Latest Articles
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New June daily high temp records beat new cold records by nearly 5 to 1
“We’re getting a dramatic taste of the kind of weather we are on course to bequeath to our grandchildren,” says Tom Peterson, Chief Scientist for NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center. An “excessive heat warning” has been issued this week for parts of the East Coast, home of the status quo media, so please send me […]
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Philly’s Greensgrow farm: An unconventional hybrid that works
Mary Seton Corboy sweating in her bee suit on the living roof of the Greensgrow farm’s storage trailer.(Photos ©Michael Hanson) It’s sunny and 94 degrees, and the pavement’s steaming after a thunderstorm rolled sideways through north Philly. Mary Seton Corboy wears a full-body, white bee suit. She stands atop a small trailer’s grassy roof on […]
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Ask Umbra on hair dye that won’t kill you or the planet
Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, I’m sure you’ve already addressed this, having bright red hair and all, but I was wondering about your advice on hair coloring. I’d like to hide my grays without damaging the environment or myself. And, if it’s possible, to do so in a cost efficient and time […]
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Exclusive: Obama admin unable to resolve shutdown of PACE clean-energy program
Obama administration officials have failed to resolve a dispute with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that has shut down Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE), according to an email obtained by Grist. The impasse will likely kill the promising clean-energy financing tool until Congress passes legislation addressing it, according to Cisco DeVries, who first created the […]
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Friday music blogging: Sarah Harmer
In 1999, I jumped ship from a PhD program in philosophy and moved to Seattle to live with a girl I’d been seeing on and off for years. Having no practical skills of any kind and no employment history to speak of, I was working in customer service at Amazon.com and wondering what I’d do […]
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Urbivore’s Dilemma, Week 4: A disgusting mess
The bounty of week 4.(Jennifer Prediger photos) Welcome to week four of my CSA experience, which I’m chronicling here in this Urbivore’s Dilemma series. This week’s CSA bounty included Bibb lettuce, mustard greens, sorrel, raspberries, sugar snap peas, and lovely, blossoming yet spicy curly cress. Food like this is what makes switching from takeout to […]
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We need a declaration of independence from foreign oil
This weekend, our nation will recognize its 234th birthday — celebrating the freedom we have fought for since the first shots of the American Revolution were fired in the town of Lexington, Mass., in the heart of my congressional district. The great American experiment still has battles left to fight, freedoms we must achieve. The […]
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Tories’ attack on Jamie Oliver reflects conservative parenting styles
From the international edition of the “Why Elections Matter” handbook comes news that chef and school-food activist Jamie Oliver‘s well-regarded and successful set of school food reforms are being dissed by Britain’s new Tory health minister. Oliver has spent years on the program, which has improved school menus, kids’ eating habits and, according to studies, […]
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10 fresh ideas that can help set you free (from oil)
With the Fourth of July approaching, let us pause and consider the words of that great patriot Sarah Palin: “Americans are not addicted to oil, Americans are addicted to freedom — the freedom to move freely and independently where and when we want.” Makes you want to go out and drive a Hummer in circles, […]
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Retrofitting suburbia: The task at hand?
“The big design and development project of the next 50 years is going to be retrofitting suburbia,” architect Ellen Dunham-Jones says in an interesting TED talk. Much of that work will be repurposing shuttered retail spaces — redeveloping dead malls and big box stores and turning empty parking lots back into wetlands, she says. For […]
