Texas
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Austin is losing the battle to protect the Barton Springs salamander
At first blush, it hardly seems fair to compare the plight of the Barton Springs salamander to that of endangered species such as the fierce grizzly of the Northern Rockies or the no-longer-so-resilient salmon of the Pacific Northwest, totemic animals that characterize whole regions and spark national debate. After all, the Barton Springs salamander is […]
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The border patrol is threatening two endangered cats in Texas
The Texas-Mexico border has long been a setting for political skirmishes, a conflict zone where figures hide in shadows hoping to find a loophole in the paramilitary operations that attend the Rio Grande, the river that separates the U.S. from its southern neighbor. This ocelot doesn’t have nine lives.Photo: U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife. […]
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Sea turtle activists are pushing for protections in Texas
They may be swimming against the current, but sea turtle advocates say they want Gov. George W. Bush (R) to show a little of his fabled compassion for the endangered reptiles that frequent the Gulf of Mexico along the Texas coast. The New York Times ad. Image: STRP. As the GOP presidential hopeful prepared to […]
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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 […]
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Where the Sidewalk Ends
Texas Gov. George W. Bush dodged one legal bullet this week when a judge ruled that he could not be subpoenaed in a whistle-blower lawsuit filed by the state’s former funeral commission director, who claims she was fired after attempting to investigate a funeral services company that has contributed large sums to Bush’s gubernatorial campaigns. […]
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Guess Who's Not Coming to Dinner
California State Senator and environmental booster Byron Sher (D) sent out invitations to a fundraiser recently and listed State Sen. Ray Haynes (R) among his supporters. Trouble is that Haynes is what you might call a movement conservative, given to labeling people like Sher “clean-air Nazis” and “environmental wackos.” Sher’s office explained the incident to […]
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Sprawl Brawl
The Sierra Club released poll numbers recently indicating that 47 percent of voters would be more likely to support a presidential candidate prepared to aggressively attack the problem of urban sprawl. Most people associate VP Al Gore with that issue, but Seattle Mayor Paul Schell has his own ideas. Schell jumped on Bill Bradley‘s presidential […]
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Ozone Odd Couple
From the strange bedfellows file: Left-leaning Ozone Action and pro-business Competitive Enterprise Institute agree on something. Sort of. The two groups occupy polar opposite ends of a hybrid coalition lined up to oppose a bill before the U.S. Senate that would give credits to companies that voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas emissions in advance of Kyoto […]
