December 2004
EPA Advances Weaker Selenium Standard
Several months after a report questioning the validity of its proposed selenium standard, the Environmental Protection Agency published the plan over objections from biologists who say it is a regulatory rollback that will harm fish.
November 2004
Utilities Apply To Construct Power Plants Near Parks
In the last four years, power companies have deluged regulators with applications to build power plants in locations that could affect air quality and visibility in national parks or wilderness areas, according to federal statistics compiled by the Natural Resources News Service, a nonpartisan organization.
The Great Smoky Mountains park in Tennesse and North Carolina, pictured above, may be effected.
Hunters Become Swing Voters
Outdoorsmen could hold the key to winning some key Western states in the presidential election, the Wall Street Journal reports.
October 2004
September 2004
Administration clears way for mountaintop mining
Nowhere are the administration's environmental policies more striking and emotionally charged than in the coal fields of Appalachia, where mountaintop removal mining has been leaving scars for years, the St. Petersburg Times reports.
August 2004
Administration to Relax Selenium Standards
Despite concerns from several government scientists, the Bush administration is preparing to relax regulation of selenium, a metal that can be chemically toxic in high doses.
June 2004
DoD hides its vast pollution of U.S. groundwater
The Pentagon is covering up decades of U.S. groundwater pollution by perchlorate, a poisonous chemical in missile fuels, placing tens of millions of Americans at risk for cancer.
Abandoned Oil Refineries Leave Legacy of Pollution
Communities that once welcomed oil refineries as economic opportunities now face abandoned sites that threaten the health of their residents.
March 2004
No. 2 at DOI has apparent conflicts of interest
Former energy lobbyist J. Steven Griles—No. 2 at the Dept. of the Interior—held numerous meetings on offshore oil and gas leases owned by his former clients, despite prior promises to recuse himself from issues affecting his former clients.
February 2004
Mercury in Fish Threatens Public Health
Mercury in fish poses a significant health threat to many Americans, yet — until recently — federal agencies couldn't agree on regulations that would protect the public.
Adapting Hydrogen to Combustion Engines May Increase Net Pollution
While hydrogen offers the potential for clean energy, that goal is a long way off. Some automakers' efforts to adapt combustion engines to burn hydrogen in the interim may result in more pollution than with conventional gasoline engines.
Threat of Widespread Contaminant TCE Debated at EPA
EPA is convening a panel of scientists to examine new evidence that trichloroethylene, a widely-used industrial solvent known as TCE, is as much as 60 times more toxic than previously thought.
Study Shows Washington's Anacostia River Among Most Polluted
Fish in Washington, D.C.'s Anacostia River, which flows into the Chesapeake Bay, have the highest cancerous tumor rates ever documented in an American river.
January 2004
L.A. Increasing Dependence on Coal Power
Despite promises of increasing renewable power generation to cover 20% of demand, L.A. is quietly eyeing dirty coal power from Utah. Local employment and environmental advocates are outraged.