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The farces of coal — episode #1

WARNING: This video of Ted Nugent may be a little too American for the workplace, and definitely contains too much “freedom” for children. Mr. Nugent has some choice words regarding his machine guns and the President of the United States. Ted Nugent will be the featured emcee of the Verizon-sponsored “Friends of America” pro-mountaintop removal […]

Cash for coal clunkers and anthems for natural gas won’t win this epic battle

Those of us worried sick over climate change confronted a depressing piece of excellent reporting in Monday’s Washington Post. Environment reporter David Fahrenthold wrote that environmental organizations are getting their proverbial clocks cleaned by a well-organized and pervasive campaign mounted by affected industries in small and mid-size communities throughout America. “It seems that environmentalists are […]

Herbicide maker asks that lobbying be excluded from class action lawsuit

This story was written by Danielle Ivory. Lawyers representing the maker of the herbicide atrazine are asking that documents related to the company’s lobbying and trade association activities be excluded from a class action lawsuit being filed by some Illinois water utilities. As the Investigative Fund reported last week, many utilities say they cannot afford […]

Chamber of Commerce keeps stepping on rakes

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce can’t catch a break these days. When the Waxman-Markey bill rolled out, it did what it always does: pretended to agree with the goal while recommending changes in the means so drastic that they would gut the bill. See this comical letter wherein it wants to “balance environmental objectives with […]

Cleaning some of the Fox off of Van Jones

Van JonesA while back I lampooned a Glenn Beck segment on Van Jones, who’s an advisor to the White House Council on Environmental Quality. According to Beck, Jones is the man on the inside for a vast cryptosocialist conspiracy involving the Apollo Alliance, Color of Change, the Center for American Progress, George Soros, ACORN, Al […]

‘Time’ was right about cheap food–but forgot farmworkers

The widely read recent Time cover story “Getting Real about the High Price of Cheap Food” is a useful complement to current discussions about our food system. It offers further evidence of the mainstreaming of ideas and practices that were considered radical or irrelevant a mere decade ago. But the author errs by avoiding any […]

How I got drafted into James McWilliams’ anti-locavore diatribe

It’s happened a lot lately. Someone will send me the latest political diatribe that quotes my work. “What do you think of this guy?” they will ask. There’s also a recent growth industry in academic essays in support of food movement icon, Michael Pollan. These essays pay tribute to him mostly by attacking my work […]

Ask Umbra on bubble wrap

Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, I just got married and received a lot of presents in the mail. I recycled/reused all the boxes, but I’m still stuck with a LOT of bubble wrap and sealed air. Is there a place where I can take these rolls of plastic to be recycled? JohnnyWashington, […]

Department Of Energy eviscerates right-wing Spanish ‘green jobs’ study

Cross-posted from Wonk Room. A Spanish paper that claimed support for green jobs “may destroy two jobs for every one created” has been debunked by an official publication of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The paper’s conclusions — led by Exxon-funded libertarian Gabriel Calzada — have been cited by GOP leaders, Fox News, right-wing […]

UPDATED: The cruelty of industrial egg-riculture — plus a tasty recipe for your local pastured eggs

Consider the egg. Photo: Kurt Michael Friese UPDATE:  The owner of the hatchery in the video mentioned below has spoken out, says there were violations of procedure but makes no apologies.  He calls “instantaneous Euthanasia” “Standard industry practice.”  Read the story here. Iowa is the number-one producer of eggs in the country, with more than […]