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Sucky Appliances
European Union energy ministers want to crack down on domestic appliances, sometimes called vampires, that suck energy when in “standby,” or off, mode. The ministers want to halve “standby losses” by 2010 and are pushing for voluntary agreements and labeling to do the job, but warned that if these efforts aren’t successful they would consider […]
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Tongues Out at Tongass Plan
In an op-ed in today’s Washington Post, Alaska’s congressional delegation — staunch and powerful defenders of the state’s timber industry — criticize the Clinton administration’s latest plan for managing Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. Sen. Frank Murkowski (R), Sen. Ted Stevens (R), and Rep. Don Young (R) say political appointees without appropriate experience overturned a plan […]
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Fumenting Conservative Backlash
In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Michael Fumento, a senior fellow at the conservative Hudson Institute, mocks environmentalists for their “blame-man-first mentality,” which he says leads them to assume that problems like frog deformities, temperature swings, and rising asthma rates can be attributed to environmental degradation.
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Pork on Rye, Hold the Sprawl
This year could see Congress approve the most conservation spending ever, some officials are predicting. Republicans and Democrats alike have introduced six major environmental conservation bills in Congress this year, all of which would for the first time fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund with $900 million a year. Money from the fund […]
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Sleazy Riders
A number of senators have tacked anti-environmental riders onto an emergency spending bill that would fund NATO’s air war in Yugoslavia and send relief money to hurricane-stricken Central America. House leaders are unhappy with the Senate add-ons and are likely to try to strip them during conference committee this week, and the White House has […]
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Hungary to Join EU? Czech Your Laws, Polish Your Record
The six countries next in line to join the European Union are likely to run up against serious problems as they try to comply with EU environmental laws, possibly delaying their EU membership, according to acting EU Environment Commissioner Ritt Bjerregaard. Poland in particular has made little progress in meeting environmental norms, Bjerregaard said. The […]
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Rising Sunshine
Japan adopted its first freedom of information law last week, giving citizens the right to request information on everything from how the government evaluates environmental hazards to how it spends tax money. Citizens groups have fought for the law for 20 years, and it is still weaker than most of them would have liked. Diplomatic, […]
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Mayonnaise on Rye, Hold the Tuna
Citing mercury levels found in canned tuna, a coalition of environmental and health care groups is urging that pregnant women avoid eating canned tuna and that preschool kids eat no more than one tuna sandwich a week. The Environmental Working Group and Health Care Without Harm bought 27 samples of tuna in grocery stores and […]
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Protestors Blubber Over Hunt
The Makah Indians had an unsuccessful day of whale hunting off the coast of Washington yesterday, the tribe’s first hunt in more than 70 years. The Makah expect to harpoon a whale during coming weeks and placed part of the blame for their failure to do so yesterday on protestors whose boats followed them to […]
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Seine Thoughts on Nukes
Cracks are beginning to show in France’s strong base of support for nuclear energy. For the first time, politicians, including Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, are talking about cutting back on nuclear power. Jospin has said that France should reduce its dependence on nuclear from 80 percent to 60 percent of the nation’s energy supply, and […]
