Climate Politics

The Roquefort Files

José Bové milks 250 sheep in the Larzac region of France, a rocky, windswept place where you would think no farmer could produce anything. But Bové turns sheep milk into one of the gastronomical treasures of the world, Roquefort cheese. Bové is a leader of the local Roquefort producers association and of the second largest […]

Monumental Momentum

The Grand Canyon just got grander. Photo: Council on Environmental Quality. President Clinton has been on a national monument tear of late, setting aside eight areas encompassing more than 1 million acres since January. National monument status gives the federal government increased authority to prevent development and limit logging and other commercial and recreational activity […]

The Art of Monument Making, with Julia Child

Monday, 12 Jun 2000 — Day 127

Jeff Barrie has been making independent environmental documentary productions as a freelance artist since 1994. His latest project, Arctic Quest, had him bicycling from coast to coast to raise awareness about the importance of protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska from oil development. Monday, 26 Jun 2000 TURTON, S.D. The rain is falling […]

Wait a Minute There, Buster

Aides to Sen. Slade Gorton (R-Wash.) got a bit of a shock last Saturday when they logged onto the website of Maria Cantwell, one of Gorton’s Democratic challengers, and saw a goofy photo of their boss posing with “Buster the Salmon,” a costumed protestor who dogs Gorton at campaign events over his refusal to support […]

Won't You Be My Nader?

Russell Peterson, former governor of Delaware, ardent environmentalist, lifelong Republican until a few years ago when he switched to being a Democrat, was appalled when I told him I couldn’t bring myself to vote for Al Gore. Tell it like it is, Ralph. He gave me the undeniably rational argument. George W. shows no sign […]

Chamber of Horrors

You’d think the U.S. Chamber of Commerce wouldn’t have much free time on its hands these days, what with the raging debate over permanent normal trade relations for China. But the industry-friendly group recently managed to cobble together a charming volume called The Environmentalists’ Little Green Book, a compendium of off-the-wall quotes and blistering bon […]

Look on Seabright Side

Jeff Seabright, executive director of the White House Task Force on Climate Change, is bailing out in the waning days of the Clinton administration for a plum job in the private sector, namely as vice president for policy planning at Texaco. Muckraker had been hearing rumblings of the imminent departure for a week, but couldn’t […]

It's high time people stopped shooting mountain lions

V It’s legal to kill a mountain lion in most Western states if it threatens your safety or the safety of your property (including livestock and pets). Williams thus had the legal right to kill that lion. But did she have the moral right? My, what a big kitty. Photo: Predator Defense Institute. One of […]

A Real Windfall

All federal agencies in the Denver area will be powered in part by wind under the U.S. government’s largest contract to buy green energy, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson announced yesterday. The agencies will buy 10 megawatts of power annually from wind farms operated by Colorado utilities — enough energy to run 3,500 households for a […]