Latest Articles

Gore on Off-Shore Leave

Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Bradley yesterday unleashed his sharpest criticism yet of Vice Pres. Al Gore, lambasting the Clinton administration for announcing last week that it will renew undeveloped offshore oil leases in California. Bradley questioned why Gore hadn’t spoken up about an environmental issue so important in California, saying it seems “either that he […]

A Bush in Hand Is Worth … Oh, About $521,714

Texas Gov. George W. Bush (R) raked in 79 percent of the money donated to presidential candidates by oil, auto, and electric power interests in the first nine months of this year, according to a report released yesterday. Bush received $521,714 of $658,389 given to presidential hopefuls by employees of companies that belong to three […]

The Pain in Maine Falls Mainly on the Fish

Under pressure from enviros, the feds yesterday proposed an endangered species listing for wild Atlantic salmon in eight Maine rivers. Thousands of salmon once swam up the rives from the Atlantic Ocean to spawn, but this year fisheries biologists counted only 29 adult salmon in the rivers. Under the proposal, the feds would have more […]

U'Wa Get Pumped Up

About 200 U’wa Indians in northeast Colombia seized an area on Tuesday that they claim is an ancestral homeland to prevent Occidental Petroleum Corp. from oil drilling there. Occidental won approval in late September to begin drilling for crude after a seven-year legal wrangle over indigenous land rights. On Wednesday, however, Roberto Perez, head of […]

A Connecticut Attorney in King Coal's Court

Following the lead of federal and New York officials, Connecticut’s attorney general said yesterday that he intends to sue 16 coal-burning power plants in five Midwestern and Southern states over pollution that is blamed for causing smog and acid rain in the Northeast. The legal actions are intended to force power companies to abide by […]

Fleet Needs Enema

California’s schoolkids are breathing unhealthful exhaust spewed by diesel school buses that are among the nation’s oldest and most polluting, according to a report being released today by the Coalition for Clean Air. The report urges the administration of Gov. Gray Davis (D) to set tough emission standards for school buses and to provide tens […]

Montanans are now proud owners of the right to a clean environment

Should citizens in the United States have a constitutional right to clean air and clean water, just as they have rights to free speech and freedom of religion? That’s the broad question raised by a court decision in Montana last month. Fight for your right to clean water. In a ruling that is sure to […]

Two

• percentage of the Earth’s surface covered by cities • percentage of the Earth’s surface covered by rainforests • number of miles of highway laid down in Florida each day • percent by which global energy use is projected to increase annually over the next 15 years • factor by which an average home generates […]

I Wish They All Could Be California Governors

California announced yesterday that it is filing suit against the feds over the issue of offshore oil drilling, demanding more of a say in decisions that will affect some of the state’s most scenic coastal stretches. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt outraged California officials and enviros last week by allowing oil companies to begin moving forward […]

Ice, Ice Maybe

The Arctic Ocean’s ice cover has thinned by about 40 percent in the last 20 to 40 years, according to a new study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. The study’s researchers, from the University of Washington, were surprised by the dramatic shift, but couldn’t say whether it was the result of human-caused climate […]