10. WETLANDS — AND THE PEOPLE NEAR THEM — WILL SURVIVE
When Hurricane Katrina demolished New Orleans, the Army Corps of Engineers was criticized, rightly, for failing to build decent levees. But the Corps received less attention for its dubious role in allowing the destruction of the wetlands that would have diminished the storm before it hit the city. The Corps is charged with reviewing all requests to fill and destroy streams and wetlands — the elimination or destruction of which only eliminates protective buffers and barriers against high-impact storms; under Bush, the Corps almost never denies said requests.
The Corps is also responsible for rescuing and restoring wetlands — such as in the long-delayed $11 billion plan for the dying wetlands of the Florida Everglades. Little progress has actually been made, largely because of the Bush administration's lack of interest. Just in the past few weeks, emergency measures had to be taken to prevent what the Miami Herald described as the "threat of a major wildlife die-off." Some environmental groups believe the Everglades are at, or near, a tipping point, after which they will be unsalvageable.
"We may be facing an unprecedented environmental collapse," says April H.G. Smith, director of ecosystem restoration for the National Audubon Society. She is hoping to convince the Obama administration to make wetlands rescue and restoration projects, like the Everglades, part of its economic-stimulus investment plan.
<< first ...
< prev
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
11
|
12
|
13
|
14
|
15
|
next >...
last >>
10 of 20 (results 20)
Related:
Robert McNamara, RIP, The gulf of Maine, Hoover? Damn!, More 
- Robert McNamara, RIP
As secretary of defense under President Lyndon B. Johnson, Robert McNamara prosecuted the Vietnam War on a day-to-day basis, just as Donald Rumsfeld orchestrated the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for George W. Bush.
- The gulf of Maine
With a massively unpopular Republican president leaving office, this year’s Senate election is a contest based on a candidate’s alignment with Bush.
- Hoover? Damn!
It doesn't matter how many negative ads are broadcast or how many moose are slain on the tundra, candidates and their actions don't transform our politics nearly as much as outside events and circumstances do.
- The nanny state
Assaults on liberty promoted by right-wing authoritarians, such as President George W. Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney, may be difficult to combat, but they are easy to recognize.
- Bull disclosure
As the presidential candidates prep for the final debate of 2008 — which will take place on October 15 in Hempstead, New York, with CBS’s Bob Schieffer moderating — it’s a fitting time to ask: why do some journalistic conflicts of interest become semi-scandals, while others get almost no attention at all?
- Mod on the move
The Brown University class being taught this semester by Lincoln Chafee, the Republican US senator-turned-independent supporter of Barack Obama, has an up-to-the-moment title: “Whither America.”
- Two sides to Guy
I’m a delegate at the state Democratic convention and I didn’t vote for Guy Glodis for auditor.
- Fair is foul
These are scary times for far-right conservatives.
- Hallelujah!
The Democrats won and the Republicans lost. That, in a nutshell, is the bottom line.
- Snowe: A party of one
US Senator Olympia Snowe has maneuvered herself into a position where she is the only hope Democrats have of getting a "bipartisan" agreement on healthcare reform.
- The wrong man for hard times
Most Democrats see Barack Obama’s inauguration as a clear-cut, welcome turn to the left.
- Less
Topics:
News Features
, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Cultural Institutions and Parks, More
, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Cultural Institutions and Parks, Parks and Historic Sites, U.S. Congress, Earth Science, Climatology, Global Climate Change, Endangered Species, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Less
