Climate Politics
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Let ’em Snowmobile, Let ’em Snowmobile, Let ’em Snowmobile
Bush Administration Will Allow Snowmobiles in Yellowstone Snowmobiles will be welcome to keep zooming through Yellowstone National Park, the Bush administration announced yesterday, despite tens of thousands of public comments calling for the vehicles to be phased out from the oldest national park in the U.S. Final rules released yesterday on the issue will place […]
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Inuit and Out
Inuit Plan to Launch Human-Rights Case Against U.S. Over Climate Change Saying global climate change threatens them with extinction, the world’s Inuit people yesterday announced plans to launch a human-rights case against the United States, which has repeatedly reiterated that it will take no decisive action on the issue. The Inuit Circumpolar Conference represents 155,000 […]
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It Doesn’t Look a Day Over 29
Taking Stock of the Endangered Species Act at Age 30 Who knew the Endangered Species Act was a Sagittarius? That’s right, this month the act will turn 30. Signed into law by President Nixon in 1973, the ESA aimed to prevent extinctions, bring imperiled species back to viable population levels, and protect the natural habitat […]
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Bush’s latest clean-air proposals are better than nothing, but how much better?
Who let the smog out? Photo: EPA “I hate it that we’re always complaining,” said Eric Schaeffer, a former senior enforcement official at the U.S. EPA who resigned in 2002 to protest the Bush administration’s poor record on nabbing polluters. “So, looking on the bright side, I suppose you could call this better than nothing.” […]
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Wes Is More
Clark Unveils Environmental Platform Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean grabbed the campaign spotlight this week by earning the endorsement of former Vice President Al Gore. Meanwhile, off in the shadows, fellow Democratic presidential contender retired Gen. Wesley Clark presented his environmental platform yesterday. Perhaps it befits Clark’s military background that he described that platform not […]
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Crime and No Punishment
Pollution Enforcement Has Dropped Dramatically Under Bush President Bush talks tough about going after the bad guys, but it seems he’s been letting one set of lawbreakers off the hook: polluters. Enforcement of environmental laws under Bush has been far weaker than it was under his father and under President Clinton, according to records from […]
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Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Nevada Appeals to Federal Court to Stymie Nuke Waste Site Nevada is digging in its heels and promising a bitter fight to keep the nation’s high-level nuclear waste from being shipped to an underground storage facility at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Last year, President Bush signed a bill designating the site […]
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The Grazers’ Edge
Bush Administration Wants to Roll Back Grazing Rules You’d think Bush administration officials might want to spend their Friday afternoons planning happy hours or trying to sneak out of the office early, like normal people, but no: They like to spend their Friday afternoons quietly rolling back environmental protections, hoping that the news will get […]
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A Case of Influence-a
Enviros Say Pesticide Makers Are Illegally Influencing EPA Northwest salmon and other endangered species could suffer because pesticide manufacturers are acting illegally to weaken rules on the use of dangerous chemicals, enviros are charging. A coalition of environmental groups, including the National Wildlife Federation and the Sierra Club, last week warned the U.S. EPA that […]
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This Little Piggy Went to a Market-based System
U.S. EPA Proposes New Market-Based Air Quality Regulations Having failed thus far to push his “Clear Skies” initiative through Congress, President Bush is now trying to institute his air-pollution plan through regulatory channels. Yesterday, the Bush administration proposed new rules that would establish industry-wide emissions limits for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and mercury. Under the […]
