Latest Articles
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Do you know where your salmon comes from?
Thirty percent of the world's salmon now come from hatcheries, but wild fish account for only another twenty to thirty percent. Almost all of those wild fish come from waters around Alaska and British Columbia, northern waters where runs are mostly intact. These are the waters from which we harvest volumes comparable to those native people caught for thousands of years, that is, in those places largely unmanaged. The biggest share of the world's salmon consumption, however -- now forty to fifty percent -- comes from farmed fish, salmon raised and fed artificially in net pens their entire lives.
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Go West, Old Man
The Clinton administration, which raised the ire of many Western Republicans last month by creating three new national monuments, is considering designating more monuments in Arizona, California, Colorado, and Oregon, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt said Monday. Any new monuments would likely be administered by the Bureau of Land Management, which Babbitt says is becoming a […]
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Ending Acid's Reign
New Hampshire will join an EPA lawsuit against dirty coal-fired power plants in the Midwest, Gov. Jeanne Shaheen (D) announced earlier this week. New Hampshire officials contend that emissions from the plants, including mercury and sulfur dioxide, are blown into the Northeast where they contribute to pollution and cause acid rain. New Hampshire plants have […]
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Polluting Young Minds
As an increasing number of teachers across the U.S. add the environment to their lesson plans, corporations are competing with green groups to get their messages and materials into classrooms. For example, Chevron spends about $6 million a year on grants to environmental educators, and the company also produces educational materials on global warming, smog, […]
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Chills and Spills
A serious cyanide spill in Romania has polluted the Tisza River and angered Hungary, which is downstream from the accident. The Hungarian media have been filled with reports of dying fish, birds, and other wildlife, and towns along the river in central Hungary have been forced to close their water intake systems, officials said. The […]
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McCain in the Bush Leagues
GOP presidential contender George W. Bush (R) is getting plenty of flak for his weak environmental record, but Sen. John McCain seems to be getting a free ride on green issues, writes author T. H. Watkins in a New York Times op-ed. McCain has a poor voting record on the environment, particularly on public land […]
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Trade Mandarins Want to Trade With Mandarins
U.S. corporations say they are raising environmental and labor standards in China, an attempt to head off criticism from unions, enviros, and human rights groups that want to keep China out of the World Trade Organization. A report by the Business Roundtable, a group of 200 corporate executives, highlights Eastman Chemical for having model safety […]
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The Darning of the Age of Aquariums
Seahorses are in serious decline, with some populations thought to have been cut in half in just five years and one species in South Africa now officially listed as endangered, according to researchers at the London Zoo. Pollution and development of coastal areas have taken their toll on the critters, but the biggest threat is […]
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That Sinking Feeling
Brazil may be facing an environmental disaster in the Amazon jungle after a barge containing nearly 500,000 gallons of oil sank on Friday to the bottom of the Rio Para, part of the world’s largest river network, in the remote state of Para. Teams of divers have begun work to remove tanks from the barge, […]
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Bear Necessities
Biologists at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming are worried that climate change might set off a series of changes that could threaten the park’s grizzly bear population. As temperatures rise, the atmosphere can hold more moisture, and in Yellowstone this could spur more cases of blister rust, a disease that attacks whitebark pines. These trees, […]
