Latest Articles

Ask Umbra: Are we about to wreck space, too?

A reader asks if it’s ethical to mine asteroids. Umbra takes us on a voyage of discovery.

Facebook will sell me to you, and you to me

Facebook is going to try to turn personal relationships into an advertising medium. That will be a big turn-off -- and will spur the search for better alternatives.

NYC learns to heart bicycles

Just over a year ago, New York's transportation commissioner was raked over the coals for her romance with bikes. Now, it seems the city has fallen for them too.

Detroit turns a freeway into a river

No, it wasn't an artistic statement about transportation and modern society. It was a busted water main -- just the latest in a city and state where infrastructure has been neglected for far too long.

Friday music blogging: Cory Branan

Cory Branan is hard to pigeonhole, which is probably why he’s labored in obscurity for so long. He’s a singer-songwriter, but his mix of pathos, humor, and musical variety — the closest parallel probably being Branan’s hero John Prine — isn’t exactly built for radio. I was really into Branan’s debut album, The Hell You […]

Radiohead and 350.org: Mood music for a climate movement?

The band's introspective dread may not pump you up for a protest rally. But its willingness to face despair head on might be just what climate activists need.

Powerful New Video: Protect the Moapa Band of Paiutes from Dirty Coal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DSFhGt-DN7g

The Moapa Band of Paiutes continues to fight the pollution from the nearby Reid Gardner coal plant in Southern Nevada, and the Sierra Club stands with them. Today, we are releasing this powerful new video that features members of the tribe telling moving personal stories about the devastating effects of pollution from Reid Gardner. I first wrote about the Moapa in late April when we supported the Moapa Band of Paiutes on their three-day, 50-mile cultural healing walk from their reservation to the Lloyd George Federal Building in Las Vegas. The walk brought visibility to the damage that the Reid Gardner coal-fired power plant is doing to the tribe's health, culture and economy. Following that march, on May 3, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held a hearing on the Moapa reservation about the pollution permits for Reid Gardner. That's when much of the footage was taken for this short, unforgettable video. The hearing was packed with tribal members telling their stories of serious health problems: asthma, other lung diseases, nosebleeds, severe allergies, heart disease, and more. Members also talked about being unable to live their lives according to their culture: the toxic dust stirred by the wind keeps people indoors; they are afraid to gather herbs and use them because they know they are contaminated with coal ash; and they universally are concerned about the long-term survival of the tribe. This is an issue of fairness and justice. This Tribe deserves clean air and water, not an outdated coal plant saddled with second-rate pollution controls. The Moapa are leading the way beyond dirty coal and to clean energy by developing a major solar plant on the reservation. Now EPA needs to do its part by requiring first-rate technology to reduce air pollution at the Reid Gardner coal plant. You can help - take action today to tell EPA to protect the Moapa from dirty coal pollution.

Winning the climate culture war

More science will not cure climate skeptics and pandering to conservatives can only win battles, not the war. So, what's the right strategy in the climate fight?

Beverage industry to NYC: Ignore the mayor. Soda’s totally cool

Well, that didn’t take long. Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced yesterday that NYC would be banning sugary drinks if they came in containers bigger than 16 ounces. And today, the American Beverage Association is pushing back with an ad that says, basically, “Do not believe that science over there! Believe this science that says soda is […]

Queen of England to eat invasive species pie

Enemies of invasive species have been advocating for a diabolical solution to doing away with unwanted species: Eat them! And while most people are not down with eating sautéed iguana or lionfish ceviche, on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth II will be honored with a gift of lamprey pie — a dish […]