Even those of us who look down our noses at gas-guzzling SUVs have to face up to the fact that our lives are made easier by cheap oil–and it is still pretty cheap. If you think $2.50-a-gallon gasoline is expensive, just try to imagine $6 a gallon. Europeans have long lived with fuel prices that high, leading to societies far less car-centered and much more conservation-minded than the U.S.
Environmentalists are cheering a bipartisan coalition of 14 U.S. Senators who agreed last week not to eliminate the minority’s right to filibuster judicial nominees. Several of the judges nominated by the White House to fill vacant posts have spotty environmental records at best, and the filibuster may be the only tool Senate Democrats will have to stymie any such appointment efforts.
Environmental groups are backing a provisional amendment to the recently passed Senate Highway Bill calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to improve its fuel-efficiency standards testing procedures to bring its published miles-per-gallon tabulations in line with real world driving conditions.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), incidences of skin cancer in the United States have reached epidemic proportions, with one in five Americans now developing the disease in their lifetime. The National Cancer Institute reports that cases of melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer, increased faster than any other cancer among Caucasians in the U.S. over a recent 20-year study period.
A moving counter on the home page of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) lets web surfers know that the program is responsible for saving more than 5.3 billion trees since it was launched in 1995. "Keeping our forests healthy is important," the group, launched as an offshoot of the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) solemnly proclaims. "Healthy forests will continue to provide the wood and paper products that are vital to all of us while also ensuring that we have forests and wildlife for future generations of Americans."
A moving counter on the home page of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) lets web surfers know that the program is responsible for saving more than 5.3 billion trees since it was launched in 1995. "Keeping our forests healthy is important," the group, launched as an offshoot of the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) solemnly proclaims. "Healthy forests will continue to provide the wood and paper products that are vital to all of us while also ensuring that we have forests and wildlife for future generations of Americans."
President Bush used an appearance at a Virginia biodiesel plant last week to campaign for passage of his energy plan, part of which calls for increasing the production of alternative fuels to reduce dependence on foreign oil sources.
Some prominent environmentalists–as well as Senators McCain and Lieberman, who back legislation to reduce carbon dioxide emissions–are supporting further development of nuclear power to serve as an emission-free bridge to an economy based entirely on renewable energy.
While tour operators and travel agents around the world may tout their trips as “eco-tours,” environmentally conscious travelers take a variety of considerations into account when determining whether or not any given excursion qualifies as such.
For 20 years now, the organization American Rivers, in its annual “Most Endangered Rivers” report, has highlighted rivers around the U.S. that have the worst chronic problems in need of attention. This year the organization took a new approach and focused on those “facing the most uncertain futures.”
