Caught in the Smoke: Employees, Residents
Cope With 9/11 Fallout
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Three years after the initial impact, advocates remain determined not to let the issue fade from public view under the second Bush administration. On Tuesday, a citywide coalition of health, environmental, community and labor organizations will head to Washington, DC to demand that the White House and Congress
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finally act on the public health needs of the "Ground Zero Community."
full story
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Dangerous Levels Of Climate Change
As Early As 2026, Warns WWF
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The review of global climate simulations suggests that if nothing is done, the earth will have warmed by 3.6 degrees F above pre-industrial levels by some time between 2026 and 2060. In the Arctic this could lead to a loss of summer sea ice, species, and some types of tundra vegetation as well as to a fundamental
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change in the ways of life of Inuit and other arctic residents. full story
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National Trust Abandons The Battle
Against Sea's Power
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The National Trust has admitted large swaths of its coastal beauty spots must be surrendered to the sea. The Trust, Britain's largest private landowner maintaining more than 700 miles of coastline, has accepted that over the next century, global warming will cause conservation areas several hundred metres
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inland to be inundated because of rising sea levels. full story
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Tribe Fights Dams To Get Diet Back
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Isolated here in the Klamath River valley the Karuk stuck with their low-carb, low-cholesterol, salmon-centered diet longer than perhaps any Indians in the Pacific Northwest. It was not until the late '60s and the '70s, when dams and irrigation ruined one of the world's great salmon fisheries, that fish mostly
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disappeared from their diet. full story
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Rising Sea Levels Threaten Coastal Properties
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Rising sea levels are threatening up to 100,000 homes around Scotland’s coastline, according to disturbing new research which warns house prices in at-risk areas could plummet. The problem is set to increase this August when Scotland is at particular risk of coastal flooding because of exceptionally high tides,
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according to a study by the Scottish Executive. full story
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How We May Tame The Climate Tiger
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One of the most highly charged topics preoccupying the governments of the world is to be thrashed out at a UK conference starting on Feb. 1. But Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change, a 3-day meeting at the Met Office in Exeter, is mainly about the science. The participants, more than 200 in all, will try to agree
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how to define what is a danger level, and what it should be. full story
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Contaminated Yards Making
Neighborhood Like A Prison
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A routine sewer project in Tiverton's Bay Street neighborhood has led to the discovery of high levels of arsenic, cyanide, lead and suspected carcinogens in his neighborhood's soil. It's thought to be the result of industrial waste that was dumped in the area decades ago. full story
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Dumped Sewage Risks Health
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Metro Detroit wastewater treatment plants have released more than 40 billion gallons of raw or only partially treated sewage into area waterways over the past three years, a volume so large that it surprised some environmentalists. "Every time raw sewage is released, that means there are more parasites and
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other things in the water to make people sick," full story
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Unique Awards Highlight Corporate
Social And Environmental Irresponsibility
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Civil society representatives have singled out 4 transnationals as the most socially irresponsible on the planet, and presented them with the Public Eye on Davos Award. This dubious distinction was bestowed on Dow Chemicals, oil giant Shell, Wal-Mart, and KPMG International. Nestlé was also recognized with
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the ”people's choice” award. full story
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Roar Of Anger
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Kenya has agreed to send 300 wild animals to Thailand after receiving a "shopping list" from a new zoo there. The inventory includes endangered species such as white rhino, cheetah and lion. Conservationists said the move would harm fragile populations on the brink of extinction, while animal welfare groups
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warned that keeping wild animals in captivity would cause huge amounts of stress. full story
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Farmers On Spot Over Cheetahs
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Nambia is home to the world’s largest population of wild cheetahs, but they are increasingly under threat from ranchers who shoot hundreds of the big cats each year to protect their herds of cattle. Now an innovative protection scheme is coming into place which could see cheetah-friendly beef in supermarkets
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this year, including the key UK market. full story
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Pesticide Linked To Breast Cancer
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Pesticides used on tobacco crops in Victoria since the 1940s have been linked to high rates of breast cancer, sparking fears for the 48,000 women in the area. Researchers have found the Ovens and Murray Shire has the highest incidence of breast cancer in Victoria and they believe many of the women who live there
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may have been exposed to organochlorine pesticides - chemicals still used today. full story
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Arctic Ozone May Drop To New Low
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The conditions are being driven by unusual weather in the high atmosphere above the Arctic, says European Ozone Research Coordinating Unit. The stratosphere, where the ozone layer lies, has seen its coldest winter for 50 years; there have also been an unusually large number of clouds. These factors hasten the rate at
