ers of carbon dioxide, man-made emissions of the gas have increased by only half of what was predicted. Even the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) projects that car emissions–one of the largest contributors to the problem–will be reduced by more than 80 percent over the next 25 years.Last year we had the coolest July since 1992,toms shoes online. It seems that environmentalists–even famous ones–just can’t get the earth to cooperate with their gloom-and-doom predictions. In another demonstration of exquisitely bad timing, Al Gore chose New York’s coldest day in 20 years to give a speech on the threat of global warming.What enviro-activists like Gore will never tell you is that many U.S. cities have made enormous strides in the last few years in improving air quality. In fact, the entire nation has already met clean-air standards for four of the six pollutants regulated by law.Air quality in the ten largest metropolitan areas–four of which are in California–has improved by more than 53 percent since 1980. The midwestern states have done even better. Their numerous coal-fired power plants were long seen as the largest contributors to ozone pollution and acid rain, but now the Department of Energy is reporting a massive shift.In the department’s state-by-state breakdown, ten midwestern and southern states have reduced the total amount of sulfur-dioxide emissions by 93 percent for the whole country.At the same time, wildlife is thriving in this cleaner environment. Forestland in the eastern half of the United States is increasing at a net rate of one million acres a year. Wetlands are also multiplying. After three centuries of decline, we now see a growth of some 26,000 acres a year on private land alone.And the proud bald eagle? Our national symbol has made quite a comeback–from only 500 nesting pairs in 1965 to 7,500 today. It can finally be taken off the Endangered Species List.People seem to sense the improvement. According to a recent Harris poll, 71 percent of Americans are happy with the quality of the environment where they live. Environmental issues were not on the front burner in the 2004 election, and doomsday activists are having a harder time convincing politicians and the public that we are headed for disaster.All the good news may put green lobbies in a panic, but perhaps it’s time Americans gave themselves a pat on the back. We have taken on and solved a visible problem, and made real contributions to technologies that will bring about a greener and cleaner Earth.Of course, not everyone gets the message. And life with all its major and minor catastrophes goes on. A recent field study in Venezuela documented that some species of dung beetles have declined, resulting in an odiferous pileup of monkey dung.But when it comes to making a positive, large-scale impact on the environment, communities across America have reason to celebrate this Earth Day. Maybe we should give the alarmists some shovels and airfare to Venezuela.–Sally C. Pipes is president at the California-based Pacific Research Institute, co-publisher of the tenth annual Index of Leading Environmental Indicators,tomsoutletsaleonlinecheap.com.[标签:标题] How does it happen that the story of Colin Powell’s reservations about John Bolton shows up today simultaneously on the front pages of the Washington Post and the New York Times, just in time to fuel anti-Bolton talk on the Sunday chat shows? Because Powell and those around him are masters of the strategic leak. Friday morning’s stories aren’t technically news because it was clear that this is what was happening from the beginning: namely, that the long-running policy disputes between Bolton and Powell and his deputy Richard Armitage were simply being played out in a new forum, the battle over Bolton’s nomination to be ambassador to the U.N. Advertisement This offers an opportunity for Bolton defenders to try to get the debate back where it belongs, on the substantive merits of his nomination rather than the sideshow disputes over whether he has occasionally spoken sharply to people and the 11-year-old off-t Related articles: http://girlxoxo.com/book-discussions/weekly-reading-with-above-and-2312.php#comments http://www.dangtu.info/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=1409155 http://zhongyigaoke.5d6d.com/