Latest Articles

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 […]

You Scumbag! (And We Mean That As a Compliment)

Scientists say they have found a way to make pond scum power your car, though it may take another couple decades to perfect. Two teams of researchers have discovered how to alter the process of photosynthesis in common green algae to produce hydrogen, a clean-burning fuel that many experts believe will be the power source […]

Go Tell Aunt Road-y, the Old Lawsuit Is Dead

A federal judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit by Idaho that sought to derail the Clinton administration’s plan to protect some 50 million acres of roadless national forest land from logging or development. The judge ruled that the process of public review has not gone far enough yet for Idaho to challenge the plan in […]

We'll Cross That Elevated Bridge When We Come to It

Americans may have to make serious changes to cope with global warming, including altering the way water is managed in the West, beefing up public health programs, and building higher bridges, according to preliminary findings from the federal U.S. Global Change Research Program. The researchers will issue a final report this summer on the affects […]

Men at Work

Australia is chopping down its forests faster than any other industrialized nation and has cleared about 2.5 million acres of trees in three years, the Australian Conservation Foundation said yesterday. Australia is now ranked as the world’s fifth-biggest land-clearing nation, behind only Brazil, Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Bolivia. For its part, […]

I Remember Yesterday

Farmageddon

Farmers in the U.S., Canada, and Argentina are expected to slash their plantings of genetically modified (GM) crops by 20 to 25 percent this year because of growing uncertainty in the market, the Worldwatch Institute said yesterday. A growing number of food manufacturers and retailers have said they will stop selling foods containing GM ingredients. […]

Why Frogs Croak

After more than a decade of puzzling over what is killing off frog species around the world, scientists are now postulating that there is no one factor to blame but rather a combination of factors. Contributing problems include pollution, habitat destruction, the introduction of non-native species, crop fertilizers that cause high concentrations of toxic nitrates, […]