Latest Articles

The Empire State Strikes Back

New York Gov. George Pataki (R) plans to impose new state vehicle emissions standards that are stricter than federal requirements, adopting the set of standards that is now in place only in California. Massachusetts has signaled its intention to follow suit, a development that is expected to help push the entire auto industry to develop […]

Wired, Wild West

Wilderness movements in the U.S. are gathering steam and pushing for protection of ever-larger areas, even as the Republican-controlled Congress thwarts most wilderness bills. An extensive citizen-led survey of Utah lands has lead to a campaign for 9.1 million acres of federally protected wilderness in the state, and has inspired other efforts throughout the West […]

Putting Hanford Out of Reach

Pres. Clinton gave federal protection on Friday to the area around the last free-flowing stretch of the Columbia River, called the Hanford Reach, a move aimed at helping recovery of the Pacific salmon. Some 57,000 acres of land along the 47-mile stretch of river will be added to a national wildlife refuge in southern Washington […]

An American reflects on the problem of poverty

Almost 30 years ago I returned from a long stay in India with my mind, body, and senses full of dust and color, peace and violence, holiness and crassness, all the contradictions of a land so different from my own. I thought I would remember always the faces of the villagers. I was pained by […]

Wigging Out

Breach of Trust

In a shift that could transform a fierce environmental debate in the Northwest, federal officials are now saying that endangered salmon could be saved even if four dams on the lower Snake River in Washington state remain in place. Seven months ago, the National Marine Fisheries Service, which directs salmon recovery, said breaching the dams […]

Ranch Undressing

More than $100 million in federal taxpayer subsidies were given last year to ranching operations, many of them run by wealthy hobby ranchers, agribusiness giants, and corporations, according to a nine-month investigation by the San Jose Mercury News. In 17 Western states, livestock grazing is allowed on a total of 254 million acres of national […]

Merchants of Venom

Liberalized international trade rules could make it harder for the U.S. to bar shipments of toxic waste from other countries, according to new reports released by the Asia Pacific Environmental Exchange and the Earth Justice Legal Defense Fund. Under World Trade Organization agreements that provide for the free movement of goods, toxic waste could be […]

Victoria's Secret

Lake Victoria in eastern Africa, the world’s second-largest freshwater lake, is being indirectly destroyed by deforestation, an international research center said today. Through the use of satellite remote sensing technology, the Kenya-based International Center for Research in Agroforestry found that in areas where trees and other vegetation were removed, a heavier flow of sediments feeds […]

Carbon Crappy

People who breathe the polluted air around Southern California’s freeways have an increased chance of developing cancer, according to a study released today by the South Coast Air Quality Management District. Residents of the congested core of Los Angeles County, which include many minority, low-income people, face the greatest odds in the region of contracting […]