in San Francisco. The issue is only beginning to be studied, and scientists have no idea what the combined effects on humans […]
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Grand Piano
President Clinton yesterday announced tighter limits on sightseeing flights over Grand Canyon National Park, an effort to restore “natural quiet” to one of the nation’s busiest national parks. The new rules will cap the number of flights at 90,000 a year and make 75 percent of the park off-limits to planes and helicopters, up from […]
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The nitty-gritty on the ruling that lets citizens sue their way to a clean environment
Once upon a time, a South Carolina wastewater treatment plant repeatedly violated the Clean Water Act by dumping illegal amounts of mercury into a river. Unsurprisingly, several environmental organizations responded by suing. They could do so because the Clean Water Act contains “citizen suit” provisions that allow private citizens to sue for the law’s violation. […]
