Latest Articles
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Earth Out of Sync – Rising Temperatures Throwing off Seasonal Timing
This piece was written by my colleague Janet Larsen at the Earth Policy Institute. A newly hatched chick waits with hungry mouth agape for a parent to deliver its first meal. A crocus peaks up through the snow. Rivers flow swiftly as ice breaks up and snows melt. Sleepy mammals emerge from hibernation, and early […]
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Sen. Tom Udall: “My goal would be to get 10 Republicans on the climate bill”
Sen. Tom UdallPhoto: Center for American Progress Action FundLike his cousin Mark, Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) spent 10 years in the House of Representatives before being elected to the Senate in 2008. Like his legendary father Stewart (the former interior secretary who passed away last week), he has always had a keen interest in […]
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Ask Umbra chews the fat with Moby
Whatever you do when you meet Moby (eventually, we all will), don’t tell him you enjoy his book. “That’s a strange word to use,” he said when I did the very thing I’m telling you not to do. My face briefly turned the same shade as my hair as I attempted to explain how exactly […]
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Climate change more effective than diplomacy for India and Bangladesh
For all the bad rap that climate change gets, sometimes it doesn’t hurt to look on the bright side of things. Tensions have been rising between Bangladesh and India for the last 30 years over who owns New Moore Island. But rising seas have made the island no more. Problem solved! (Unless, like LOST fans, […]
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Why are we propping up corn production, again?
News flash: high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a lousy product. As Tom Laskawy reported here Tuesday, a recent study by Princeton researchers found that rats fed chow laced with HFCS gained more weight than rats fed equal calories of table sugar. All processed sweeteners add empty calories to food; but calorie for calorie, HFCS appears […]
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Celeb couple awkwardly asks you to dim the lights for Earth Hour
On Saturday at 8:30 p.m. local time (wherever you are) join 30 U.S. states, 3,100 U.S. cities, 121 countries, and celeb couple Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen (in both their homes), by turning off your lights for World Wildlife Fund’s 4th annual Earth Hour. And what a more inspiring couple to promote the event than […]
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New homes are cropping up in cities, not suburbs
Today in conventional wisdom–busting news, we learn that grimy old cities are attracting more residential construction than the bright suburban frontier. Urban redevelopment is outpacing fringe sprawl by a solid margin, according to a new EPA study of the nation’s 50 largest metro areas. It’s a “fundamental shift in the real estate market,” says the […]
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Live Chat with Tom Philpott
Editor’s note: The chat’s now over, but you can replay it in full. What are the best seeds to use for my container garden? What is the deal with organic pineapple? These are just a couple of the questions from March’s Live Chat with Tom Philpott. And if you’ve been dying to know Tom’s favorite […]
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Do you prefer your green space pre-packaged?
This enlightened group of Spanish nightstalkers are fed up with shrinking urban green space. Worried that the most greenery people see nowadays comes in plastic containers with a sell-by date, they decided to prank up the limelight on an ugly corner of Madrid with their Packaged Vertical Garden. We think their style packs way more […]
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Canada Rules
The undemocratic design of the US Senate is a huge obstacle to progress in the Northwest. How did the Senate get set up in the first place? Richard Rosenfeld, writing six years ago in Harper’s answers that question. The 1787 Constitutional Convention created the Senate in a triply split vote won by states representing just […]
