Latest Articles

Tracking down the public-health implications of nitrogen pollution

Picture a hot summer day in California farm country, say 112 degrees. In the tiny community of Tooleville, surrounded by olive trees and orange groves, there’s one thing you won’t see here that you’d see almost anywhere else in the sunny state — kids splashing in backyard pools. “People don’t let their kids swim in […]

Ask Umbra on down comforters, soapy gray water, and canned tomatoes

Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, I’ve recently moved to Tahoe and, in an energy-saving effort, am trying to keep the heat down in my house. The problem is that now it gets to be around 50 degrees in the bedroom at night, and we need some serious warmth in the blankets! I’d […]

Dow trying to have it both ways on climate?

Does Dow Chemical support climate action? Or think it would destroy America? Depends on which Dow Chemical you’re listening to. Is it the Dow Chemical that’s a member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership? That Dow made a major investment in clean energy in Michigan last week. From MLive.com’s The Mudpuppy: Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm […]

Pig Business: Who owns your food owns you

Ever feel like you were playing checkers and the other guy was playing chess? That’s the impression I get when watching many of the recent spate of food documentaries. Activists announce that this or that is wrong with the food system; on the rare occasion when something appears to be getting done about it, the […]

Food as America’s newest religion

Meanwhile the eleven disciples set out for Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had arranged to meet them. When they saw him they fell down before him, though some hesitated. Jesus came up and spoke to them. He said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, make disciples […]

Garden Girl TV: indoor gardening, part two

Getting my garden started on the right foot makes the rest of the season simply work smoothly, but it also gives me a jumpstart on the growing season with a spring harvest. The key for me is starting my plants in my indoor system. In this second installment of Indoor Gardening, I show you how […]

Bloom: Thinking inside the box

The Bloom Energy Servers installed at eBay’s headquarters in San Jose. Photo: Todd WoodyGreen tech had its Google moment this week in Silicon Valley when one of the most secretive and well-funded startups around, Bloom Energy, literally lifted the curtain on what it claims is a breakthrough in fuel cell technology: affordable electricity! Fewer greenhouse […]

Could novels about climate change shake us to our senses?

Cross-posted from Climate Progress. Sometimes, fiction is the best way to win friends and influence people – H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine and George Orwell’s classic 1984 come to mind. Each provoked a visceral reaction that galvanized the culture around it, changing forever the way issues such as class and totalitarianism were perceived. Neville […]

Chef Jamie Oliver takes on the American school lunchroom in his new show

In “Chewing the Scenery,” we round up interesting food-related video from around the Web. _________ Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s new show Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution takes him to Huntington, West Virginia, “the fattest city in America.” Oliver’s goal: nothing more than to remake residents’ attitude towards food. And it looks like he’s got his hands […]

Coal Ash Stories Highlight the Problems

This post was co-written by Lyndsay Moseley, Associate Washington Representative for the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign. This week we had the privilege to listen in on a White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) conference call with citizen groups from across the country to share the concerns and priorities of citizens around the […]