Latest Articles

The frogfish is the world’s most efficient invasivore

It's still hot to be an invasivore, chowing down on invasive species to help balance the ecosystem. Cleveland even had a food festival showcasing ways to prepare the delicious-sounding invasive plant garlic mustard. (This is going out on a limb, but … maybe use it as a condiment?) But the lionfish is a particularly pesky […]

Republicans’ latest defunding target: food safety

Lately it seems like every time Congress passes good legislation, it then defunds the agencies responsible for implementing those policies. The latest example: Back in December, Congress reformed the food safety system to deal with problems similar to, oh, that E. coli outbreak that's sickening thousands of people over in Europe. But on Tuesday, House […]

How bicycles are fighting illiteracy and empowering women in India

The Indian state of Bihar has only a 33 percent literacy rate for women — the lowest in the country. But the state government, headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, is turning education for girls around — with bicycles. In 2007 Kumar instituted a plan to give schoolgirls money to buy bicycles once they successfully […]

Critical List: Tornado hits Massachusetts; wild lands policy dies an early death

At least four people died after a tornado touched down in Massachusetts. That E. coli strain that's killing people in Europe? Yeah, it's a terrifying, never-been-seen-before mutant. Can the world stop pretending it's in a Robin Cook thriller now, please? The World Bank is going to help cities around the world finance projects that reduce […]

Down with healthy school lunches, says House GOP

  You want me to eat what?Having already moved to gut USDA programs promoting agricultural conservation and renewable energy and strip the USDA of its authority to enact the first meaningful reform of the irredeemably monopolistic livestock industry, House Republicans have now turned their attention to that other great threat to American freedom: USDA nutrition guidelines. […]

Could EcoAds Keep the Lights on in Japan?

In 1950s science fiction movies, irradiated monsters would emerge from the sea to level Tokyo as horrified citizens flee. In 2011, as a sign I saw last week in Tokyo airport attests (see photo), Japan faces a real-world nuclear nightmare and the very daunting task of rebuilding cities and an entire nation’s energy grid. An […]

Americans want fuel-efficient cars — can Detroit keep up?

The fuel-efficient Ford Focus is in high demand. The Ford Econoline van? Not so much.Photo: Ford Motor CompanyCross-posted from Climate Progress. This post was cowritten by Tyce Herrman. With gas prices just below the $4 per gallon mark and possibly climbing to $5 per gallon later this summer, Americans are demanding more fuel-efficient automobiles. But […]

Why wasting food wastes nature, too

Waste not, want not: In order to meet global food demand, we should decrease food waste instead of expanding agriculture.Photo: Christoph LupprichCross-posted from Cool Green Science. A new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations finds that globally, roughly one-third of all food produced for human consumption is wasted. But […]

Bachelorette contestant, Charlie Sheen add wattage to NYC solar campaign

The Bachelorette‘s Ryan Park. Photo: Karina Marchese of REC Solar What do GE, Charlie Sheen, and the most promising bachelor on The Bachelorette have in common? They all are playing a role in bringing solar to New York. The New York Solar Jobs Act is an effort to bring 5 gigawatts of solar to the […]

Why Republicans are fighting Obama’s commerce pick

President Obama nominated long-time successful energy executive John Bryson to be secretary of commerce yesterday, in a move representative Darrell Issa calls "deeply out of touch with our current energy challenge." Wait, what? See, before Bryson was the president of the California Public Utilities Commission, or the CEO of Edison International, or the director of […]