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Stop POPs Before We Drop
Talks began yesterday in Geneva on a global treaty to control or ban 12 toxic chemicals known as “the dirty dozen,” including DDT, dioxin, and PCBs. Enviros are pressing negotiators to move quickly to ban the persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which break down extremely slowly, are absorbed into the food chain, and have been linked […]
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Once More into the Breach
Federal officials are considering delaying a recommendation on whether or not to breach four dams on the lower Snake River to help save salmon. Some breaching advocates are saying the delay is a political move, designed to keep the highly controversial issue from interfering with Al Gore’s presidential campaign. The National Marine Fisheries Service had […]
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How About Genetically Modified French Waiters?
French Pres. Jacques Chirac said yesterday that France will stand firm in its opposition to genetically modified foods at the ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization, to be held in Seattle from November 30 to December 3. The contentious issue of whether or not to include genetically modified food on the meeting’s agenda has […]
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Norwaves
Norway’s state oil company, Statoil, is considering a massive project that would convert unwanted offshore oil platforms into pollution-free power plants that derive electricity from the movement of ocean waves. Oil platforms in the deep waters off Norway include some of the world’s tallest structures, and dismantling them could cost billions of dollars. At the […]
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Super, Market to the World!
In a blow to proponents of biotechnology, Archer-Daniels-Midland, one of the largest grain processors in the U.S., is telling its corn and soybean suppliers to begin segregating genetically modified crops from conventional crops. The company’s shift is a clear sign that the consumer backlash over genetically modified crops in Europe and Asia is beginning to […]
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Bombard Deer?
Lockheed Martin plans to do its part to help curb global warming by bombing the earth with saplings. The company will convert warplanes, initially developed to drop landmines, and use them to bombard the ground with biodegradable metal cones carrying tree shoots. Once the devices hit the ground, they should explode and the trees should […]
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Sea Sick
Marine life is increasingly threatened by diseases, in part because of climate change and pollution, according to research published in the journal Science. Pollution from chemicals like organochlorides can weaken marine species’ immune systems, and the long-term warming trend in the ocean, as well as other human disruptions of the marine environment, are exacerbating the […]
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Brazil, You're Fired
In Brazil, “slash and burn” fires set by farmers are raging out of control and covering many areas with a thick haze, sending children to hospitals with respiratory infections. August and September are the burning season in Brazil, when farmers and ranchers set fire to brush to clear land for planting or pasture; because it’s […]
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What a Tangled Web
Documents at the center of a Ford lawsuit about a website reveal that the automaker is developing technologies to improve the fuel economy of its trucks by as much as 15 percent and meet tougher proposed federal auto-emissions rules. Ford is suing a website operator who posted the detailed documents online, saying they were stolen. […]
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Geek Bearing Gifts
Vice Pres. Al Gore will deliver good news to New England fishers today when he announces a $5 million federal disaster-relief program. The aid program will give the operators of 750 small fishing boats in the Gulf of Maine up to $1,500 for each day that fishing grounds were closed by regulators this past spring, […]