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which man-made chemicals destroy ozone. full story
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Gap in Court Schedule
Leaves Oregon Old Growth Vulnerable
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The U.S. Forest Service is moving to log more than 6,000 acres of old growth reserves affected by the Biscuit fire before a court can determine if the logging is illegal. Conservationists challeging the cutting in court say they have observed snow plows clearing the way for crews to cut the large old trees, although a
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federal judge is set to hear arguments in the case on 3/22. full story
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Defensor Seeks Life Terms For Illegal Loggers
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Environment Secretary Michael Defensor urged Congress yesterday to pass a law sending convicted illegal loggers to life in prison. Defensor said the penalty for illegal loggers under the Revised Penal Code consists of a minimum of six years to a maximum of 20 years in prison. full story
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Public Can Force Iraq Troop Withdrawal,
Lawmakers and Critics Say
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Representative Lynn Woolsey (D-California) introduced the resolution in the House on Wednesday, with 23 fellow representatives calling on Bush to develop a plan for immediate withdrawal of American forces and to work with Iraqi leaders and civil society as well as the international community to rebuild
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Iraq’s infrastructure. full story
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Environmentalists Sue To Stop Logging Of Sequoias, Other Trees At California National Monument
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Environmentalists sued the federal government Thursday over plans to log in California's Giant Sequoia National Monument, home to 2/3 of the world's largest trees. They called the U.S. Forest Service's decision to include widespread logging in its plan for managing the 327,769-acre monument a
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scientifically suspect strategy meant to satisfy timber interests under the guise of wildfire prevention. full story
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Endangered Condors Return To Andes Skies
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Condors, the world's largest flying birds, once soared by the thousands along jagged mountain ridges across South America until nearly dying out with the spread of civilization over the centuries. Scientists here are trying to return them to the wild after near extinction.
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full story
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Environmentalists Sue Feds To Stop Mining Cos from Dumping Mountain Tops into Valleys
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Environmentalists have sued the federal government in an attempt to stop coal mining companies from lopping off the tops of mountains and dumping the rocks and dirt into valleys. The lawsuit seeks to stop the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from issuing permits for the dumping, which environmentalists claim will destroy
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Kentucky's streams. full story
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Scientists Worry That Mercury Dangers
Mimic Deadly Lead
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So many people carry mercury contamination in their bodies, the pollutant may be impairing the intelligence and brain functioning of the population at large. And, as with lead, brain damage from mercury is permanent. The EPA estimates that 1 in every 6 children born in the US is exposed in the womb to
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mercury levels that exceed the current safety level. full story
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Gorilla Numbers Grow Despite War And Poachers
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A band of park guards defending a population of rare eastern lowland gorillas against rebel armies and poachers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has made it possible for the endangered animals to survive and even to increase their numbers. The census counted 168 gorillas living in the mountain highlands
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of Kahuzi-Biega National Park. full story
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Global Warming Is
'Twice As Bad As Previously Thought'
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Global warming might be twice as catastrophic as previously thought, flooding settlements on the British coast and turning the interior into an unrecognisable tropical landscape, the world's biggest study of climate change shows. Under the "worst-case" scenario, London would be under water and winters banished
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to history as average temperatures in the UK soar up to 20C higher than at present. full story
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Broken Pipeline Spills 63,000 Gallons Of Oil
Into Kentucky River; Could Affect Drinking Water
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A pipeline broke and spilled an estimated 63,000 gallons of crude oil into the Kentucky River Wednesday, creating a 12-mile-long slick that crews were racing to contain to keep it from contaminating drinking water. By afternoon the oil spill had crept within five miles of the Ohio River, which several
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communities in Kentucky rely on for their water supplies. full story
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Hardie Link To Indonesia's 'Hidden Plague'
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Indonesia faces an asbestos time bomb with one of the major companies currently manufacturing building products still using the killer fibre. The company acquired its operations and knowledge from Australia's James Hardie Industries. Government officials yesterday expressed anger and desperation
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over what they fear is a hidden plague they do not have the medical technology to detect. full story
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Greenpeace Protest, GM Crop Banned
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Hungarian and Austrian Greenpeace activists staged a demonstration in front of the prime minister's office on January 19, in an attempt to force the government to ban the import of GM maize. As a result, two activists were detained. However, at the weekly govt. briefing a ban on GM maize was announced. full story
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Oil Firms Fund Climate Change 'Denial'
