Latest Articles

Turning Over a New Reef

Ugh of War

Federal agencies and the military have contaminated more than 60,000 sites across the U.S. and cleanup costs for the worst sites are expected to rise above $300 billion, dwarfing the cost of cleaning up contamination from private companies and making the U.S. government the nation’s worst polluter. Outside American borders, the U.S. military has contaminated […]

Climate Change Campaign to Change Campaign Climate

The Sierra Club launched a campaign last week to make climate change a serious issue in the 2000 presidential race and to prod Pres. Clinton and other politicians to take action to address the problem. Kicking things off in New Hampshire, the site of the nation’s first primary, the group told residents that climate change […]

Gore to Mine Environmental Vote

Promising to “put protection of the environment at the center of my presidency,” Vice Pres. Al Gore said yesterday that he would spend $2 billion over 10 years to combat urban sprawl and preserve open space if he were elected president. Gore, speaking at a fundraiser in Malibu, Calif., proposed offering $1 billion in tax […]

Over Their Dead Bodies

Sometime this year, the dead bodies of three men who worked at a government uranium plant in Paducah, Ky., will be exhumed and tested for radiation from such deadly elements as plutonium and neptunium. The tests are part of a $10 billion class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of workers at the plant, which alleges that […]

A Bunch of Bull

A group of rural Nevadans crusading against federal protection for the bull trout compared their rebellion to the Boston Tea Party during a congressional field hearing held on Saturday in Elko, Nev. The Nevadans, backed by Rep. Jim Gibbons (R-Nev.) and Rep. Helen Chenoweth-Hage (R-Idaho), want to rebuild a road that was washed out in […]

This Gives "School Board" a New Meaning

A bill passed by the House this month that is intended to assure adequate funding for rural school districts may encourage more logging on public lands, say opponents. Under current law, communities near national forests get money for schools from federal timber sales in surrounding areas, and as timber cutting has declined in recent years, […]

Sherry Bosse reviews Consuming Desires by Roger Rosenblatt

In Walden, Henry David Thoreau wrote that "to maintain one's self on this earth is not a hardship but a pastime, if we will live simply and wisely." He warned his readers against an increasingly prevalent consumer culture in the United States -- in 1854. Nearly 150 years later, Americans are, on average, working more hours and accruing more debt than ever before in order to achieve some bloated variation of the American dream. Some things never change.

Antonio the Tiger Not Doing Grrreeeeeaaaat

The Iberian lynx, sometimes called “Europe’s tiger,” is the world’s most endangered wildcat and may go extinct within a decade unless serious efforts are made to protect its habitat, the World Wildlife Fund warned yesterday. The Iberian lynx population has declined drastically in recent decades, WWF said, now numbering about 500 to 600 in Spain […]

Give Some Loot, Go Ahead and Pollute

Texas Gov. George W. Bush’s (R) presidential run will likely be haunted by his state’s environmental problems, particularly Houston’s recently achieved status as the nation’s smoggiest city. To avoid losing federal highway funding, Houston must come up with a plan to reduce its air pollution by 90 percent, and Dallas by 88 percent. Bush touts […]