Latest Articles
-
Matthew Follett, Green House Network
Matthew Follett is campaign director for the Green House Network in Portland, Ore. Monday, 20 Sep 1999 PORTLAND, Ore. Life on the benefit concert trail is frustrating and mysterious. The Green House Network has planned a benefit concert for this Saturday night, in hopes that we can get the global warming message out to the […]
-
If the Government Says It's Safe, It's Safe, Right?
The folks who bring us gene-spliced soybeans, corn, potatoes, and other foods like to make a point of the U.S. government’s approval of their products. The feds OK’d it. That must mean biotech foods are safe, right? Right. Sure. This is the government that declared DDT safe and thalidomide and DES and dozens of other […]
-
Without a Car in the World
The city of Bremen, Germany, is trying to convince its residents to abandon car ownership by giving them access to an ultra-modern public transport system and a car-sharing program that lets citizens quickly and cheaply rent vehicles at 37 city locations. Bremen officials say the effect of their program, which was launched in 1990, is […]
-
Who Cares, We've Got More Cable TV Channels Than Ever
Widespread loss of plant species and crop varieties could undermine agricultural productivity, according to a new report by the Worldwatch Institute, which found that more than 80 percent of seed varieties sold in the U.S. a century ago are no longer available. The report says that 29 percent of plant species in the U.S. are […]
-
We-O-U
Because of the environmental damage they’ve caused, developed countries owe far more to developing nations than the amount of debt that developing nations have accrued by borrowing from richer governments and banks, according to a new report released by three British groups. The developed world is overwhelmingly responsible for the greenhouse gas emissions that are […]
-
Ba Ha, Ahab!
Bowing to international outrage, Russia last week agreed to stop commercial whaling. A few days previously, a Russian ship carrying the meat of 36 beluga whales had arrived in Japan, the first time in 13 years that international trade in whales had been conducted. But when word of the sale leaked out, the U.S. government […]
-
I've Seen Floyd and I've Seen Rain
Hurricane Floyd brought serious environmental damage to a number of areas along the East Coast, officials are warning. In North Carolina, wastewater treatment plants have been flooded, and industrial facilities and warehouses are leaking chemicals and contaminants that could get into water supplies. In the Chesapeake Bay area, a great deal of pollution-laden sediment, much […]
-
Survey Says …
The flora and fauna of the Northwest are in serious decline because of human influences, according to a report released on Friday by the U.S. Geological Survey, the first large-scale assessment of such trends by the feds. Species declines are blamed on urban sprawl, population growth, the consumption of water for industry and agriculture, global […]
-
Wake Up and Smell the Biodiversity
El Salvador hopes to protect its wildlife and boost its income by charging a 5 percent premium for “biodiversity-friendly” coffee grown in the shade of native plants. While many other Central and South American countries switched in the 1970s to the pesticide-dependent method of growing coffee in direct sunlight, El Salvador stuck to the more […]
