Latest Articles

Water, Water Everywhere

5 gallons of water, on average, go down the drain if you leave the tap running while you brush your teeth 30 gallons of water, on average, go down the drain if you leave the tap running while you wash dishes 50 gallons of water per day can be wasted by a small faucet leak […]

Monsanto Claus Is Coming to Town

Monsanto last week helped pay for a pro-genetically modified foods demonstration in Washington, D.C., by some 100 members of a Baptist church, according to one of the rally organizers. The demonstration was part of a new campaign by the company to work behind the scenes to get church members, union workers, and the elderly to […]

Brazilians Brazen About Razin' and Grazin'

Crowding into a special congressional committee hearing, enviros in Brazil last night temporarily fought off last-minute legislation that would have made deep cutbacks in protections of the Amazon rainforest. The cutbacks favored by rich landowners, logging companies, and the country’s agriculture minister would reduce the amount of the rainforest currently under protection from 80 percent […]

A Billion Air

In a deal with Florida state regulators, Tampa Electric Co. (TECO) yesterday agreed to spend $1 billion over 10 years to reduce pollution spewing from its smokestacks. The two parties said the deal — which calls for three of six coal-fired generators to be scrapped and the others to be converted to natural gas — […]

Roadless Hogs

Nearly 70 environmental groups yesterday petitioned the National Park Service to ban all-terrain vehicles, motorcycles, and snowmobiles in 23 parks where off-road vehicles (ORVs) are now allowed. The groups also asked for tougher enforcement in some 40 parks where bans are already in place. In a separate effort, the Wilderness Society and 90 other groups […]

Oh, What a Feeling

For the first time in years, the U.S. auto industry is beginning to pay attention to the price of gas. A 31 percent jump in gas prices this year, to an average $1.35 a gallon in November (still near historic lows in price, once inflation is taken into account), means buyers may place more emphasis […]

Truck Stopped

A federal judge yesterday temporarily blocked the Energy Department from trucking plutonium fuel across Michigan to Canadian nuclear reactors, ruling that the DOE needs to conduct a more comprehensive environmental impact statement before transporting the fuel on public roads from Los Alamos, N.M., 1,700 miles away. The feds are aiming to process the nuclear fuel […]

Abandon Ship!

A gardening guru gives new meaning to a golfing green

In a world beset with environmental and economic horrors, a golf course is a disturbing sight. Okay, it’s not as disturbing as an oil slick on Prince William Sound, or the Cuyahoga River bursting into flames, or the coral reefs off Sri Lanka bleaching and dying. Evil green monster (a traditional golf course). But the […]

Smart Is As Smart Does

All that talk of “smart growth” aside, the rate at which the nation’s privately held farmland, forests, and wetlands are being lost to development has more than doubled since 1992, according to a study released yesterday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Almost 16 million acres of land were converted to development over the five-year […]