Illegal Ivory Trade Thriving in Africa and Asia, Says Study

The illegal ivory trade is thriving in Africa and Asia, where China remains the world's biggest market despite a crackdown launched two years ago, an environmental group said recently. >> Read the Full Article

EarthTalk: How Much Land Has Congress Designated as Wilderness Since the Wilderness Act Passed 40 Years Ago?

When Congress passed the Wilderness Act in 1964, it designated 9.1 million acres across the United States permanently off limits to development. Since then, lawmakers have added an additional 96.5 million acres — including more than 50 million acres in Alaska alone — for a total of 105.6 million acres, spread over some 662 different areas and constituting roughly 5 percent of total U.S. land mass. >> Read the Full Article

Japan officials, U.S. industry discount progress on lifting beef ban

Japanese officials and U.S. beef industry sources are downplaying reports of major progress in the lifting of Japan's ban on American beef. >> Read the Full Article

Federal amendment would exempt farms from air pollution reporting

Idaho Sen. Larry Craig may try to exempt commercial mega-farms, like the Circle Four hog farm in Beaver County, Utah, from having to report toxins from animal waste that are released into the air, and the Sierra Club says it stinks. >> Read the Full Article

EPA chief and former Utah governor may seek rewrite of radiation safety law

With plans to bury the nation's nuclear waste in Nevada looking more uncertain, Environmental Protection Agency head Mike Leavitt may ask Congress to rewrite a critical radiation safety law so the dump can open as planned in 2010. >> Read the Full Article

Newport, N.H., to consult lawyer on landfill acquisition options

Officials in Newport are moving closer to deciding whether the town ought to acquire the ash landfill located off the John Stark Highway as part of the New Hampshire-Vermont Solid Waste Project's planned dissolution in 2007. >> Read the Full Article

13 Percent of Airliner Water Below EPA Standards

Nearly one of every eight passenger airliners flying in the United States carries drinking water that fails Environmental Protection Agency standards because it contains coliform bacteria, the agency said Monday. >> Read the Full Article

Olin Corp. must provide bottled water to residents with contaminated wells

The state Regional Water Quality Control Board has denied a request by the firm responsible for polluting the groundwater with a cancer causing chemical. Olin Corporation must continue to provide free bottled water to residents with wells contaminated with perchlorate. >> Read the Full Article

EarthTalk: How Do Hybrid Cars Get Better Fuel Efficiency than Traditional Cars?

Hybrid cars get better gas mileage and pollute less because their highly efficient electric motors run on recycled waste energy generated during normal driving. These cars actually have two engines under the hood: a traditional gasoline-powered motor used for acceleration, and an electric motor that kicks in and out of service when the car is maintaining cruising speeds and when the car is idling or backing up. Excess power generated by the gasoline engine is stored in batteries and used to fuel the electric engine, so owners never need to plug the cars in. >> Read the Full Article

U.S. Accuses U.N. of Dragging Feet over Locusts

The United States accused the U.N. agriculture body recently of mismanaging the locust crisis afflicting vast swathes of West Africa. >> Read the Full Article