“Greenpeace is calling for the Quebec government to quash its pact with the provincial farmer’s union that exempts it from some environmental laws before 2010. The province is battling with the proliferation of blue-green algae in dozens of lakes. The pond scum has already cleared beaches and hit tourist-related business in parts of Quebec. Greenpeace […]
“A South Carolina environmental consultant must pay nearly $350,000 for conspiring to rig bids for cleanup work associated with leaky underground petroleum tanks in North Carolina. North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper says the state has recovered one million dollars in the case, which started in 2003 when officials sued eight environmental services firms.” (07/31/07)
“An episode of the British show Dispatches aired ‘The Great Green Smoke Screen,’ which revealed how academics and environmentalists are questioning the ethics and impact of offsetting — and suggesting that offsetting schemes have not been effective as claimed. Two of Britain’s biggest carbon offset companies, the Carbon Neutral Company and Climate Care, and offsetting […]
“In his two and a half years in the U.S. Senate, Barack Obama has been active — even hyperactive — on matters of energy and the environment. The Democrat from Illinois has introduced or cosponsored nearly 100 eco-related bills on issues ranging from lead poisoning and mercury emissions to auto fuel economy and biofuels promotion. […]
“With increasing acceptance of the reality of global climate change, interest groups of all stripes clamor to get in on the act. Some want to do good. Others want to do well, or to impose their notions of virtue on others. Our challenge is to devise sensible responses to global warming, while blocking ’solutions’ benefiting […]
“A Chinese wildlife research centre has come up with a novel idea to profit from panda poo — make Olympic souvenirs out of it. Researchers at the centre in Chengdu, capital of mountainous Sichuan province, had sculpted photo frames, bookmarks, fans and panda statues out of the 300 tonnes of the stuff produced by 60 […]
“North Korea has cooperated fully with a team U.N. nuclear experts who were monitoring the shutdown and sealing of the country’s sole plutonium-producing reactor, the leader of the team said Tuesday. The 10-member International Atomic Energy Agency team went to North Korea on July 12 to supervise the closing of the Yongbyon reactor, the key […]
“Ten years ago today the U.S. Senate did something that at the time seemed significant and now seems remarkably foresightful. By a vote of 95 to 0, the Senate voted in favor of the Byrd-Hagel resolution, which expressed the Sense of the Senate on the upcoming global warming negotiations in Kyoto, Japan.” (07/25/07)
“Pharmaceutical companies spend more than $15 billion each year promoting prescription drugs in the United States. One-third of that amount is spent on ‘detailing’ — an industry term for drug company representatives’ one-on-one promotion to doctors. A paper published April 24, 2007 in the Public Library of Science journal Medicine uncovers the tactics which pharmaceutical […]
“A bigger State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) would crowd out private insurance, says Paul Guppy, vice president of research at the Washington Policy Center. The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that an expanded SCHIP would cause 1.6 million people with private insurance to drop their coverage and enter the government program. […]
