Uncategorized

Found a butterfly on my computer screen this morning

I found a butterfly sitting on my computer screen this morning. I have no idea how it got there, and I'm pretty sure it isn't from around here. My guess is that a chrysalis may have gotten mixed in with some chicken feed that is stored in my basement.

Photos of species threatened by climate change

The following photos and excerpt — highlighting the threats posed to animals and plants by climate change — are drawn from Gary Braasch’s new book Earth Under Fire: How Global Warming Is Changing the World, published by the University of California Press, © 2007. Featuring more than 100 photographs, Earth Under Fire shows species, cultures, […]

Kosher salt from recycled batteries

This just in from the St. Louis Business Journal: "Salt extracted from batteries earns kosher approval." Details below:

Quote of the day

On the heavily polluted town of Port Arthur, Tex.: "This city is not going to change. It is a refinery town — tomorrow, next year, 100 years from now. It will always be a petrochemical area," says Ortiz. And if its residents are getting sick from the pollution? Well, says Ortiz: "We’ve all got to […]

Study of fossil record predicts climate change could fuel mass extinction

Photo: iStockphoto Climate change may fuel a mass extinction in which half of all plant and animal species could — how to put this delicately? — exit stage left, according to a new study. If the past 520 million years of fossil records are any predictor of the future, a globally warmed world will not […]

Mining-law reform bill could change rules for mines on public land

Just 135 years after its enactment, environmentalists and fiscal conservatives may finally have a shot at reforming an antiquated U.S. law that lets mining companies dig up minerals and precious metals on public lands without paying royalties nor being responsible for post-dig cleanups. A bill to change the 1872 General Mining Law passed the House […]

College Sustainability Report Card 2008 released

Nothing gets a student’s rear in gear faster than a failing grade on an important report card. And the colleges and universities that scored poorly on last year’s College Sustainability Report Card are no different. Today, the Sustainable Endowments Institute released its 2008 edition, revealing that 68 percent of the schools surveyed improved their overall […]

Time compiles list of environmental heroes

Time Magazine has compiled a long list of environmental heroes, including widely recognizable names (Mikhail Gorbachev, Prince Charles, Robert Redford, Al Gore) eco-recognizable names (Angela Merkel, Tim Flannery, Wangari Maathai, James Hansen, Amory Lovins, David Suzuki, Richard Branson), less-well-known folk (anti-poaching advocate Hammer Simwinga, water-purifying savant Abul Hussam, Russian activist Olga Tsepilova), and none other […]

With the Katrina-anniversary media gone, the hard work continues

A version of this piece originally appeared on the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors website. FEMA trailer camp, Plaquemines Parish, La. Photo: Marni Rosen The many communities of color along the Gulf Coast, be they African American, Creole, Native American, or Vietnamese American, have much in common — and not just because they’re still struggling to get […]

Chertoff waives environmental laws to continue border-fence construction

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff waived several environmental laws on Monday in order to continue construction of nearly seven miles of the sprawling fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. Work on the section that crosses the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area near Naco, Ariz., had been halted due to a ruling two weeks ago that […]