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Lobby groups funded by the US oil industry are targeting Britain in a bid to play down the threat of climate change and derail action to cut greenhouse gas emissions, leading scientists have warned. "A lobby of professional sceptics who opposed action to tackle climate change" is turning its attention to Britain
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because of its high profile in the debate. full story
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Glaciers Are Shrinking In A Warming World
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Up and down the icy spine of South America, the glaciers are melting, the white mantle of the Andes Mountains washing away at an ever faster rate. From Alaska in the north, to Montana's Glacier National Park, to the great ice fields of wild Patagonia at this continent's southern tip, the "rivers of ice" that have
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marked landscapes from prehistory are liquefying, shrinking, retreating. full story
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Motor Fuel From Vegetables, Not The Middle East
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Ron Cascio calls oil "the devil's tea" and decries what he sees as America's heroin-like addiction to the flammable black goo that fuels wars in the Middle East and pollutes his small town on Maryland's Eastern Shore. For more than 5 years, he has avoided the gas pump and instead uses a form of vegetable oil in his
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pickup truck, station wagon, lawn tractor and the generator that powers his electric drills and saws. full story
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Global Warming Takes Its Toll On The World's
Highest Mountain As Everest Shrinks By 4ft
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It got bigger only recently, but now it may be shrinking. What is happening to Mount Everest? News reports from China yesterday said there was official concern that the top of the world's tallest mountain is getting lower and melting glaciers caused by global warming may be to blame. full story
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Governors Want Clean Air Protections
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NY Gov. George Pataki and Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are pressing Congress to protect key parts of the Clean Air Act as lawmakers and Bush seek to change the law. Schwarzenegger and Pataki urged lawmakers to preserve the parts of the law allowing states to file lawsuits against out-of-state
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power plants, or impose pollution controls tougher than federal standards. full story
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High Levels Of Toxin Seen At 9 Chlorine Plants
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A new report has found that nine chlorine factories are among the nation's largest sources of mercury, a potent neurotoxin that spreads globally and has rendered some seafood unsafe to eat. Oceana's report documents what it calls a "long-overlooked" source of mercury polluting the air. Mercury is considered one
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of the most hazardous and ubiquitous contaminants. full story
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U.S. Turning ‘Blind Eye’ To
Saddam-Style Torture In ‘New’ Iraq
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Beatings with cables, fists and hosepipes; hanging by the wrists; electric shocks to the genitals; continuous blindfolding and handcuffing - these acts were all standard fair in Iraqi prisons during the era of dictator Saddam Hussein, and recent detainees allege they are commonplace inside Iraqi-run prisons today.
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full story
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Antarctica, Warming, Looks Ever More Vulnerable
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Melt water seems to be penetrating deeper and deeper into ice crevices, weakening immense and seemingly impregnable formations that have developed over thousands of years. As a result, huge glaciers in this and other remote areas of Antarctica are thinning and ice shelves the size of American states are either
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disintegrating or retreating full story
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Climate Crisis Near 'In 10 Years'
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The world may have little more than a decade to avert catastrophic climate change, politicians and scientists say. A report by the International Climate Change Taskforce says it is vital that global temperatures do not rise by more than 2C above pre-industrial levels. Atmospheric CO2 levels that would trigger this rise
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could possibly be reached in about 10 years or so. full story
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San Francisco Ponders Ecology Tax For Grocery Bags
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San Francisco is debating whether it should become the first U.S. city to tax grocery bags to encourage recycling. Environmentalists say that plastic bags create significant litter problems, are rarely recycled and are a threat to marine life. They add that 14 million trees a year are needed to make 10 billion paper
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grocery bags nationwide. full story
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Baltic Fish May Be too Toxic To Be Sold In The EU
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According to a new report every year from the late 80s to early 90s, 31kg of PCBs accumulated in the fish caught from the Baltic Sea, and almost certainly ended up on people's plates. The levels of PBBs, banned since 2000 and PBDEs in top predators such as seals, guillemots, and white-tailed sea eagles are
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2 to 5 times higher in the Baltic Sea than in the North Sea and Arctic Ocean. full story
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According to Report, River Erosion Lowering
Water Levels on Lake Michigan, Lake Huron
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Lake Huron and Lake Michigan are losing vast amounts of water because of erosion from a decades-old dredging project, according to a new study. The lakes, connected geologically, saw levels drop when a commercial navigation channel was dug at the bottom of the St. Clair River in 1962, boosting the flow south
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toward Lake Erie. full story
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Congo Elephants, Rhinos Falling To Poachers' Guns
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A new investigation of ivory poaching in the war torn east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has found members of the army and police are wiping out the district's forest elephants to profit by sales of ivory and bushmeat. Meanwhile, half the country's 10 rhinos are being shipped to Kenya to keep them alive.
