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Do Mess with Texas
With Houston’s rise to the status of most smoggy U.S. city, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, top contender for the GOP presidential nomination, is beginning to face criticism for his approach to environmental problems. Texas had serious air quality problems before Bush became governor in 1995, but some evidence indicates that the state’s air may […]
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WTO Pours It On
The World Trade Organization responded to its environmental critics yesterday by releasing a report blaming poverty, not trade, for environmental degradation. The report didn’t address enviros’ criticisms that WTO rules clash with environmental goals and that decisions by its dispute settlement body have undermined environmental protection. The report instead notes that as countries grow richer, […]
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Smoked Salmon
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt will seek to have wild Atlantic salmon protected as endangered, after the release last week of a government report that found that the fish is near extinction. Despite a two-year effort by Maine to save salmon without federal intervention, the wild species continues to face threats from aquaculture, erosion, pollution, fishing, […]
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Take That, Hosers
Tired of pollution drifting up from the south, officials in Toronto, Canada’s largest city, are considering joining a lawsuit that New York state plans to file next month against coal-fired power plants in the Midwest. Toronto health and environment officials are to meet today with the office of New York’s attorney general, which last month […]
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One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato, Sick Rats
The debate over genetically modified foods is rising to a new pitch following a decision by the British medical journal the Lancet to publish a controversial study suggesting that gene-altered potatoes may cause health problems in rats. In an unusual move, the editor of the journal has written a commentary revealing that a minority of […]
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Hot Diggity Log
In one of the most significant conservation moves of his administration, Pres. Clinton yesterday announced that he would permanently protect at least 40 million acres of national forest land from road building, logging, and mining, using administration actions meant to outmaneuver opposition in Congress. Speaking at the George Washington National Forest in Virginia, Clinton said, […]
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Taking the High Rhode
Rhode Island became the first state to sue the makers of lead paint on Tuesday, seeking hundreds of millions of dollars to pay for treating lead-poisoned children and removing lead paint from buildings. At least a dozen other states, counties, and cities are considering filing similar lawsuits, inspired by suits filed against the tobacco industry. […]
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War Really Is Hell
The heaviest pollution from NATO’s bombing this spring in Yugoslavia is concentrated in industrial areas, the U.N. Environmental Program is expected to say in a report released today. UNEP is urging Yugoslavia to immediately clean up several hot spots and is asking Western nations to provide clean-up funding. U.N. scientists say they found no evidence […]
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Soots Them Right
In an effort to clean up acid rain and smog, New York Gov. George Pataki (R) today will order power plants in the state to make sharp reductions in their emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Enviros were happy about the news, as were power companies with proposals to build new natural-gas plants, which […]
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Wait, Who's Got the Ax to Grind, Mr. President?
In a speech touting the virtues of global trade, Pres. Clinton last night tried to mollify environmentalists and other critics of the World Trade Organization. Laying out his agenda for the WTO meeting to begin in Seattle next month, Clinton said he wants to reduce barriers to U.S. exports while still emphasizing environmental protection and […]
