American Notes ENVIRONMENT

In Washington, it is said, a gaffe is when someone speaks his mind. Secretary of the Interior Donald Hodel spoke his mind last week -- and the laughs still have not died down. Hodel recommended against signing an international agreement to reduce chlorofluorocarbons, the ingredient in aerosol sprays believed responsible for the depletion of the earth's ozone layer. Instead, he suggested the use of hats and sunglasses to guard against the lethal sunlight of an ozoneless atmosphere. Within hours, environmentalists and other Administration officials mercilessly attacked the proposal. Hodel, hatless and sans sunglasses, retreated by saying that the plan was only one of several options.

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TOMMY WARD, whose family has been harvesting oysters from the Gulf of Mexico since the 1920s, on the FDA's plan to ban the sale of raw oysters that are harvested in warm months; about 15 people die each year due to raw-oyster contamination
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Quotes of the Day »

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TOMMY WARD, whose family has been harvesting oysters from the Gulf of Mexico since the 1920s, on the FDA's plan to ban the sale of raw oysters that are harvested in warm months; about 15 people die each year due to raw-oyster contamination

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