Latest Articles

Obama administration announces massive coal mining expansion

The future’s looking sooty.Photo: Tami Heilemann, DOIInterior Secretary Ken Salazar announced yesterday an enormous expansion in coal mining that threatens to increase U.S. climate pollution by an amount equivalent to more than half of what the United States currently emits in a year. A statement from Wild Earth Guardians, Sierra Club, and Defenders of Wildlife […]

Introducing … the Vegan/Omnivore Alliance against Animal Factories

Every day, Americans eat more than a half pound of meat per capita — one of the highest rates on the planet. The vast majority of it is produced with methods that abuse the environment, animals, workers, and public health as a matter of course. The handful of companies that dominate U.S. meat production suck […]

Can the United States feed China?

China is worried — and rightfully so — that it might not be able to feed itself.Photo: Jerrold BennettIn 1994, I wrote an article in World Watch magazine entitled “Who Will Feed China?” that was later expanded into a book of the same title. When the article was published in late August, the press conference […]

We CAN Do Something About Tsunami Devastation

The ferocious tsunami that devastated Japan’s coast is a tragic reminder that we have an uneasy relationship with our oceans. While we can’t prevent earthquakes, we can minimize at least some of the damage from tsunamis on American shores by dealing with climate change and rising ocean levels now. March 20th marked the beginning of […]

Jerks™ trademark the idea of ‘urban homesteading’

The Dervaes family of Pasadena are urban homesteaders, and by god they want to be the ONLY urban homesteaders. You can grow your own food, or raise your own animals, or practice a sustainable and self-sufficient lifestyle, I GUESS, if that sort of thing butters your muffin. But if you go around using the phrase […]

Bingaman tries to make policy out of Obama’s hopey-changey Clean Energy Standard

Is Obama wasting Sen. Bingaman’s time?Photo: The White HouseIn his State of the Union speech, Obama introduced an ambitious plan to encourage clean energy in the U.S. At least I think it was ambitious. Kinda hard to tell — it was vague. Thinking about it since, I’ve come to see the Clean Energy Standard (CES) […]

New eco-friendly fertilizer: Plant farts

While those lousy cows are pooting out greenhouse gases, some hardworking plants – anaerobic digestors, which are crucial to the production of biogas – are making waste that can be used as cheap, natural fertilizer. Digestate, the byproduct of anaerobic digestion, could replace manufactured nitrogen fertilizers that are energy-intensive and expensive to produce.

Afghan-produced biofuels could be one good thing to come out of the war

In a larger sense, nobody wins in the war in Afghanistan. But Marine sergeant Brian Nelson is hoping that in one particular instance — encouraging Afghans to convert some of their crops to biofuel — everyone can win. Marines win because they can help meet their alternative energy goals. They want to cut fuel usage […]

Cats and wind turbines vie for the title of ‘biggest avian menace’

Finally, we are starting to get answers to that universal question: Who would win in a fight, cats or wind? If the fight is "who can kill the most birds," the cats are way ahead, says a new study in the Journal of Ornithology. For sheer avian death tolls, wind turbines can't even hold a […]

Louisiana’s new oil plague sounds tasty, is terrifying

Remember tar balls? Those were just an appetizer. The scary new oil formations washing up on Louisiana’s beaches sound like you’d get them at Whole Foods — “emulsified oil,” “oil mousse.” Um, yum? This comes right on the heels of the government approving deepwater exploration plans for the first time since last year’s disaster. Sure, […]