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full story
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Nature Under Threat -- Facts And Figures
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With man changing the natural environment at an ever more frenetic pace many species risk being unable to adapt and becoming extinct, scientists believe. Following are some figures on the process: 1 out of 4 mammals, 1 out of 8 birds, 1 amphibious animal out of 3 and nearly half of all freshwater turtles are
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threatened, according to the IUCN. At least 15,589 species face extinction including 7,266 animal species and 8,323 species of plants and lichens. full story
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France To Host Major Forum On Species Loss
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Proposals to counter the possible extinction by the end of the century of elephants, great apes, tigers and lions due to the encroachment by humans will be at the center of a major conference on biodiversity that opens in Paris today. The forum will be attended by 1,200 researchers, environmentalists and decision-
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makers from some 30 countries. full story
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Countdown To Global Catastrophe
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The global warming danger threshold for the world is clearly marked for the first time in an international report to be published tomorrow - and the bad news is, the world has nearly reached it already. In as little as 10 years, or even less, their report indicates, the point of no return with global warming may have
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been reached. full story
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Davis Experts Say Oil Spill Is
World's Worst For Birds Since 2002
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UC Davis wildlife experts leading the rescue of oiled seabirds along the Southern California coast say this oil spill has been the worst worldwide for wildlife in more than two years, harming more birds than any spill since the 2002 wreck of the tanker Prestige off Spain's coast. full story
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France Moves To Protect South Pacific Coral Reefs
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The 3-year project aims to support already-designated protected marine sites and to create new protected areas while better managing marine ecosystems to ensure the sustainable development of coral biodiversity. Overfishing, poor management of coastal areas and sedimentation due to creeping
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urbanisation are often cited as the main threats to reef ecosystems.
full story
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Nations Ranked As Protectors Of The Environment
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Countries from Northern and Central Europe and South America dominated the top spots in the 2005 index of environmental sustainability, which ranks nations on their success at such tasks as maintaining or improving air and water quality, maximizing biodiversity and cooperating with other countries on
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environmental problems. full story
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Global Warming Approaching Point Of No Return,
Warns Leading Climate Expert
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Global warning has already hit the danger point that international attempts to curb it are designed to avoid, according to the world's top climate watchdog. Dr. Pachauri said "the world has already reached the level of dangerous concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere" and called for immediate and "very deep"
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cuts in the pollution if humanity is to "survive". full story
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EPA's Mercury Web Site
Has Some Hot Under The Collar
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"The quiet change, no fanfare, no announcement, makes the Bush administration look as if it's talking out of both sides of its mouth. On the one hand they're acknowledging how serious this is and how contaminated the fish is and how children shouldn't be eating this fish. On the other hand, they are saying we
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shouldn't reduce mercury emissions that fast." full story
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Beaufort River Site Of Purity Concerns
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Untreated stormwater runoff can contain animal waste, oil, gasoline and brakeline pollutants from the road, and pesticides and fertilizers from lawns, combining into a pollutant swirl of heavy metals, nutrients, phosphates and fecal coliform bacteria. As more cars travel Beaufort roads and new homes are built, these
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pollutants will become more prevalent. full story
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Many Private Foothills Wells Tainted
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California's first water-quality surveillance of single-family wells has found contaminants in a high proportion of those tested in rural El Dorado and Yuba counties. More than half of the 513 foothill wells sampled in the state's pioneering study contained bacteria or chemicals such as pesticides and fuel
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ingredients that do not occur naturally in groundwater. full story
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More Environment-Friendly, Fuel Cell Powered Hondas To Traverse The Streets Of Los Angeles Soon
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The fuel-cell is propelled by electricity generated by a hydrogen-oxygen chemical reaction, and its only emission, amazingly, is water vapor. Now, with a fresh stamp of approval from the EPA and the California Air Resources Board, Honda is delivering
a family of new FCX fuel-cell vehicles to its first
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customer, the city of Los Angeles. full story
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Norway To Cull A Quarter Of Its Wolf Population
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WWF opposes the hunting of Norway's wolves, following a decision by the Norwegian Directorate for Nature to kill 5 individuals 1/4 of the country's total wolf population. The Directorate has granted licences to hundreds of farmers to kill the wolves as a measure to prevent the loss of domestic livestock. Jan. 15th,
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one of the marked five, a female, was shot. full story
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Arctic Rivers 'Flowing Faster'
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The amount of fresh water entering the Arctic Ocean from the rivers that feed it is increasing, UK scientists report. Writing in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, they say the increase is caused in part by human activities and is an early sign of climate change. The rise in fresh water entering the Arctic Ocean could
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change the global distribution of water, the team says. full story
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Disputes At Every Turn Of Siberia Pipeline
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To get to the terminal and planned oil refinery, dozens of tankers would steam daily past Russia's only maritime nature reserve, a collection of 11 islands prized for 3,000 species, a rare wealth of biodiversity that comes from a meeting of boreal and subtropical water currents. Navigating a five-mile-wide channel
