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Spare the Rod or You’ll Spoil the Child

Half of All Freshwater Fish in U.S. High in Mercury In the 21st century, it seems, having kids and eating fish do not mix. The bad fish news just keeps on coming: Yesterday, a new analysis showed that more than half of the freshwater fish in the U.S. contain levels of mercury unsafe for children […]

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Any More)

Mountains in Peru, Italy Falling Apart; Global Warming to Blame Global warming is destroying some of the world’s tallest and most stunning mountains. In Peru, the glaciers capping 18 peaks in the Andes are melting, and if “climatic conditions remain as they are, all the glaciers below 18,000 feet will disappear by around 2015,” said […]

X-Trees

Scientists Genetically Engineer Trees for Environmental Mitigation The fledgling practice of genetically engineering trees for specific traits or purposes is starting to catch on, but despite the potential for mitigation of some environmental problems, enviros remain wary. Richard Meagher at the University of Georgia engineers trees that absorb mercury from the soil. Steven Strauss at […]

Readers sound off on “sustainable” buildings that ain’t, Clinton’s record, and more

  Semanticable Re: Lofty Ambitions Dear Editor: I absolutely applaud Boyle and Brown’s efforts to create such an amazing living space. Their commitment to reusing materials is exactly the direction that construction, as well as industry, should be headed. My point of polite criticism concerns semantics. With the terms “sustainable” and “green” becoming so trendy, […]

Boys Won’t Be Boys

Canadian Native Group Near Chemical Plant Has More Female Births In most developed countries where such things have been studied, the ratio of girls born to boys born has been slowly and steadily rising for decades. Those unimpressed with the results of male world domination to date might find this heartening news, but the details […]

Alas, Alack, Alaska

Growing Questions About Timber Industry Subsidies in Alaska Alaska’s congressional delegation and Gov. Frank Murkowski (R) are diehard supporters of logging, but according to the state’s own Department of Labor, the “economic realities of the early 21st century point toward less expensive sources” of timber than Alaska can provide to the current “glutted market.” This […]

Strong Enough to Kill Fish, but pH-Balanced to Slow Global Warming

Acid Rain Is Slowing Global Warming Acid rain contains sulfates that inhibit the natural production of methane, a greenhouse gas, and thus may be slowing global warming, said scientists yesterday. While methane comprises roughly 22 percent of human-caused greenhouse gases, the largest sources of methane are natural — of course we have to mention the […]

Hunter Lovins, thinker on sustainability, answers questions

Hunter Lovins. With what environmental organization are you affiliated? I am a member of several real environmental organizations, like Environmental Defense and Earth Island Institute. Recently I have founded two new organizations: Natural Capitalism, Inc. (NCI), a for-profit consulting company implementing the ideas of Natural Capitalism in companies and governments around the world, and Natural […]

Think Back Inside the Box, Please

Plan to Reorg California Government Has Greens Up in Arms Even prior to its official release tomorrow, California enviros are protesting the 2,500-page report from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s (R) California Performance Review Board, which will contain more than 1,000 recommendations on changing the way the state government is structured and how it works. Among them […]

Bye-Bye Birdie

Global Warming Brings Catastrophe to U.K. Seabirds Seabirds on the coast of Scotland are facing unprecedented catastrophe, and scientists attribute it directly to global warming. The hundreds of thousands of skuas, terns, and guillemots that populate the coastal cliffs are simply not breeding, and when they are, few offspring survive. They are starving, because the […]