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A Climate Scientist Takes His Computer Model Seriously

At the University of Wisconsin’s program on Climate, People, and Environment, Dr. Jonathan Foley makes computer models to study what might happen if the human economy continues to emit greenhouse gases. Like hundreds of other climate scientists, he is deeply worried about global warming. Unlike most scientists I know, he carries that worry into his […]

Feds Want to Pass Wind to Consumers

The federal government today will announce a new plan to buy 5 percent of its electricity from wind-generated sources by 2010, the first move in an effort to shift 5 percent of total energy use in the U.S. to wind over the next decade. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson says that wind, which now provides 0.1 […]

A Not-So-Glowing Future

Germany is nearing a deal with its major utilities to close all the nation’s nuclear power plants by 2023. If a formal round of talks scheduled for tomorrow goes as planned, each of Germany’s 19 nuclear plants would be phased out after 35 years online, the first one going out of service in 2003 and […]

I Could Have Had a Hormone-Free G8!

The U.S. and Canada blocked efforts this weekend at a G8 summit to create an international body that would have policed global food standards and instituted a ban on genetically modified crops and hormone-treated meat until a scientific panel assessed the safety of the foods. French Pres. Jacques Chirac pressed for the new measures, but […]

Smokey's on Your Tailpipe

Nine northeastern states agreed on Friday to crack down on diesel pollution from big trucks and buses, launching a coordinated effort to begin roadside inspections and give tickets to heavily smoking vehicles. Meanwhile, the EPA this month is weighing a plan to require diesel fuel to be cleaner, which trucking companies complain would make the […]

Park and Ride

Officials in Grand Canyon National Park recently broke ground on a new light-rail system that will completely change transportation inside the park, cutting vehicle traffic by 80 percent. Once the system is completed, most visitors will be required to leave their cars in a lot well outside the park and enter by light-rail; once inside […]

It's for the Birds

More than 2000 acres of coastal wetlands surrounded by development in the San Diego area were designated a federal wildlife refuge last week. The new South San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge — the result of 20 years of work by enviros, community groups, and governments — will protect a critical stopping ground for migratory […]

Jesse Ventura wants to ride light rail

PR professionals the world over must be scratching their heads at the sudden surge of interest in sprawl. The topic has all the sex appeal of a zoning meeting or a traffic jam — being about zoning meetings and traffic jams — and its number-one spokesperson is V. (as in vanilla) P. Al Gore. The […]

Hey You, Take That Back

European automakers are up in arms over a bill that would require them to take back and recycle old cars. A draft of the bill was expected to be approved next week by environment ministers from the 15 EU countries, but lobbying by automakers may hold up the process. The measure would force car manufacturers […]