Latest Articles

Sunshine on My Solar Cell Makes Me Happy

Native American Photovoltaics, a new nonprofit, aims to bring solar power to homes on Indian reservations across the U.S. Last year, the group launched a program that offers families in the southwestern portion of the Navajo Reservation in Arizona the chance to lease-to-own a solar generator that can provide enough power to fuel lights, a […]

How Appealing!

In a big victory for the EPA and enviros, a federal appeals court on Friday confirmed the EPA’s authority to make states crack down on power-plant emissions that contribute to dirty air drifting from state to state. Many Northeastern states have long argued that they cannot meet federal air quality standards unless pollution originating in […]

I Spy a Great Big Rainforest

The Brazilian government is launching a five-year high-tech project that will use satellites, surveillance aircraft, and radar systems to keep tabs on activities in the Amazon rainforest, which stretches across some 3.1 million square miles of the country. Officials estimate that 5 million acres of Amazon forest are illegally logged each year, and unlicensed gold […]

Preaching the gospel of ecotourism

Costas Christ has a knack for handling sticky situations. I got a glimpse of this as I was making my way home from an ecotourism conference in Senegal in the early 1990s. Along with a number of other conference participants, I was stuck in the airport in the capital city of Dakar. For some unknown […]

Crabby Cabbie

One Big Ol' Whale of a Victory

Enviros are rejoicing after winning a tough five-year battle against a proposal to build a giant salt plant on the pristine shores of a gray-whale breeding ground on Mexico’s Baja Peninsula. Mitsubishi Corp. and the Mexican government announced yesterday that they are scrapping their joint plan for the $100 million facility. The salt plant, which […]

Didn't Inhale, but Still Pro-Reefer

The Clinton administration yesterday proposed new protections for one-fifth of America’s coral reefs, including bans on fishing and other activities. Less than 3 percent of the 8,600 square miles of reefs in the nation’s waters are currently protected, though environmentalists say that two-thirds of them are at risk from pollution, overfishing, and other commercial activities. […]

A Bad Case of Gas

Drivers of sport utility vehicles in the U.S. are being hit hard in their wallets with the average price for a gallon of gas at $1.42 per gallon, a 56 percent increase from one year ago. With some of the biggest SUVs getting as little as 10 miles to the gallon in the city, the […]

Woe, Canada

U.S. companies are sending increasing amounts of hazardous waste to Ontario, Canada, to circumvent strong and costly disposal rules in the U.S., says a Canadian enviro group. The Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy this week called on Environment Minister David Anderson to review Ontario’s hazardous waste regulations, and, if he found them insufficient, […]

Republicans Putting on Airs

A mysterious group calling itself Republicans for Clean Air is spending nearly $2 million to run a TV ad in big primary states that blasts Sen. John McCain’s environmental record and claims that Texas Gov. George W. Bush has notable green achievements. The organization is unknown to political professionals, environmentalists, and the Federal Elections Commission. […]