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Maybe the Manatees Would Do Better in the Arctic

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considers fate of two beloved critters The proposal to list polar bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act inspired more than 500,000 emails and oodles of snail mail before yesterday’s public-input deadline. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will read what could be a record number of comments; activists […]

Career Fields of Gold

An overview of the growing options for green-job seekers T.S. Eliot once wrote, “April is the cruelest month.” Not so for environmental-job seekers, says Kevin Doyle of the Environmental Careers Organization. In fact, he says, this April could almost be certified “cruelty free.” In the latest installment of his recurring column for Grist, Doyle reviews […]

Calamitous climate projections from U.N. panel, and more

Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: We Hear Mars Is Nice This Time of Year Grinding to a Halt Drown and Out X Marks the Pot How Do You Like Them, Apple? Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: Rogers and Me The Warm on Terror Good Grooming […]

Umbra on water conservation

Dear Umbra, Your general drift has been to get us to focus on the big stuff instead of the little paper-or-plastic issues. So what’s the big picture of household water use and overuse? I have a clothes washer and a dishwasher, I wash dishes in the sink, I take showers and flush every time I […]

Big giant heads, unite!

E.O. Wilson accepting the 2007 TED Prize, online here.

David James Duncan

If you don’t normally read our InterActivist feature, you really, really, really should this week. David James Duncan is an extraordinary writer.

Sometimes you have to take risks to save endangered species

I received an irate email the other day from Luke Hunter, who is the (taking a deep breath) Global Carnivore Program Coordinator for the Wildlife Conservation Society and an Associate Conservation Scientist in the Science and Exploration Program.

Apparently, somebody ratted me out and sent him a copy of one of my posts where I made a passing comment about the absurd amount of darting and radio collaring that is now going on in this human-dominated world:

Here is another article where two proud researchers first trapped, then darted, then radio collared cheetahs in Iran. The process will of course be repeated over and over again until their grant money runs out.

Baby Steps

Dare a mom to live a greener life Christine Gardner admits that few things are less environmentally friendly than kids. So go figure — it wasn’t until she had children that she became inspired to attempt a more sustainable existence. Even when it means waiting for the bus in a hailstorm with her kids, she […]

Brooklyn bleg

It’s late to ask, I realize, but: my wife and I will be in Brooklyn for the next three or four days. Without children. Hooray! Our plan is to sleep in, and eat, and read. And maybe shop. And then sleep in some more. Aaah … Any suggestions about sites to see? Places to eat […]

Deca Dent

Washington state first in the nation to ban PBDEs Washington state will be the first in the nation to phase out nasty fireproofing chemicals called PBDEs, which show up in the bodies of people and wildlife and may cause neurological damage. Yesterday, the state Senate passed a measure that will eventually ban home items containing […]