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littered with more small islands, the tankers would then enter a maritime cul-de-sac with such shallow waters and fragile ecology. full story
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Thousands Of Activists Form Human Chain
At Pepsi, Coke Plants In India
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Thousands of students and farmers on Thursday surrounded Pepsi and Coca-Cola factories in a "Quit India" campaign, accusing the US giants of selling soft drinks laced with pesticides. They lined up shoulder-to-shoulder in a 3-mile chain around a Pepsi bottling plant at this central Indian township full story
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Plastics Created From Orange Peel
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Cornell University researchers created a novel polymer using CO2, an oil present in orange peel and a catalyst that speeds the reaction along. The team hopes CO2 could one day be collected for making plastics instead of being pumped into the atmosphere. Details of the research in the Journal of the American
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Chemical Society. full story
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Large, Often Raucous Protests Greet
Bush At Second Inaugural
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They came to express outrage at President George W. Bush and his administration and, with few exceptions, protesters attending the counter-inaugural events in Washington, DC yesterday said they were happy with the turnout, including the number and variety of demonstrations. full story
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Deleting Hazardous Waste
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Computer and electronics makers around the world increasingly factor a product's destruction into its creation. The trend is driven in part by environmental regulations but also by shorter product cycles and a consumer culture that allow obsolete gadgetry to stack up faster than ever. full story
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Congo Police, Army Accused Of Elephant Poaching
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Congo's police and fractious army have been accused of involvement in rampant elephant poaching that threatens to wipe them out from a world heritage site in the east of the former Zaire, a new study has warned. The investigation by the Congolese Institute for Conservation of Nature estimates 17 tonnes of
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elephant ivory was smuggled out of the Okapi Wildlife Reserve during the last 6 months of 2004 alone. full story
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Wells, Pristine Streams Show Chemical Traces
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Mountain streams and drinking wells in eastern Colorado showed traces of wastewater pollutants expected only in urban areas, raising questions about how chemicals such as insecticides, perfumes and detergents have entered what should be pristine water sources. Some of the 62 chemicals are known to
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cause reproductive abnormalities in fish; others may help create drug-resistant bacteria in the environment. full story
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Invasion Of The Forest Snatchers
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All of us concerned about ge crops have been losing sleep for a while over the relentless take-over of traditional fields in many parts of the world. Now, a new report reveals how thoroughly Argentina has been taken over, and outlines previously unimagined dangers for our future when an entire country's
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agricultural system is invaded by a clone-replicating force like Monsanto. full story
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Everyday Chemicals ‘Cause Infertility,
Cancer And Birth Defects’
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The world’s top scientists appealed yesterday for new regulations on everyday chemicals which they say are making 15% of European couples infertile. They claim they regulations are also causing a quarter of the population to suffer allergies and have tripled birth defects in the past 20 years. full story
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European Rules Force
Electronics Companies To Clean Up
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Like the gas in your car, your next cell phone and computer are likely to be lead-free. Technology and consumer electronics companies are going greener, and much of the credit goes to the European Union. A series of laws and regulations put in place by the 25-nation consortium is changing the way tech companies
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do business. full story
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Ohio's GOP Attorney-General Launches Revenge Attack On Election Protection Legal Team
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In a stunning legal attack, Ohio's Republican Attorney-General has moved for censure against the four attorneys who sued Bush et. al. in an attempt to investigate the Buckeye State's bitterly contested November 2 election. Cliff Arnebeck says it is has been Petro and Ohio's partisan Republican Secretary
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of State, J. Kenneth Blackwell, who have stonewalled the election challenge legal proceedings. full story
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Crisis for America's Last Wild Horses
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In 1974, about 56,000 wild horses and burros were counted on the public lands by the BLM and USFS, the two agencies charged with wild horse and burro protection. Today, the herds have been whittled down to about 34,500, according to 2004 census figures issued by the BLM, which is in charge of US Forest
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Service’s horses today. full story
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Environmentalists Say Hawksbill Sea Turtle
In 'Drastic Decline' In Mexico
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Activists of the WWF called on Mexico and the Caribbean nations on Tuesday to urgently implement plans to reverse what they called "a drastic decline" in the population of hawksbill sea turtles. The hawksbills are considered endangered, and are one of the 7 sea-turtle species that call Mexico home. The group said
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the turtle population had fallen to 1/2 its previous levels. full story
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UK Seas Are In Crisis: WWF
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Britain's seas are in crisis, with key species in serious decline, according to conservationists. The Marine Health Check report says 13 of the 16 species and habitats investigated are in decline, including reefs and salt marshes. The majority of damage to marine habitats is due to coastal development, fishing,
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aquaculture and oil and gas exploitation, claims the WWF. full story
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Car Protest Continues
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“If Ford were serious about breaking America’s oil addiction, it wouldn’t be trashing its fleet of zero-emission, zero-oil electric pickup trucks,” added Jason Mark, a clean car campaigner representing the human rights group Global Exchange. “Ford needs to make a u-turn and restart its electric vehicle program.”
