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  • Zinc Positive

    Supreme Court Sides With EPA in Clean Air Case A narrowly divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the U.S. EPA has the authority to override state government decisions on what constitutes the “best available” anti-pollution technology. Enviros hailed the decision as a victory for clean air, while libertarian think tanks, a coalition of […]

  • Patently Absurd

    GM Giant Monsanto Sues Canadian Farmer Speaking of genetic drift: The Canadian Supreme Court began hearing arguments on Tuesday in a case that has become a cause celebre for both opponents and fans of agricultural biotechnology. Agro-giant Monsanto Co. sued Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser when its patented biotech canola was found growing in his fields […]

  • Misstate of the Union

    Bush State of the Union Speech Silent on Environment In a State of the Union speech that found time to discuss the evils of steroid use among athletes — an issue entirely outside the purview of the federal government — President Bush did not mention the environment, or the environmental challenges facing the country, a […]

  • Tipping the Scalias of Justice

    Cheney-Scalia Connection Raises Questions About Energy Task Force Case In December, the Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal from Vice President Dick Cheney, who had been ordered by lower courts to release documents related to his secretive energy task force meetings. In January, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and Cheney — long-time friends — […]

  • Gore Text

    Gore Calls Bush a “Moral Coward” in Speech on Environment The Bush administration is “wholly owned by the coal, oil, utility, and mining companies,” said former Vice President Al Gore in a fiery address to a packed theater in New York City on Thursday. The speech — fourth in a series cosponsored by activist group […]

  • Pesticidal

    EPA Sued Over Consultations With Pesticide Industry Group Fourteen leading chemical companies have formed a task force that is meeting in secret with the U.S. EPA, attempting to weaken endangered species rules relating to pesticide use — so charges a lawsuit filed against the EPA on Thursday by a coalition of Seattle-based environmental groups. The […]

  • Green Quixote

    Humboldt-Based Candidate New Front-Runner for Green Party Nomination Meanwhile, far from the madding crowds in Iowa, Green Party activists are fishing about for a standard-bearer of their own. Ralph Nader said no thanks; he’s planning to lose the 2004 presidential race as an Independent. But a potential front-runner has emerged in the person of David […]

  • Babbitt, Hawken, and other enviros throw their weight behind Dean

    We’ve spent much of our lives working for environmental change — for a response to global warming, for the preservation of biodiversity, for wild places, for family farms. But this winter, we’re working for Howard Dean for president — backing him in the confident hope that his victory will mean that the deep environmental principles […]

  • Whitman highlights Republican rift on environment

    Whitman has her say. On Monday, former U.S. EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman published an uncharacteristically opinionated commentary in the New York Times lamenting the Bush administration’s disregard for moderate Republican viewpoints. Though gently worded, the op-ed stands as the closest thing Whitman has made to a confession that she abandoned her post over an […]

  • They’re Going to Pump You Up

    Supreme Court to Review Two Important Environmental Cases In what court-watchers are calling an unusually in-depth review of environmental issues, the Supreme Court is set to hear two cases today with potentially nationwide implications for clean air and water regulations. The first is an appeal by oil companies and diesel manufacturers (supported by the Bush […]