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  • Grass Backwards

    Carbon dioxide contributing to un-grassing of grassland, says new study Thanks in part to rising levels of carbon dioxide, the world’s grasslands are turning into woody shrublands, says a new study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. When researchers artificially doubled CO2 levels over sections of the Colorado plains, they observed a fortyfold increase in […]

  • Experts to Utah: Climate change is real

    If this happened any place else but Utah, it might not be worth noting, but in that state I believe it’s progress: A state blue ribbon task force on climate change stated emphatically Monday that humans are to blame for global warming and offered a slate of recommendations on ways Utah can fight the changes. […]

  • Leo’s feel-good press conference is interrupted by a feel-bad question

    Leonardo DiCaprio at the premiere of The 11th Hour. Alex Berliner © Berliner Studio/BEImages When celebrities embrace environmental concerns, cranky naysayers pop up like toadstools after a rainstorm. But the mansions and private jets those critics seize upon, while easy targets, might not be the real problem. It might just be that green-leaning celebrities and […]

  • Just the Ticket

    Paper airline tickets soon to go extinct By the beginning of next summer, paper airline tickets will be a thing of the past for its airlines, the International Air Transport Association announced this week. The relevant stats: The IATA represents more than 240 airlines, which together operate 94 percent of international flights; 84 percent of […]

  • The Climate Got Me High

    NOAA scientists say near-record U.S. temps in 2006 due to climate change Scientists from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said yesterday that the near-record annual average temperature in the Lower 48 states in 2006 was due to greenhouse gases and not to the weather phenomenon El Nino. By perusing weather records the researchers, […]

  • A Playg on the Playground

    Green group finds some New Orleans playgrounds contaminated with arsenic Some playgrounds and schoolyards in New Orleans may be contaminated with high levels of arsenic swept in by Hurricane Katrina, according to soil samples taken by the Natural Resources Defense Council. Government agencies, which have taken about 2,000 soil and sediment samples in the city, […]

  • Emission Accomplished

    Indiana regulators give BP a pass on meeting federal soot regulations Last week, oil company BP backed off of a plan to dump lots more ammonia and sludge into Lake Michigan; this week, Indiana regulators granted the same refinery an exemption to a federal rule that would have required it to halve its soot emissions. […]

  • Umbra on singles and CSAs

    Hi Umbra! I’ve held back from joining a CSA because 1) I live alone and am worried about wasting food, and 2) I’m worried I’ll get so much oddball stuff, especially in the winter, that I won’t know what to do with it. I figure I can overcome No. 1 by seeking out some sufficiently […]

  • Honda fights to regain green car company mantle

    Honda entered the hybrid market before Toyota, but over time it made a fateful mistake: it failed to visually distinguish its line of hybrids. The Prius’ distinct shape is like peacock feathers — it signals your identity to the world. Who wants to be virtuous if nobody knows about it? Now Honda’s gotten the message […]