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full story
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Blair's Greenhouse Gas Policy 'Scandalous'
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Tony Blair's commitment to tackle climate change was questioned yesterday by opposition MPs who condemned his "scandalous" attempt to block an EU-wide target to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Minutes of meetings showed that Britain tried to delete a proposal for developed countries to reduce
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greenhouse gas emissions by 60 to 80 per cent by 2050. full story
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American Coasts In Fair To Poor Condition
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Estuaries across the US are in fair condition overall, but conditions are poor in the estuaries of the Northeast coast and Puerto Rico regions, four federal resources agencies say in a new report on the coastal environment that is issued only once every four years. The 2005 National Coastal Condition Report is a
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comprehensive report on the condition of the nation’s estuarine waters and coastal fisheries. full story
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Record Warm Winter Stirs Sleepy Estonian Bears
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Estonia's warmest winter for two centuries has woken some of its 600 bears several months early from hibernation, wildlife experts say. The bears' early reappearance has raised concerns for the survival of this year's cubs. "It has been very warm and wet and many flooded rivers have forced bears out of their
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dens and out of hibernation," full story
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Disaster Looms For Megacities, UN Official Says
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Earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters could kill millions in the world's teeming megacities and time is running out to prevent such a catastrophe, the UN point man on emergency relief said on Tuesday. "Many of the world's megacities, including Tokyo, are extremely vulnerable to natural disasters and the poor
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were most at risk from a lack of investment and planning." full story
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Bush Inaugural To Ride High
On Unregulated Corporate Donations
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The nine elaborate balls, three candlelight dinners, a rock concert, extravagant receptions and parties preceding Bush’s January 20 inauguration will have a hefty price tag, and most of the multi-million dollar bill will be paid for by Exxon Mobil Corp., Bristol Meyers Squibb, former Enron President Richard Kinder, and
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dozens of well-connected Bush fundraisers. full story
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U.S. Officials Accuse DuPont Of Concealing
Teflon Ingredient's Health Risk
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More than 50 years after DuPont started producing Teflon near this Ohio River town, federal officials are accusing the company of hiding information suggesting that a chemical used to make the popular stick- and stain-resistant coating might cause cancer, birth defects and other ailments. full story
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Europe Protects 5,000 Sites
In The Northern Woodlands
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The European network of sites protecting threatened and vulnerable species and habitats was expanded today to include thousands of locations in the boreal, or northern, woodlands. The European Commission adopted the list of Natura 2000 sites which covers the main parts of Finland and Sweden. Norway is not
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included as it is not a member of the European Union. full story
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Chevron To Restore Coastal Wetlands At Port Arthur
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Three Chevron companies have agreed to clean up and restore lands and waters around the company's former refinery at Port Arthur, Texas contaminated with petroleum products and heavy metals from more than a century of refinery operations. A settlement between Chevron, the U.S. Justice Department and
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the Texas Attorney General and other state and federal was filed Thursday in federal district court. full story
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Congo's Rare Rhinos To Be Flown To Safety
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Five of the few northern white rhinos left in the wild will be flown from Democratic Republic of Congo to prevent poachers wiping them out, conservationists said on Saturday. Fewer than 10 of the rhinos are believed to remain and with heavily armed poachers carrying out frequent raids in the wilds of northeastern
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Congo, moving the beasts to sanctuary in Kenya is deemed the only option to guarantee their survival. full story
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US Navy Acts On Whale Deaths
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The US Navy has vowed to exercise caution when operating in waters occupied by the Atlantic right whale following a series of fatal collisions in the last month. Four of the endangered whales, including two that were pregnant, were killed in recent weeks, leaving an estimated 300 remaining in existence.
