I was thrilled to learn that Margie Richard of Louisiana was a winner of the 2004 Goldman Environmental Prize. This was a richly deserved award. I was warmly welcomed into Richard’s home in Norco, Louisiana in 1998, and had the opportunity to meet her again last year when the Society of Environmental Journalists’ conference came to New Orleans.
The same environmentalists and biologists who have cheered the comeback of the wolf to Yellowstone National Park are cringing at a Bush administration plan proposing to give state officials in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming the authority to move or shoot wolves that have wandered beyond park boundaries into zones where prey populations of grazing animals are diminishing. Whether or not wolves are playing any role in herds" low numbers, state officials — with the blessing of the Bush administration — are hungry to take out Canis lupus.
Last week’s Supreme Court ruling allowing Mexican trucks to enter U.S. roads has invoked the ire of clean air advocates. The Court ruled that under the auspices of the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the U.S. had no right to exclude Mexican trucks — many of which are older and do not meet more stringent emissions standards — from plying American roads.
At a conference last week in Bonn, Germany, senior officials from 154 nations including the United States signed onto a communiqué committing to a substantial increase "with a sense of urgency" in the percentage of renewable sources in meeting global energy needs.
In response to Bush administration intentions to open up nearly 60 million acres of national forest land to extractive industries, a trade group representing 4,000 guiding and outdoor equipment companies has launched a campaign to educate consumers about the benefits of saving public land for recreational purposes.
Despite rebounding populations, 26 species of Pacific salmon will continue to be classified as threatened or endangered, according to NOAA Fisheries, the federal agency overseeing salmon recovery efforts. The agency is also recommending re-listing an additional run, the Lower Columbia Coho, which had been removed from protection in 2001.
As fuel prices skyrocket across the country, owners of vehicles at both ends of the fuel efficiency spectrum are making political statements simply by driving around town. On one extreme is GM’s Hummer H2, weighing in at over 6,000 pounds and guzzling gas at a rate of 10-13 miles per gallon. On the other are the compact Japanese hybrids by Toyota and Honda, which top out at a whopping 60 miles per gallon.
The European Environment Agency, the environmental oversight body of the European Union, released a report last week critical of how many member countries have not kept their promises regarding curbing emissions and remediating environmental problems.
An analysis by the Associated Press has found that a dozen big oil companies–several with White House ties–control more acreage of federal oil and gas leases than they are allowed by law.
If you want the environmental movement’s take on the Bush administration, go no further than <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1578051096/qid%3D1086378064/sr%3D2-1/ref%3Dsr%5F2%5F1/002-7162455-7362444">Strategic Ignorance</a> (Sierra Club Books, $24.95), written by Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope and Sierra magazine senior editor Paul Rauber.
