The spill, which began Sunday afternoon, was caused by a ruptured pipe at a refinery of the government-owned Petrobras oil company. Dead, oil-covered fish, birds, and mammals have been washing up along the river's banks. Workers have been racing to contain the spill, and government officials think they can keep the oil from spreading beyond Brazil's borders into Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay. This Friday will be the first National Work at Home Day, aimed at encouraging employees to give telecommuting a try, for the sake of the planet and their own productivity. About 19.6 million Americans telecommuted to work in 1999, up from 4 million in 1990, and that number will continue to grow as technology and the Internet make it easier for many people to do their work from their own domiciles.
Fewer folks trekking to offices means fewer cars clogging the roads and polluting the air.
And word is that people who work at home, even just one day a week, are often more productive. In a victory for the Clinton administration, the U.S. Senate narrowly rejected an effort yesterday to block the president from designating more national monuments. Western Republicans are angry that Clinton has set aside nearly 2 million acres of land as national monuments so far this year, and they are upset by rumors that he may designate part or all of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as a monument after the November elections. All rights reserved.