The Cougar Connection
Researchers who demonstrated the link between wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone and the park’s subsequent ecological upswing have set their sights on another top predator, the cougars of Utah’s Zion National Park.
Mexico City’s Rising Amphibian Star
A conservation project in Mexico City is trying to transform an odd-looking salamander into a "spokes-animal" for a threatened habitat. The axolotl is in danger of extinction in its native environment, but an effort to revive a green space in the city may help to improve its prospects.
Restoring The Prairie
In one of the most compelling environmental success stories of the past 30 years, the Midwest has experienced a prairie renaissance—the widespread restoration of prairies and related ecosystems to ecological health.
Water Worries
From inter-sex fish in the Potomac River to frog mutations in Wisconsin, federal officials are spending this summer studying the effects of pharmaceuticals such as pain killers and depression medicine on the environment, because the drugs have turned up in America’s drinking water.
Rough Terrain for Refugees
While international relief agencies struggle to protect people displaced by ware, drought and civil unrest, they often neglect the environmental devastation that follows in the world’s overcrowded refugee camps.
Opening The Cages
The majority of egg operations in the U.S. subject hens to stacked, battery cages, too small for them to even flap their wings. But consumer momentum is building for cage-free eggs, which offer a better life for hens, but one that’s still not as cruelty-free as organic operations.
Poisoning Pets
E has consistently warned about dangerous ingredients in commercial pet foods. Now people are paying attention, following disclosures last March that at least 16 pets died from poisoned food containing highly suspect ingredients imported from China. Some 60 million pet food servings, sold under many different brand names, were recalled.
Wildlife Refuges Get the Shaft
Despite a proposed $12 million funding increase by the Bush administration earlier this year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is still going to cut way back on services and operations at more than 500 national wildlife refuges across the country due to a mammoth $2.5 billion unfunded maintenance and operations backlog.
Chemical Car Seats
All car seats are not created equal. While parents fret over the toxins in plastic toys and teething rings they now have to consider what chemicals may be lurking in their car seat. The Michigan-based Ecology Center released a study in mid-May that looks at the hazards in more than 60 popular models of infant, convertible and child booster car seats.
A Crude Report
Prices rose sharply in the early days of the summer driving season. The national average for a gallon of regular grade gasoline on May 21 was $3.22, up 11 cents from the week before. The Center for American Progress report explains that these prices will restrict family vacations, send middle-income families digging deeper into their savings and keep consumers away from restaurants and shopping venues.