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Los Angeles Times
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Jul 30, 08 6:20 PM CDT
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The rapid, mysterious deaths of billions of honeybees demand a closer look at how we use and control pesticides, Al Meyerhoff writes in the Los Angeles Times . A family of toxic chemicals called neonictonoids—led by two Bayer pesticides called Gaucho and Poncho—may be killing off the insects, but Washington will not ban the pesticides because of outdated regulations that require so-called "unreasonable risk."
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Globe and Mail
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Jul 30, 08 8:19 AM CDT
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An 8-square-mile chunk of ice has broken off an ancient ice shelf in Canada's Arctic, the Globe & Mail reports. The Ward Hunt Shelf, the biggest in the Arctic, has shrunk over the last century from 3,500 square miles to less than 400 today. Huge cracks have appeared in the ice and more is expected to go before winter.
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Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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Jul 29, 08 5:20 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Seattle has staked out its spot atop the greener-than-thou pecking order by approving a 20-cent-per-bag fee that applies to both paper and plastic, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. The move is expected to cut disposable-bag use in half. "The best way to reduce waste is not to create it, and today, we have made that a little easier in Seattle," said the mayor.
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CNN
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Jul 29, 08 11:33 AM CDT
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In what some officials fear is a sign of secrecy and political meddling, an email to Environmental Protection Agency staff asked that they not answer questions from journalists, the Government Accountability Office, or its own inspector general, CNN reports. In the email, which an environmental workers’ group called a “gag order,” EPA employees were told to direct questions to superiors.
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New York Times
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Jul 27, 08 9:28 AM CDT
(Newser) -
As oil-addicted America looks to its energy future, the nation would be wise to follow in the footsteps of two innovators offering straightforward solutions to the crisis, writes Thomas L. Friedman in the New York Times . “The Jewish Henry Ford” has a plan to turn Israel on to electric cars, while an 80-year-old oilman is creating the largest wind farm on the planet.
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Boston Herald
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Jul 25, 08 2:58 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Two tornadoes have ripped through New England in the last few days, killing a New Hampshire woman and doing serious property damage. But don’t blame global warming for the uncharacteristically violent climate: local climatologists tell the Boston Herald equally extreme weather struck the region in the ‘30s and ‘60s, resulting from “blocks” of bad weather patterns that last up to 3 months.
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New York Daily News
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Jul 25, 08 12:15 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The most prominent American political dynasty is branching out into reality TV. Environmentalist Bobby Kennedy Jr. and wife Mary are developing a 13-part series that will document the building of their dream green home, the New York Daily News reports. This Old House star Bob Vila will supervise construction of the solar-powered manse in Westchester, NY.
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Associated Press
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Jul 25, 08 7:28 AM CDT
(Newser) -
An oil spill stretching nearly 100 miles along the Mississippi is causing river traffic to pile up, AP reports. Dozens of vessels are stuck in New Orleans waiting to head upriver. Others are waiting to carry cargos of grain downriver from the heartland. Officials say it will be days before traffic is moving again, and weeks before the huge spill is cleaned up.
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Wall Street Journal
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Jul 25, 08 2:03 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Dark skies are being engulfed by light all over the world, creating some unexpected consequences, the Wall Street Journal reports. Over two-thirds of the world's people— including nearly all Americans—can no longer see "what is possibly the most extraordinary natural wonder," said one astronomer. The amount of artificial light worldwide has tripled since 1970, and is suspected of causing some cancers.
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New York Times
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Jul 24, 08 9:18 AM CDT
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After decades of dreaming, schemes to turn waste into fuel are finally getting traction in the US, with some 28 plants in the works and a handful even up and running, the New York Times reports. They consume everything from wood chips to garbage, as once-prohibitively expensive processes become competitive with $4-a-gallon gasoline. “American innovation is going to come up with the solution,” one researcher tells the Times.
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Guardian (UK)
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Jul 23, 08 1:50 PM CDT
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All of the European continent’s electrical needs could be generated by massive solar farms in Africa, scientists posited today, unveiling a plan to do just that, the Guardian reports. The proposal, which would require an area the size of Wales—insignificant in the vast expanse of the Sahara Desert, they note—is highly speculative; the biggest hurdle would likely be upgrading the European and trans-Mediterranean power grid to carry, and share, the power.
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New York Times
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Jul 22, 08 9:04 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The number of people seeking out locally raised food—locavores-—is on the rise, reports the New York Times, as are businesses that cater to them. People too busy (or lazy) to plant their own garden or visit a local vegetable dealer are hiring people to find the best regional grub or even cultivate produce right in their backyard.
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LiveScience
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Jul 21, 08 3:20 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Biologists have mounting evidence that human activity is causing real damage to the natural world. LiveScience lists overlooked indications that things are seriously out of whack. Earlier migration: Several bird species are getting their timing wrong. Jellyfish rule: The creatures are hitching rides on ships.
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Associated Press
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Jul 21, 08 1:10 PM CDT
(AP) -
Half of Beijing's drivers left their cars at home today and took public transportation on the first workday under new restrictions meant to clear the city's notoriously polluted skies before the Olympics. Under the plan that kicked in yesterday, half of the capital's 3.3 million cars will be removed from city streets each day, alternating odd and even license plates. Those caught driving on days they shouldn't will be fined $14, a pricey penalty even for China's capital.
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Christian Science Monitor
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Jul 19, 08 5:28 PM CDT
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Colombia is adding a new tactic in its campaign to persuade Americans to stop buying cocaine: a plea for the environment. The government wants to spread the message to users—especially, say, wealthy professionals who dutifully recycle but also partake of the drug—that cocaine growers are running roughshod over the land, the Christian Science Monitor reports. They've cleared 5 million acres of forest in the last 20 years and are now moving into the Amazon.
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Detroit News
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