Climate Climate & Energy

Out With the Old Growth, in With the Nu

Nu River Dam Threatens Unique Chinese Ecosystem A massive dam project planned for the Nu River in southwestern China threatens to wreak havoc on a region that contains one of the world’s least-disturbed temperate ecosystems. The area, designated by the U.N. as a World Heritage Site, contains old-growth forests, 7,000 species of plants, and 80 […]

There’s Coal in Them Thar Hills

New Coal-Fired Power Plants on the Horizon Coal, for decades the reviled stepchild of the U.S. energy family, is about to become the prodigal son. Stoked by easy availability, the rising costs of other fuels, and a growing desire to reduce dependence on foreign oil and gas, coal is roaring back: Plans are in the […]

Wham, Bam, Thank You, Dam

Embrey Dam Removal Heralds Larger Trend The Army Corps of Engineers blew up the Embrey Dam in Fredericksburg, Va., yesterday, allowing the Rappahannock River to flow unmolested from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Chesapeake Bay for the first time since 1910 — and making it the longest free-flowing river feeding into the Chesapeake, a […]

Turning Over an Old Reef

Great Barrier Reef Is Doomed, Says Report Australia’s Great Barrier Reef — the world’s largest chain of living coral and one of the seven wonders of the natural world — will be almost completely destroyed by rising sea temperatures by 2050, predicts a new report released by Queensland University’s Center for Marine Studies. “Coral cover […]

What Blows Around Comes Around

Cross-Border Pollution an Increasing Problem Pollution from Asia can taint the air along the West Coast of the U.S., said scientists on Friday at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Jet streams can drive dirty air across the Pacific Ocean in a matter of days, markedly increasing levels of ozone […]

Cloud Nein

World’s Cloud Forests Threatened The world’s cloud forests, which strip moisture from clouds and supply millions of poor people in developing nations with fresh water, are in danger of being wiped out by climate change, claims a report released Monday by the U.N. and the World Conservation Union at the Convention on Biological Diversity in […]

Ash Holes

Enviro Groups Ask EPA to Halt Ash Dumping A coalition of 125 environmental groups has filed a petition with the U.S. EPA, asking it to immediately halt the dumping of waste ash from coal-fired power plants. They claim the ash contains a variety of toxins and pollutes ground, surface, and drinking water. The EPA promised […]

One Meeellion Dollars!

Iraq’s Environment Ministry Faces Big Problems and a Small Budget Iraq’s first environment ministry, facing a host of daunting ecological problems and a list of 35 priority projects that would cost more than $200 million, has been allotted a 2004 budget of … $1 million. A report from the United Nations Environment Program presents a […]

Built Ford? Tough.

Environmental Groups Target Bill Ford, Jr. Ford Motor Co. CEO Bill Ford, Jr., once a darling of the eco-friendly set, has come under attack by a coalition of environmental groups led by California-based Bluewater Network. In full-page national newspaper ads that began appearing Wednesday, the group lambasted Ford, Jr., for reneging on his July 2000 […]

Fool Proof