Latest Articles
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12 things you should never put in your mouth [SLIDESHOW]
You cannot imagine the stuff that passes for food. Lucky for you, we have found ample photographic evidence. You may not want to view this on a full stomach.
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Could San Francisco Launch a Coal-Free City Eco-Tourism Campaign?
“San Francisco: Where the Power is Clean and Life is Good” Hey kids! Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge without a film of mercury! Bring grandma and stroll through Chinatown and Fisherman’s Wharf free from the thousands of tons of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and carbon dioxide emissions, as well as the particulate matter that […]
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Websites that connect would-be farmers to land are blooming
A new website called the Midwest Farm Connection aims to connect new farmers with established farmland owners, and to the resources they need to get a sustainable operation up and running — from small-business advice to lists of possible funding sources. Farmers can also post classifieds with equipment for sale and internship opportunities. A project […]
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Carbon neutral caution
There’s been a lot of ambitious talk lately about carbon neutrality. It’s exciting stuff, but it’s worth pausing to consider just how huge that challenge is. And what, precisely, does it mean? Zero emissions, or lots of offsets? I thought it was interesting to take a look at the climate action plan from the city […]
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On March 15, Take Action to Stop Dumping Mine Waste Into Our Water
This post was co-written by Mary Anne Hitt, deputy director of the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign. There is nothing clean about destroying homes and communities to get coal out of the ground. Mountaintop removal coal mining is a dirty secret in our nation’s energy supply. More than 470 mountains in Appalachia have been destroyed […]
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Seedy tactics in Iowa and Norway in the news this week
Monsanto’s Roundup Ready soybean seedPhoto: MonsantoThe first in a series of daylong federally sponsored workshops kicked off today in Ankeny, Iowa, to debate whether consolidation in agriculture — in particular in the seed industry — has stifled competition and harmed farmers. While it may be much more convenient for farmers to do their one-stop seed […]
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The Maine Lesson of Cap and Trade
Last week, I referenced an official from Maine saying: “The investments we are seeing in renewable energy, in energy infrastructure, appear to be the largest wave of capital investment in the state’s history.” Which is obviously great news for the state, especially during a recession. Since then, the Kennebec Journal has reported on the formation of […]
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The State of Electricity Prices
I was messing around with some spreadsheets, and out popped this little guy: The chart plots the 50 states — minus Hawaii but plus DC — with the price of electricity on the vertical axis and consumption on the horizontal axis. (I left off Hawaii because it’s a serious outlier, with average electricity prices nearly twice as high […]
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Ask Umbra’s pearls of wisdom on sleeping
Dearest readers, Yawn. Goodness me, I could use a nap — perhaps a nice long eight-hour nap to celebrate National Sleep Awareness Week and prep for Daylight Saving Time starting on Sunday (don’t forget to spring forward!). While I go catch a few z’s, enjoy my troll through the archives to snag slumber-related suggestions. Got […]
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Democrats toughen up on finance reform. Could it work for clean energy?
A funny thing happened outside the twisted world of Congressional energy politics. Over at the Senate Banking Committee, Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) announced he’s going to push forward with finance reform and consumer protection bill, even if Republicans don’t want to help. This comes after weeks of negotiating between Dodd and Tennessee Republican Bob Corker, […]
