Latest Articles

Texas' fracking disclosure law has huge omissions

Yesterday we told you about Texas governor Rick Perry doing something right for once -- he passed of a law forcing drillers to disclose the chemicals used in the controversial and environmentally destructive practice of hydraulic fracturing. Turns out the law has a bunch of loopholes that corporations are duty-bound to exploit in accordance with their legal obligation to maximize shareholder value, even if doing so threatens people’s health. Maybe you've heard this story before?

Harnessing the mighty Mississippi for power

If you’ve been anywhere near a newspaper recently, you know that the Mississippi river has an unbelievable amount of kinetic energy, which lately it has mainly been using for wreckin’ stuff. It’s like an angry teenager who discovers he’s a superhero. But hydropower advocates are hoping to convince it that with great power comes great responsibility, cooking up plans to put enough small hydroelectric plants on existing dams to rival the total hydro production of the Pacific Northwest.

One day, we’ll water plants with our pee in public restrooms

Everyone remembers that deathless scene from Waterworld where Kevin Costner pees in a jug, filters it, drinks some, then spits the rest into a plant. (EVERYONE REMEMBERS IT, I SAID. But if you’ve been living under a rock, you can watch here -- start around 1:30.) Well, that may soon become a reality. For now, at least, we’re still not drinking processed urine -- on a societal level, anyway; what you do on your time is your own business. But one ingenious conservation junkie has come up with a urinal design that filters pee in order to water plants.


 

Al Gore attacks Obama for not speaking out on climate change

Is there anything more thrilling than two Democratic politicians duking it out? One guy opens with … punishing inaction! The other counters with … an unforgiving steel 7,000 word essay in Rolling Stone! If that’s your idea of fun, you’re in luck, because it’s Gore vs. Obama and you don’t even need Pay-Per-View. Gore’s essay […]

More birth defects in mountaintop removal mining areas

Babies born in West Virginia regions where mountaintop removal mining takes place suffer from higher rates of birth defects than those born in non-mining regions. Mining regions tend to be low-income and deal with the slew of problems correlated with that, but the birth defect rates are higher even when accounting for "socioeconomic disadvantages."

The American suburbs are a giant Ponzi scheme

Our current pattern of autocentric development does not create real wealth. It creates the illusion of wealth. Today we are in the process of seeing that illusion destroyed, and with it the prosperity we have come to take for granted.

Critical List: U.S. nuclear plants leak radioactive materials; Big Oil is the bad guy in Cars 2

Three quarters of nuclear power plants in the U.S. have leaked radioactive tritium.

The White House promised to put solar panels on its roof by the end of spring but didn't. Come on -- the environmental community can’t even get a symbolic gesture now? Throw us a bone, dude!

Global warming was supposed to save a few lives by creating milder winters in which fewer people would freeze to death. But by 2040, deaths from heat waves will outstrips lives saved in the winter.

Is the 'Clean 15' just as toxic as the 'Dirty Dozen'?

Is the Environmental Working Group's Clean 15 list of low-pesticide produce as toxic as its Dirty Dozen? For farm workers, the answer is often yes.

Do environmentalists need shrinks?

Is the sorry state of the planet dragging you into the dumps? Psychologist John Fraser thinks a lot of enviros are suffering from traumatic distress.

Many power plants already have equipment to slash mercury

Many power plants have already installed pollution-control technologies that can significantly reduce mercury as well as other pollutants.