Latest Articles

Easter and plastic eggs

There’s always a place for some old-fashioned hating on plastics, especially if there’s a timely hook: “If the traditional Easter egg is a symbol of resurrection, or a more paganesque generalized celebration of fertility, than what does a plastic Easter egg signify?” Andrew Leonard asks at Salon. He learns that Easter, historically a high-sales season […]

Why climate realists and skeptics talk past each other

Courtesy Nemo’s great uncle via FlickrTruth be told, I’m more interested in people who are overcoming barriers to progress than in the endless “does global warming exist?” debates. When your house is on fire, at some point you stop arguing with someone who says there’s no fire, and you focus on getting your family out. […]

Can we get some attention for our issues now?

Fareed Zakaria — prominent foreign policy writer, Newsweek International editor, Washington Post columnist — uses President Obama’s campaign words to suggest it’s time for the president to devote his attention to energy policy: During the 2008 campaign — before the global economic crisis — Barack Obama said the top three things he wanted to accomplish […]

Lunchroom drama, nanotech follies, and other tasty bites

When my info-larder gets too packed, it’s time to serve up some choice nuggets from around the Web. —————- Get ’em while they’re hot.  • Remember Fed Up with Lunch,  my favorite stunt blog ever? In it, an anonymous teacher in the midwest does something that few adults would volunteer to do–not even ones who […]

Debunking the “you’d be a great green parent” argument

A number of commenters on my “I’m childfree and I’m proud” post, both here and on Facebook, argued that I’m just the sort of smart, eco-groovy person who should be having kids, to ensure that there’s a new generation of thoughtful and active citizens to carry on the good fight.  Thanks for the compliment!  But […]

Al Gore wants Earth Day volunteer videos

Al Gore is calling on volunteer videographers to create short videos about their favorite organization working on climate-change solutions. Three of them will appear on YouTube’s homepage on Earth Day, April 22. Then millions of YouTube viewers will have their climate awarenesses raised. For one whole day … Can’t hurt, right? “This year on Earth […]

Me, on Grit.tv, talking about Obama’s drilling plan

Yesterday I went on Grit.tv with Laura Flanders to discuss Obama’s new drilling plan. Watching it now, I think the main lesson is that I desperately need more sleep, or at least a professional make-up artist to hide the bags under my eyes. Here it is: One quick follow-up note: I think my focus on […]

Louisiana environmental racism case gets hearing from Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

For the first time in history, an international human rights body has agreed to review a case involving allegations of environmental racism in the United States. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) will hear a complaint filed by the New Orleans-based Advocates for Environmental Human Rights (AEHR) on behalf of the people of Mossville, […]

Obama was against offshore drilling before he was for it

While blogger Adam Bink is correct to point out that then-candidate Obama pivoted on offshore drilling in the final months of the presidential campaign, he misses a few important points.

A view into the U.S. diet

The above chart, created by the USDA, compares the food consumed by the average U.S. citizen (using “loss-adjusted food availability” data as a proxy for consumption) to Federal dietary recommendations. In other words, what Americans eat vs. what the federal government thinks we should be eating. According to this analysis, we eat something like 30 […]