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How to fend off biological and cultural extinctions

The relationship between our planet’s vanishing species, languages, and cultures has long fascinated me, so I was thrilled to write a story on the subject for the current issue of Seed. In the piece, my co-author Terry Glavin and I mention some important legislation being put forth at the annual meeting of the IUCN in […]

Recyclers of industrial batteries work to derail tougher EPA standards

Lobbyists for industrial battery recyclers charged over to the White House recently to crank up arguments against possible tough new regulations of lead, a key ingredient of automobile and other heavyweight batteries. The closed-door meetings were prompted by a court order requiring the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to act by Wednesday to update its 30-year-old […]

Cote d’Ivoire’s West African chimp population drops off dramatically

The population of West African chimpanzees in Cote d’Ivoire has declined 90 percent in the last 18 years, according to a new study published in Current Biology. In the 1960s, the West African country was home to about 100,000 of the apes; in 1989-1990, scientists counted 8,000 to 12,000, which they estimated to be half […]

Snippets from the news

• Northern Rockies wolves back on endangered list. • Could new technology make household lights obsolete? • Nestle throws fit about Florida tap-water ad. • Can green jobs save us? • Which marathon is the greenest? • Australia will go ahead with carbon trading despite financial crisis. • Suffragettes protest in the U.K.

Snippets from the news

• Payless launches eco-friendly shoe line. • Amtrak reports record annual ridership. • New Bible version has green theme. • GM and Chrysler talk merger. • Beijing’s new traffic rules don’t seem to make a difference. • Mexican marijuana cartels sully U.S. forests and parks.

The economic crisis should prompt more green infrastructure spending, not less

I’m no expert in macroeconomics. You probably aren’t either. But there’s a battle over macroeconomics shaping up, and everyone keen on shifting the U.S. toward sustainability has a vested interest in how it turns out. (Which is why I keep writing about it.) The question is how to react to the financial crisis and what […]

Investigators see more SUV arsons as economy sinks

Gas prices are high and the economy’s low — when the car loan payments are hard to meet, what’s an SUV driver to do? In too many cases, the answer seems to be: torch it. Investigators suspect that hundreds of vehicles have been burned in such a fashion in the Washington, D.C., area alone over […]

Snippets from the news

• Forest disappearance hurts economy more than banking crisis, says study. • Americans still driving less despite cheaper gas. • Bailout bill includes tax break for bikers. • Pollock declines could affect biggest North American fishery. • Papua being cleared for palm oil. • Climate change sends tropical species uphill. • Beijing will ban half […]

California prison system introduces conservation measures

Woe to California inmates whose lunches don’t agree with them: As part of a conservation program in the state-prison system, at least one prison has introduced a water-saving measure that makes toilets temporarily unflushable if they’re flushed three times in five minutes. As for what else the prisons are doo-ing: A partnership with the state’s […]

Oceangoing ships face strict new pollution rules

Observers hoping for an epic pirate battle at the latest meeting of the International Maritime Organization were disappointed yesterday, when the group quietly and without controversy passed landmark restrictions on pollution emitted by oceangoing vessels. By July 2010, the 300,000 ships that travel the world’s seas must cut the sulfur content of the fuel they […]