Photo: lanier67 via FlickrWith the arrival of this year's 40th anniversary of Earth Day, it is encouraging to see more and more people, young and old, buying into a meaningful environmental ethic in their personal lives despite daunting environmental challenges. By carrying reusable grocery bags, taking public transit and recycling, to name just a few examples, we are all becoming increasingly aware of the need to be environmentally responsible. If you're a smoker, there's another very important step that would be a "twofer" win for your health and for the natural world: Quit for good! Surprisingly, many of us don't …

On Feb. 16, while President Obama was in Maryland announcing an $8.3 billion taxpayer-backed loan guarantee for Southern Company to build two new nuclear reactors in Georgia, inspectors at the Vermont Yankee reactor were finding dangerously high levels of tritium, a radioactive cancer-causing chemical, in the groundwater near the plant. The next week, the Vermont state Senate voted overwhelmingly to shut down Vermont Yankee when its current license expires in 2012. Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas (R) called the timing of the nuclear loan guarantee announcement and the Vermont Senate's decision "ironic." More than just some coincidence, though, the Vermont Yankee …