Latest Articles

A Disappearing Act

  137 species are estimated to go extinct each day 50,000 species are estimated to go extinct each year 78 species were on the original U.S. endangered species list 1,201 species were on the U.S. endangered species list as of October 1999 43 percent of endangered and threatened animals in the U.S. depend on wetlands […]

We Got the Fever

A new analysis by government scientists indicates that the planet’s climate is warming at an unprecedented rate, suggesting that the future impact of global warming may be more sudden and severe than previously predicted. The study, which will be published in the March 1 issue of the journal Geophysical Research Letters, found that the very […]

Mileage, Shmileage — What About the Cup Holders?

DaimlerChrysler has unveiled a new 72-mpg diesel-electric hybrid sedan with a lightweight plastic body, but it has no plans to sell the car. The concept vehicle, the Dodge ESX3, would be priced at $28,500 — $7,500 more than a comparable, conventional Dodge Intrepid sedan — were it ever to hit the showrooms. DaimlerChrysler argues that […]

This Takes Our Breath Away

Emissions from coal- and oil-fired power plants have made the air in the Ohio River Valley dirtier than the air in the Northeast, according to a new scientific study commissioned by a coalition of Ohio environmental groups. The Northeastern states have long argued that pollution from Midwestern power plants drifts into their air; this study […]

Old Man Sewer

Most of the nitrogen pollution that is killing marine life in the Gulf of Mexico, creating the infamous “dead zone,” originates in Midwestern states such as Ohio and Minnesota, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey, published in the journal Nature. Areas near rivers in the Midwest deliver more deadly nitrogen to […]

Hot Georgia Brown

New satellite data from NASA paint an unpleasant picture of the planet, with sprawl creating more mega-cities that are getting hotter and hotter. NASA found that the temperature in Atlanta, Ga., sometimes rose to 12 degrees Fahrenheit more than the surrounding countryside, an effect attributed to more pavement and fewer trees. Between 1973 and 1992, […]

An excerpt from Natural Capitalism by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and L. Hunter Lovins

Imagine for a moment a world where cities have become peaceful and serene because cars and buses are whisper quiet, vehicles exhaust only water vapor, and parks and greenways have replaced unneeded urban freeways. OPEC has ceased to function because the price of oil has fallen to five dollars a barrel, but there are few buyers for it because cheaper and better ways now exist to get the services people once turned to oil to provide. Living standards for all people have dramatically improved, particularly for the poor and those in developing countries. Involuntary unemployment no longer exists, and income taxes have largely been eliminated. Houses, even low-income housing units, can pay part of their mortgage costs by the energy they produce; there are few if any active landfills; worldwide forest cover is increasing; dams are being dismantled; atmospheric C02 levels are decreasing for the first time in two hundred years; and effluent water leaving factories is cleaner than the water coming into them. Industrialized countries have reduced resource use by 80 percent while improving the quality of life.

Can We Measure Sustainability?

Every year at the peak of the Alpine ski season, the world’s movers and shakers, the heads of the largest corporations and wealthiest governments, head for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. This year an event occurred there that was largely unreported but possibly historic. The attendees were presented with a ranking of the […]

Bill of Righteousness

Bill Bradley is trying to cast himself as the true environmentalist in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, criticizing Al Gore on what has in past years been his signature issue. Speaking in Seattle on Friday, Bradley lambasted Gore for supporting dams, going along with environmentally damaging subsidies for sugar, and allowing high levels […]

India Ick

Pollution in India is likely to rise to alarming levels by the middle of the century unless drastic steps are taken, according to a new study by the Tata Energy Research Institute. If current conditions continue, suspended particulate air pollution is likely to rise to 52 million tons by 2047 from 17 million tons in […]