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full story
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Air Pollution ‘The Cause Of
Most Cancers In Children’
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The majority of childhood cancers are probably caused by exposure to pollution before birth, according to a report published today. Professor George Knox, who has studied the birthplace of thousands of children who developed cancer, claims the inhaling of chemicals by pregnant mothers is the
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most likely trigger for the majority of such cases. full story
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Mexican Oil Spill Decimates Habitats
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The IFAW has revealed details of its continuing rescue and rehabilitation effort for animals affected by last months oil spill near Veracrus in Mexico. An explosion at a facility on Dec. 22 led to around 5,000 barrels of oil escaping into the Coatzacoalos river, since then widespread problems have been caused to wildlife
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habitats. full story
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Green Groups Hope Suit Forces
US Hand On Warming
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Green lobbyists and several US cities hope a lawsuit against US development agencies will force the government to act on global warming, even though Bush has long insisted there's no scientific proof linking human activity to warming. The lawsuit seeks to require two US development agencies to conduct
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environmental assessments on coal, natural gas and petroleum projects they financed in developing nations. full story
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Big Firms Spend Big On Bush Inaugural
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Large corporations, many of which have enormous regulatory and policy interests in Washington, are paying for most of President Bush's inauguration. Critics say the arrangement is too cozy, while still others say lavish spending is inappropriate in a time of war and as South Asia recovers from a devastating
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tsunami. full story
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They Flattened This Mountaintop To find Coal
And Created A Wasteland
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Mountaintop removal is booming in the Appalachian mountains, bringing with it environmental degradation and human despair. It is fuelled by a mining industry that has paid millions of dollars into Republican campaign coffers and received in return an unprecedented relaxation of rules. full story
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Troubled Neighbors
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Houston's refining and petrochemical industries are in some places contributing to what leading experts on toxic air pollution would consider a risky load of "air toxics," substances that can cause cancer, kidney and liver damage, or other serious health effects in places where people live and work, and where children play.
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full story
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Blair Tried To Ditch Green Policy
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Tony Blair's international credibility on climate change was seriously damaged last night as it emerged that the government tried secretly to ditch key global warming targets. Leaked documents reveal that the UK sought to remove targets that would reduce co2 emissions during high-level meetings to formulate Europe's
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climate policy. full story
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A Watershed Role For Farmers
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Ravenous for energy to feed a booming economy, China plans to build more than 100 dams in Yunnan province, including a couple of dozen that would surpass Washington state's 550-foot-high Grand Coulee dam and one that would be the tallest in the world. The projects would force nearly 1 million
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people off their land in coming years. full story
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Oil Spill In Delaware Tops 265,000 Gallons
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The Coast Guard now estimates that 265,000 gallons of oil spilled into the Delaware River after an oil tanker struck a hunk of metal on the river bottom in November, officials said Friday. The ship suffered its crippling injury on Nov. 26 as it prepared to dock in Paulsboro, N.J., south of Philadelphia. Its oil
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blackened miles of shoreline and killed wildlife. full story
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Brazil: Profit And Poverty Fuel Amazon Deforestation
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Deforestation in Brazil destroyed nearly 8,000 square miles of the Amazon rainforest in 2004. In 1970, only 1 percent of the Brazilian Amazon had been deforested. By now, between 15 and 25 percent has been lost, with an estimated 1 percent disappearing every year. The area of forest overrun in three
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decades equals the size of France. full story
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Coral Reefs Under Threat: COA
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About 3/4 of the nation's coral reefs regularly checked by researchers are deteriorating, the Council of Agriculture said yesterday, and the establishment of protected marine areas should be the first step to effectively mitigate this problem. A five-year coral reef monitoring project ended in December. The data
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suggests that the deterioration of coral reefs in Taiwan could be attributed to pollution and development in coastal areas. full story
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DEP Issues Ambitious Pollution Plan
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After a year of planning and analysis the state DEP has issued an ambitious 55-point plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 75 percent over the next two decades. The "Connecticut Climate Change Action Plan" would affect almost every facet of daily life, from the cars and appliances people buy to the
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electricity they use, the foods they eat, and the materials from which homes are built. full story
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Suburban Sprawl Rolling Over Imperiled Wildlife
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The rapid conversion of American open space and farmland into subdivisions, shopping centers, roads and parking lots has emerged as a leading threat to the nation's biodiversity and animals, environmentalists say. A new study finds runaway sprawl in many metropolitan areas is wiping out essential wildlife
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habitat for some 1,200 imperiled species and could doom some to extinction. full story
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Environmentalists Say Sound Wave Research
Off Yucatan Threatens Marine Life
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Scientists working off the Yucatan Peninsula are preparing to use sound waves to search for information about an asteroid that may have wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. But environmental activists are trying to shut the project down, saying the technology could harm whales, sea turtles and several
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varieties of fish that provide a livelihood for thousands of Mexicans along the gulf coast. full story
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Animal Rescuers Wash Pelicans Clean Of Mexican Oil
