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Obama administration can still protect streams from mountaintop-removal mining, despite setback in D.C. court

Environmental and community advocates got some jarring news Tuesday when a federal judge rejected EPA’s “guidance” on surface mine permitting in Appalachia — the centerpiece of its three-year effort to curtail the environmental damage caused by mountaintop-removal coal mining. While it was unwelcome news, it was not as devastating as portrayed in the initial round of […]

Think being an environmental activist is hard? Try it in Mexico or Brazil

Battling armed loggers with automatic weapons, pushing back against massive government roll-backs of rainforest protections. American activists don't have it easy -- but it could be worse.

Rangers rescue adorable seal in thong bikini

Losing your bikini bottoms in the ocean isn’t just embarrassing/sexy — it’s also a potential ecological hazard, apparently. Just ask this young seal, except he WON’T ANSWER because he’s got his THROAT stuck in a G-STRING. (Also seals can’t talk.) A local man spotted the seal on a New Zealand beach, hanging out near a […]

Even fish are getting skin cancer now

For the pale-skinned among us, the ocean is one of the most dangerous places to be. There’s no place to hide from the sun, and the water is so frickin’ reflective that even if that SPF 45 sunblock weren’t being washed off by waves and spray, it wouldn’t do much good anyway. But for the […]

Plenty of work for pundits: U.S. adds jobs in July, but unemployment goes up

The country adds 163,000 new jobs, but the unemployment rate rises from 8.2 to 8.3 percent. Now everyone has something to argue about!

How did somebody steal half a million bees?

A beekeeper near Vancouver has reported the loss of 8,000 pounds of honey and 500,000 bees from one of his apiaries. Why would someone steal half a million bees? And how? Urban beekeeping is pretty hip right now so it’s the “how” we’re really stuck on. Here are our best theories: Filled beekeeper suits with […]

New Report Follows Money Trail Behind Attacks on Clean Energy

Every election season, more and more money is poured into campaigns. But there is a surprising new twist this year – fossil fuel interests are actually spending money to directly attack clean energy like wind and solar, as we reveal in a new report we are releasing today, “Clean Energy Under Siege” (PDF). Over the […]

Behind the scenes at a big mountaintop-mining protest: The good, the bad, and the ugly

Over the weekend, protesters shut down part of a huge mountaintop-removal coal mining operation in West Virginia. One of the activists spills the dirt about police intimidation, abuse from local miners, and snubs from fellow protesters.

Here is a week-old hedgehog having a dream

Oh, nothing much, just a 7-day-old hedgehog doing little kicks and squeaks in his sleep like he was a puppy dog.

Why India went dark: Too little power, too little water, too much heat

An overview of some of the better analysis of how and why one-tenth of humanity lost power this week.