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Waste Hot, Want Not

Nuclear refuse from the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant near Denver needs a home. It’s not radioactive enough to gain entrance to the newly opened Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, yet it’s too radioactive for other disposal spots. Rocky Flats is scheduled to be razed by 2006, and its waste cannot be stored […]

It's to Die for

The United Arab Emirates is considering instituting the death penalty for those who deliberately pollute the environment. Many sea captains secretly discharge oil into the sea around the country, wreaking havoc on fragile ecosystems.

Yellowstone, Gray Water, Brown Air

A crumbling sewage system at Yellowstone National Park is dumping wastewater into Yellowstone Lake, and traffic and air pollution have beset Grand Canyon National Park, according to the National Parks and Conservation Association. The group released a list of the 10 most endangered national parks yesterday, highlighting an array of problems in the park system. […]

Smelly Smelter Smitten

The air quality in Cairo should get a big boost now that Egypt’s largest lead smelting company has agreed to abandon its Cairo facilities for a new factory with modern emissions controls outside the city. The smelters at the current factory spew between 40 and 60 percent of the lead pollution in the area. The […]

World Bank Defangs Watchdog

The World Bank has stripped residents of developing nations of one way to protest environmental damage done by bank-funded dams and development projects. The bank’s executive board bowed to pressure from big developing nations, including Brazil and India, and weakened an internal watchdog panel that investigates alleged environmental and social disruptions from projects. Grassroots development […]

Slower Pussycat, Don't Kill! … Don't Kill!

Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep have been awarded emergency protection under the federal Endangered Species Act, a move that could lead to the shooting of mountain lions that prey on the sheep. About 100 adult bighorns remain in California’s High Sierra wilderness. California voters in 1990 approved a ballot measure banning the sport hunting of mountain […]

One Fish, Two Fish, I Can Eat You, Fish

The seafood industry has teamed up with the World Wildlife Fund to create a seal of approval and a certifying system for seafood caught from sustainable fisheries. The Marine Stewardship Council announced the new system yesterday, and more than 200 corporate, government, and voluntary groups have jumped on board. The seal of approval will begin […]

River (of Grass) Phoenix

The wildfires raging through 160,000 acres in the Florida Everglades are part of a natural cycle and will help renourish the ecosystem, forestry officials say. Most animals have survived, and the blazes burn dry bush and make room for new plant growth. “This is actually like a rebirth process. Three months from now you probably […]

A Warm Welcome to Generation Y

College students are getting riled up over climate change, pressuring their schools to divest of financial holdings in companies considered responsible for global warming. Student governments and investment advisory committees at Stanford, Harvard, and the University of Washington recently passed resolutions calling for an end to university investments in companies making up the Global Climate […]

Warm Globally, Wet Locally

In other climate change news, a new federal study has found that the U.S. has gotten markedly wetter during the last third of a century, and while the rest of the world is getting warmer, the continental U.S. seems to have actually gotten a touch cooler since 1966.