Latest Articles

Upsetting photos of oil-slicked turtles from Deepwater Horizon

Back in 2010, Greenpeace filed a Freedom of Information request covering endangered species affected by the Deepwater Horizon spill. They just received a response from NOAA, and it included more than 100 photos. They're disturbing.

Critical List: TransCanada reapplies for Keystone XL permit; Japan’s last nuclear reactor

TransCanada put in a new permit application for the Keystone XL pipeline. Japan switched off its last nuclear reactor. Fights over endangered species are about to get wild, as the Fish and Wildlife Service has to rule on protections for species that live in oil country.

Locavore brew: Tapping into beer’s agricultural roots

What happens when small batch brewers discover the farm-to-table movement and run with it?

Will this Farm Bill do enough for young farmers?

By the time the next Farm Bill expires in five years, 125,000 American farmers will have retired. This fact may well be the biggest threat to national food security, but you wouldn’t know it if you’ve been following this year’s Farm Bill hearings.

Ask Umbra: How do I avoid cheap plastic spray bottles?

A reader says she’s littering the planet with her discarded spritzers. Umbra gets all misty eyed.

Romancing the bike: The seduction of pedal-powered transport

Why don’t Americans ride like the rest of the world? We don’t understand what other countries do: Biking isn’t just good for you, it’s fun, easy, and good for your love life.

Coal dependent: Pacific Northwest activists fight new export terminals

Local organizers are building big coalitions to keep the region from becoming a massive transfer station for toxic coal exports.

Co-operative farming from El Salvador to Kentucky [VIDEO]

Meet a farmer who's brought the co-operative farming method from his home in El Salvador to Louisville, Ky., where he coordinates a large urban farm.

Nine out of 10 psychos agree: Heartland’s bonkers climate billboards need company!

The Heartland Institute's billboard campaign linking belief in climate change to mass murder and global genocide ended way too soon! We're remedying that. Herewith, more psychos and maniacs share moments of zen and proven wisdom.

Friday music blogging: Alabama Shakes

No band in the last five years has gotten as much early hype as the Alabama Shakes. In fact, the hype was so thick that I put off listening to them for quite a while, unsure that the world needed another soul-rock-revival novelty band. But I finally got around to listening, and damn if they […]