Latest Articles

From Garner to Gizmos

Give ’em the boot, Syd Ben Affleck and his adorable much-better half (alias Bennifer 2.0) will garner attention this weekend campaigning together for Defenders of Wildlife as the group seeks to unseat eco-hata Dick Pombo. Wake us when it’s over. Photo: Avik Gilboa / WireImage.com Insane in the Maine-brain Exhibiting wicked cunnin’ judgment, the manager […]

Open and Shut Up Case

Agencies investigate claims of muzzling by Bush administration Has the Bush administration tried to suppress climate-change research? We’d tell you, but there’s a guy in a trench coat watching us type. Maybe inspectors general at NASA and the Commerce Department will have better luck as they investigate claims that climate scientists were muzzled by political […]

Standing on Protocol

U.S. requests exemption from ban on ozone-depleting pesticide, again At a meeting in New Delhi this week, thumb firmly attached to nose, the U.S. is seeking to convince fellow signers of an international ozone-layer treaty that it should be allowed to continue to use and produce a pesticide it had agreed to ban by 2005. […]

Teach a Man to Fish, and … Oh, Never Mind

Populations of edible marine species may collapse entirely by mid-century, says study Thank god it’s Friday, but thank god even more it’s not 2048, when all edible ocean life may be sunk. According to a study in Science, 29 percent of commercially edible fish and shellfish populations have collapsed already, thanks to overfishing, development, pollution, […]

A melange of tasty treats

The week's almost over, and you know what that means: time to clear out the Firefox tabs.

Thanks, Al Gore!

According to a recent MIT survey, Americans now rank climate change as the country's most pressing environmental problem--a dramatic shift from three years ago, when they ranked climate change sixth out of 10 environmental concerns.

Almost three-quarters of the respondents felt the government should do more to deal with global warming, and individuals were willing to spend their own money to help.

In other news, stay tuned for a global collapse of all species currently fished, possibly by mid-century.

The Great Warming aims to (re-)build bridges

Imagine a documentary featuring wild storms and dire predictions about pollution and rising seas. Sound familiar? Now add insight from Peruvian fishermen and Louisiana historians, mix in middle-school students, inventors, and religious leaders ... and invite a global-warming skeptic to the movie.

The film, hosted by Alanis Morissette and Keanu Reeves, is called The Great Warming, and even before its Nov. 3 launch, it has helped spawn an alliance between Democrats and evangelicals trying to shake the administration out of its inertia on climate change. It is also the anchor for a broad, pro-active coalition ranging from Friends of the Earth to Union of Concerned Scientists to Churches of Christ.

Theater giant Regal Cinemas is releasing the film in its top 50 markets this weekend, making the launch three times larger than for any other film of its kind, and highlighting the growing currency of the climate change issues in the mainstream.

It’s not driven by demand

Whaling nations have amassed a blubber mountain, despite desperate measures like mixing the stuff into dog food. It is the principle, apparently, that counts.

Bottom line: it's not demand for whale meat driving whaling, but politics, stubbornness, and claims of cultural rights.

New report cites impacts of biodiversity loss

For those of you that would rather get a root canal the read "Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services," consider this your Cliff's Notes.

This new report in Science shows that marine biodiversity loss is increasingly impairing the ocean's ability to provide food, maintain water quality, and recover from perturbations. If these trends continue, pretty much all the fish will be gone by 2048. In fact, according to the report, a whopping 30% of the world's commercial fisheries are already collapsed.

Food retailer boosts salaries of top executives

Success breeds imitation breeds competition, and Whole Foods is feeling the heat: its stock dropped more than 20 percent on news of slowing sales.

Said CEO John Mackey on his blog:

There has been an explosion in interest from our supermarket competitors in virtually everything we are doing, from copying many aspects in the design of our stores to selling more organic foods of all types, other supermarkets are studying and emulating us in dozens of different ways in their attempt to compete more aggressively against us.

‘It’s cold today in Wagga Wagga’–Weather and climate are different

(Part of the How to Talk to a Global Warming Skeptic guide)

Objection: It was way colder than normal today in Wagga Wagga, proof that there is no global warming.

Does this even deserve an answer? If we must ...