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Answering to a Higher Power

With the backing of religious leaders and enviros, a group of lawmakers in Connecticut said yesterday that they have the votes to force the state’s five oldest, dirtiest power plants to clean up. For the past two years, legislators have tried and failed to impose tighter air pollution limits on the plants, which are exempted […]

A Kick in the Carcass

The decline of salmon runs in the Northwest is hurting a number of other fauna and flora, including insects, bears, plants, and trees that depend on rotting salmon carcasses as a source of nutrients from the ocean, according to a study published in the latest issue of the journal Fisheries. Just 5 percent to 7 […]

Off the Marc

Montana Gov. Marc Racicot (R) joined the state of Idaho yesterday to try to throw a wrench into a Clinton administration plan to protect 40 million acres of roadless national forest land. Idaho and Racicot have asked a federal judge for a preliminary injunction that would block the U.S. Forest Service from beginning a study […]

Louise Wagenknecht, sheep farmer

Louise Wagenknecht writes from Leadore, Idaho, where she juggles words, sheep, and a part-time job with the U.S. Forest Service. Her essays have appeared in High Country News, the American Nature Writing anthologies, and The River Reader. Monday, 7 Feb 2000 LEADORE, Idaho This morning, just as the sun came up over Powderhorn Ridge across […]

The Roamin' Empire

Rome and about 150 other Italian cities banned cars from their centers yesterday, launching a campaign that will impose such bans on the first Sunday of each month through May in an effort to cut down on air pollution. People came out on foot, skates, and bikes to enjoy the unusually quiet and clean streets. […]

Orangu-tanking

The orangutan population in the forests of Indonesian Borneo has dropped by about 30 percent to as few as 15,000, the state Antara news agency said. The main cause of recent declines was a rash of forest fires in 1997, which destroyed 1.3 million acres of forest, according to Nita Bustani, head of the Semboja […]

Playing Chicken in Kiev

Ukraine plans this year to shut down the Chernobyl nuclear plant, site of the world’s worst nuclear accident, Ukranian Pres. Leonid Kuchma said Saturday. But Kuchma told U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, who was in Ukraine for a two-day visit, that the plant will close only after the U.S. and other industrialized nations hammer out […]

Chevy Suburban Cowboys

Texas, which is plagued by dirty air, is considering adopting California’s strict vehicle pollution rules as early as this spring. The shift, one of a number of options being considered to satisfy a federal cleanup order, could help Texas Gov. George W. Bush (R) dodge criticism for his lax environmental approach in the presidential campaign. […]

Quit Hogging!

A group of Mississippi farmers and enviros are pushing forward with a $75 million class-action lawsuit against big hog producers for releasing pollutants that have made dozens of people sick. The suit, filed against Prestage Farms and several of its subcontractors, would compensate 160 families that live near hog farms, processing plants, and meat packers. […]

McCain Is on the Money

I’ve had the fun of voting in six New Hampshire primaries, but this one I had to sit out. I’ve just moved three miles across the river and become a Vermonter. It was strange to watch all the foofuraw from across the state boundary. I still bumped into the candidates as they cruised the valley, […]