Latest Articles

Arsenic and Old Rice

Arsenic levels in U.S. rice could pose health risk U.S.-grown rice contains an average of 1.4 to 5 times the amount of arsenic found in rice from Europe, India, or Bangladesh. According to a study published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, people consuming American rice at a “subsistence level” — about one pound […]

Hustle and Flow

Montana and mining companies to fund massive river cleanup, restoration An historic financial settlement between the state of Montana and two mining firms has opened the door to a project of ecological scope virtually unprecedented in the U.S.: the removal of Montana’s Milltown dam, located at the confluence of the Clark Fork and Blackfoot rivers, […]

Umbra on oil subsidies

Dear Umbra, Grist keeps mentioning that the U.S. government gives large subsidies to oil companies, but doesn’t go further into what these subsidies are. I can’t make a good argument against the government’s subsidizing Big Oil if I don’t know more about it: Are the subsidies tax breaks, and if so, for what? Are the […]

Gonarezhou National Park

Writer Robert Neuwirth, author of Shadow Cities, recently traveled the world to write on the "squatter cities" that spring up in the world's largest developing urban areas. His blog has also been chronicling Robert Mugabe's campaign to "drive out the rubbish" in Zimbabwe, Mugabe's term for the government-run destruction of thousands of homes in the country.

Sokwanele is one of the resistance groups that have formed against Mugabe. In their last email (and on their website), they highlight some of the environmental effects of Mugabe's campaign. In addition to the massive human toll, the displaced residents have moved to Gonarezhou National Park, and many have begun poaching the previously protected game and using the grasslands for domesticated animals to graze.

The previously undisturbed ecosystem was part of a plan for a regional Transfrontier National Park, as it borders parks in Mozambique and South Africa. Sokwanele says the invasion of the park by displaced settlers has now scuttled any such plans.

Bottled v. tap

Tom Standage, technology editor of The Economist, writes in the New York Times op-ed pages on the lack of difference between bottled and tap water.

He notes that for less than a quarter of global annual spending on bottled water, clean water and adequate sanitation could be provided for everyone on earth. Standage recommends that instead of buying bottled water, people donate the money to water charities to achieve this goal.

Liberality

Are you worried that our future is a long, grim struggle for remaining fossil-fuel resources, with an ever-widening gap between global have's and have-not's?

Apparently you're worried about all the wrong stuff.

(via TAPPED)

From Ritalin to Ridicule

Nature as Ritalin A small-but-growing body of research shows that exposure to nature can reduce the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. For calming your crazed kids, “outside” is the new TV. The Twike Photo: FINE Mobile GmbH. Is it a small car? A motorcycle? A bike? We don’t care, we just heart this little […]

Heifer Madness

Thanks to booming dairy biz, cows out-pollute cars in California valley In California’s San Joaquin Valley, air-quality regulators are squaring off against the area’s lucrative dairy industry over cow gas: Each dairy cow in the valley emits nearly 20 pounds of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) a year, according to official estimates. (Sadly, more of the […]

Too Many CNOOCs Spoil the Broth

Chinese oil firm withdraws takeover bid for Unocal State-owned Chinese oil company CNOOC has announced the withdrawal of its $18.5 billion offer for Unocal, clearing the way for rival bidder Chevron Corp. — which, we rush to assure you, is safely ‘merican owned — to purchase America’s ninth-largest producer of oil. CNOOC, China’s largest offshore […]

Ha-ha-ha-HA-ha!

Ivory-billed woodpecker skeptics recant, gush about sound recordings “It’s all moot at this point; the bird’s here.” So says Mark B. Robbins, one of the trio of skeptical scientists who had questioned the rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker after the species had long been assumed extinct. What changed their minds? The bird’s call. They had […]