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Animal experts are dealing with the remains of an oil spill along the Gulf of Mexico coast near Veracruz, Mexico that has oiled hundreds of birds and animals. The spill occurred on December 22 after an explosion at a pumping station operated by Pemex spewed between five and 10 thousand barrels of oil into the
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Coatzacoalcos River, damaging marine habitat and wildlife. full story
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Casino Developers Granted Permit To Build Resort Near Wetlands In U.S. Virgin Islands
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The government granted casino developers a permit to build a $150 million resort near sensitive wetlands, drawing complaints from environmentalists. Golden Resorts plans to build the resort about 50 feet from the mangrove-fringed Great Pond on the island of St. Croix. The pond is home to many rare birds, while
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the federally protected green and hawksbill turtles nest in nearby beaches. full story
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Flood Dangers Under Cities
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The ground beneath the world's biggest cities is being turned into a Swiss cheese of tunnels, shopping precincts and car parks as they try to cope with expanding populations, making them vulnerable to floods and other natural disasters. "Too little thought has gone into protecting underground structures
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against such threats as flood and fire." full story
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Bush's 'Clear Skies' Plan Is a Step Back, Report Says
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The Bush's "Clear Skies" proposal to rewrite the nation's chief air-quality rules for power plants would not reduce pollution as much as existing Clean Air Act regulations, according to an interim report by the National Academy of Sciences. Clear Skies is currently under consideration by Congress. full story
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Queries Flow On Pollution Exemptions
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Colorado health officials are concerned that an obscure type of waiver, granted by the state for years to relax water-quality standards for polluters, may violate state and federal laws. Worries that the practice could lead to illegal chemical discharges into public waters have forced state officials to seek
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guidance from their federal watchdog agency, the EPA. full story
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Environmentalists, Feds Face Off
Over Wilderness Deal
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Jim Angell of the environmental group Earthjustice told a three-judge panel of the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday that the settlement was illegal. "It's a fundamental rewrite affecting millions of acres across the country of wilderness-quality lands and it was disposed of via a
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back-room deal," Angell said outside the courtroom. full story
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Groups Cite Sprawl As Threat To
1,200 Rare Plants, Animals
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Urban sprawl is gobbling up open spaces in fast-growing metropolitan areas so quickly that it could spell extinction for nearly 1,200 species of plants and animals, environmental groups say. "The bottom line is that these species are at risk of extinction due to habitat destruction," said John Kostyack, a National
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Wildlife Federation attorney. full story
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Air, Cancer Risk Linked In Some Houston Areas
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People living in some east Harris County neighborhoods, the East End and parts of Texas City are at greater risk of contracting cancer because of toxic chemicals released by the region's industrial plants State air pollution monitors detected levels of 3 hazardous chemicals that, if inhaled during a lifetime,
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would likely generate 29 to 199 additional cases of cancer in a million people. full story
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EPA Draft Cites 'Important' Teflon Issues
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Exposure to chemicals used to make Teflon and other nonstick consumer products may increase risks of developmental or immune system disorders or other health problems in people, according to a draft federal report released Wednesday. Human bodies may retain and concentrate the pollutants for much longer periods
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than animals, the EPA said. full story
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Hudson Linked To Illnesses:
PCBs Could Be A Factor, Study Offers
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Several Assembly members have called on the state Department of Health to investigate the elevated incidence of respiratory illness found among people living near hazardous waste sites and along the Hudson River. A study published in 'Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology' identified increased
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respiratory illness among those who live in zip codes that include or abut hazardous waste sites, including the Hudson River. full story
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New York Coal Plants Agree To Deep Emissions Cuts
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Emissions from six upstate New York coal fired power plants, including the state's two largest polluting power plants, will be slashed under two agreements reached Tuesday to settle lawsuits brought against the power companies by the state of New York. Nitrogen oxide emissions will be cut by more than 18,000 tons
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annually, the equivalent of removing 2.5 million cars from New York’s roads. full story
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Researchers Find Pond Scum Toxin
That May Kill Bald Eagles
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Two researchers at the Hollings Marine Laboratory on James Island have made what could be a groundbreaking discovery in the search for a mysterious killer of bald eagles. They think a previously unknown form of pond scum carries a toxin that's killed some 100 of the majestic national symbols
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in the Southeast, including half the nesting population in the Thurmond Reservoir. full story
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Angler's Paradise Threatened By Plans To Dam
Norway's Last, Great Untouched River
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Norway’s largest electricity company, Statkraft, plans to dam the Vefsna River and drill giant tunnels to drain it for hydropower development in northern Norway. According to WWF, the development poses a serious threat to wildlife and will have a negative impact on the lives of indigenous populations. full story
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States Flex Prosecutorial Muscle
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Americans once relied primarily on an alphabet soup of federal agencies SEC, FTC, EPA to protect investors, consumers and the environment. But state regulators and attorneys general are bringing legal action and launching investigations in these and other areas where they say federal regulators have fallen
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down on the job. full story
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Environmentalists Protest Apple's 'iWaste'
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Scorching iPod sales have also made it the target of an aggressive environmental coalition, which is trashing Apple as rotten to the core. Environmentalists with the Computer TakeBack Campaign are p | |
