Climate Politics
All Stories
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Absence Makes Some Hearts Grow Fonder
By all appearance, President Bush will not be attending the World Summit on Sustainable Development, to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, at the end of the month — much to the delight of his conservative allies. “We applaud your decision not to attend the summit,” read a letter signed by more than 30 conservative […]
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To Summit Up
A global report card issued by the United Nations just two weeks before an international environmental summit has given low marks to the world’s ecological condition. Among the report’s more shocking findings: Three million people die annually from air pollution, while more than 1 billion people — a sixth of the world’s population — lack […]
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Canyon of Worms
The Bush administration announced yesterday that energy companies will be allowed to expand oil and gas exploration beyond the boundaries of their leases at Canyons of the Ancients National Monument near Durango, Colo. The announcement marks the first time exploration has been permitted outside leased areas at a monument. Already, about 85 percent of the […]
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When Push Comes to Chevron
In a classic David-and-Goliath battle, women in southern Nigeria are taking on oil giants ChevronTexaco and Royal Dutch/Shell to demand more responsible environmental and social policies. Last week, hundreds of women blocked access to company offices in the latest of a month of all-women protests. The unusual demonstrations are gaining a reputation as one of […]
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Outward Boundary
In a federal lawsuit over the legality of a new Navy sonar system said to harm marine animals, the Bush administration is challenging the scope of one of the most important pieces of U.S. environmental legislation, the National Environmental Policy Act. The act requires federal agencies to review the environmental implications of their projects, but […]
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The Bush administration braces for eco-chaos
A series of internal White House memos obtained by Grist sheds light on the Bush administration’s private response to increasing reports of looming environmental crises. Contrary to popular opinion, it appears President Bush is far from oblivious to the spate of dire ecological warnings that have emerged in recent months. In fact, his family’s personal […]
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That Sinking Feeling
In other scientific news of the day, trees might not be a climate change magic bullet after all, according to a study published in today’s edition of Nature. Trees and shrubs have been regarded as an ideal carbon sink (meaning they absorb excess carbon dioxide, reducing the concentration of the greenhouse gas in the atmosphere) […]
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Watered Down
Nearly a third of all major industrial facilities and state-operated sewage-treatment plants in the U.S. have significantly violated clean water regulations in the last two years, and one out of four operated on an expired pollution permit last year, according to a recent report by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. Moreover, relatively few of […]
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Everyone’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Task Force
The Bush administration has 30 days to turn over more documents related to Vice President Dick Cheney’s National Energy Policy Development Group, a federal judge ordered late last week. A number of other federal agencies involved in the secretive energy task force have already turned over thousands of pages of related documents, but the Bush […]
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Cut the Crop
Concerned that experimental genetically modified (GM) crops could contaminate their unaltered counterparts and creep into the nation’s food supply, the White House has drafted new rules to protect consumers and avoid costly and disruptive food recalls. The rules, which were written by the Office of Science and Technology Policy, propose preliminary crop-safety assessments before beginning […]
