Latest Articles

GOP says ban on invasive snakes is 'job killer'

The Obama administration wants to strangle job growth in America like some kind of giant, prosperity-choking python, mostly by banning the importation of said pythons, says a new GOP report.

Food Studies: The pen is as mighty as the plow

Meet Claire, who is combining ink-stained fingers with a green thumb at the University of Minnesota.

Two Stories of Disease: Smallpox and Polio

Smallpox plagued humanity for thousands of years. In the 18th century, smallpox killed one out of every ten children in France and Sweden. Over the 20th century, the virus caused between 300 and 500 million deaths worldwide. No effective treatment was ever developed. The eradication of this devastating disease is one of public health’s greatest […]

New atlas shows climate change effects — including a brand-new island

The new edition of the Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World includes an island that's only existed since 2006. Uunartoq Qeqertaq -- "Warming Island" -- surfaced when the Greenland ice cover retreated because of global warming. It's only one of the climate change side effects that have now been deemed permanent enough for inclusion in the atlas.

Tea Party: Don't build public transit, because the terrorists might attack it

Apparently public transit is now helping the terrorists win. That's according to a Tea Party group in Georgia, at least. The group wants to 86 a light rail project because "when they [THE TERRORISTS!!] blow up a rail, that just brings the system to a grinding halt." So we should not build rail in the first place, because in the event of terrorism it would cease to work. Makes sense!

To be fair, the dude who said that also seemed to be ok with a bus system, because in his words "if the terrorist blow up a single bus, we can work around that." 

 

You want a war on cars? Fine, here's your war on cars

The Stranger, Seattle's alt-weekly, has had it with the nasty attacks from car-loving, carbon-spewing, anti-bike crazies. The city's bike advocates have been accused of waging a "war on cars," and after too many hours trying to defend itself, the Stranger got angry:

For cars we have paved our forests, spanned our lakes, and burrowed under our cities. Yet drivers throw tantrums at the painting of a mere bicycle lane on the street. ... No more! We demand that car drivers pay their own way, bearing the full cost of the automobile-petroleum-industrial complex that has depleted our environment, strangled our cities, and drawn our nation into foreign wars. Reinstate the progressive motor vehicle excise tax, hike the gas tax, and toll every freeway, bridge, and neighborhood street until the true cost of driving lies as heavy and noxious as our smog-laden air.

Other demands: mass transit should serve the masses, and walking and biking should be safe. Maybe it is war.

Hey, we found a new dolphin species!

We all know the Earth still has more and stranger species than we've discovered, or at least it will until we clear-cut and climate-bomb them right into extinction. But you usually figure these fragile exotic lifeforms are hanging out in caves under Madagascar, or somewhere else that's tough to get to. Turns out, though, that at least some of them have been chiling near Melbourne, Australia, where researchers have discovered a new species of dolphin just basically right under their noses. 

Critical List: Climate change kills jobs; making a bridge out of live trees

Climate change kills jobs: A new study says California's economy could take a hit in the hundreds of millions of dollars as climate change takes it toll. So really, any program that fights climate change should be considered a job-saving program.

Job creation may be a different story. Loan guarantees for green energy projects aren't creating as many jobs as the Obama administration promised.

Green groups in Texas are growing, which means staffing up. (Now green is good for jobs again!)

How is Obama's overall record on the environment?

Is Obama's record on climate change and air pollution better than Bush's? How is it relative to the ideal, and relative to what seems politically realistic? Good questions ...

Cheap date: Take Slow Food’s $5 challenge

Slow Food USA's $5 Challenge invites you to gather friends and family for a sustainable meal this Saturday that costs no more than $5 per person.