Meanwhile, Bush's running mate, Dick Cheney, went on the attack himself yesterday, criticizing Al Gore's proposed tax credits for buyers of energy-efficient technologies. If you drive a solar-powered car, you get tax relief. The Czech Republic began activating a nuclear power plant located just 30 miles from the Austrian border yesterday, intensifying a serious diplomatic conflict between the two nations. As they have a number of times over the past month, thousands of Austrians yesterday blocked border crossings into the Czech Republic to protest the commissioning of the Temelin nuclear plant. Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel wrote on Sunday to Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman asking him to postpone activation of the plant until all safety concerns have been resolved and threatening to interfere with the Czech Republic's efforts to join the European Union.
Czech officials insist that the plant is safe.
Austrians, who voted in 1978 to ban all nuclear power from their nation, don't believe it. The environment ministry of nearby Germany has also said that the Temelin plant does not meet their standards. Alone Iguana species in the West Indies are in trouble due to invasive species and habitat destruction. A conservation effort aimed at the Jamaica iguana involves protecting nesting areas, raising hatchlings at a zoo until they are big enough to fend off invasive predators, and monitoring released iguanas by radio transmitters. Nike joined the effort last year when it agreed to custom-make vests for the iguanas to hold the radio transmitters, using sturdy fabric that can stand up to being rubbed along abrasive rock.