Currents

Maine’s Northern Forests are Going to the Highest Bidder.

In yet another example of the dire state of the world’s oceans, the World Conservation Union announced last week that it will be adding 10 species of sharks and rays to its global "Red List" of endangered species. Researchers cite overfishing throughout the world’s oceans as well as soaring demand for shark fin in Asia as the primary culprits in the global decline of shark populations.

Rocky Flats nuclear facility became the Department of Energy’s (DOE) golden child in July when the last of the weapons-grade plutonium stored there was shipped away ahead of schedule. For nearly 40 years, Rocky Flats, just 15 miles northwest of downtown Denver, produced plutonium pits or "triggers" for thousands of the country’s stockpiled nuclear weapons. Remediation at the Flats, a highly contaminated Superfund site, is also moving forward dramatically under budget. Instead of the anticipated $37 billon, cleanup is now projected at $7 billion. In a time of federal budget deficits, and with Superfund’s core funding stream whittled away to $28 million, accelerated cleanup seems too good to be true. Many community members and environmental organizations—while happy to see the 6,400-acre site out of commission—are concerned that the project is being done in haste and find it unsettling that plutonium residue and toxins will be left several feet under the surface.

John Muir called them “the greatest of living things.” California’s giant sequoias—also known simply as “the big trees”—have outlived millennia of ecological and cultural change on the west side of the Sierra Nevada mountains. These grand monuments to natural history, which can grow taller than the Statue of Liberty, were full grown when Jesus Christ […]

As Habitat Shrinks, a Shade-Grown Harvest Saves Songbirds Morning commuters, struggling to stay awake and focus on the day’s newspaper, probably don’t spend a lot of time worrying where their cup of coffee comes from. They’d be surprised to learn that it was most likely picked by Central American workers earning less than a dollar […]

Will The Big Dig Really Solve Boston's Daunting Traffic Problems?

Light Pollution is a Threat to Wildlife, Safety and the Starry Sky After hours of driving south in the pitch-black darkness of the Nevada desert, a dome of hazy gold suddenly appears on the horizon. Soon, a road sign confirms the obvious: Las Vegas 30 miles. Looking skyward, you notice that the Big Dipper is […]

Global Futures Mediates Environmental Disputes.

In the drought-stricken farm belt of southeastern Colorado, down-on-their-luck farmers and wide-eyed environmentalists alike are looking forward to the day when many more Americans derive their electricity from the wind, an ultimately renewable, pollution-free source of energy. And the state-funded Colorado Green Project is helping make this vision into a reality.