Health and environmental groups have slammed the test program as cruel, scientifically useless and a waste of taxpayers' money. Related Link Pennsylvania Governor Honored Tom Ridge, the Governor of the State of Pennsylvania, has been honored by two state environmental groups as Conservationist of the Year. Gov. Ridge has instituted land use reforms and environmental cleanup programs, including an initiative to clean up 800 abandoned industrial sites. The Greenpeace flagship has arrived at the last stop on its three-year tour of some of the world's most polluted areas. The Baltic seaport of Kaliningrad, Russia is a stew of toxic waste from its sewage system, paper factories and oil storage facilities.
Russian authorities refuse to supply any data on industrial waste pollution in the Baltic Sea.
An earthquake in this area, with oil wells on the sea floor, would be catastrophic. A new telephone poll shows that two-thirds of Americans support the measure protecting roadless forest lands, which was announced by the Clinton administration at the end of its term. Under the proposed rules, oil and gas drilling, logging and mining would all be prohibited on 58 million acres of roadless federal forest land.