Latest Articles
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Coming Clean
Strange Bedfellows Push for Clean Energy in Canada Some of the biggest polluters in Canada are teaming up with enviros to make the case that the nation could produce as much energy from renewable sources as it now does from fossil fuels and nuclear facilities. Today, three oil companies — Suncor Energy, BP Canada, and […]
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Bicycles Shanghaied
Shanghai Bans Bicycles from Major Streets Shanghai, China, whose streets once teemed with peddling people, will ban bicycles from most major thoroughfares beginning next year. It’s a dramatic (and, many say, depressing) shift for a city that was home to some of the nation’s earliest bicycle factories. Now, Shanghai has become a center of China’s […]
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Erik Ness reviews Silent Scourge: Children, Pollution, and Why Scientists Disagree by Colleen Moore
Attention, parents: Now that you've seen your kids' first report cards of the year, it's time for a little homework of your own. No doubt you're doing the best you can to ensure your little ones' eventual membership in Mensa -- promoting stimulating dinner conversation, reading a chapter together each night, maybe even playing Mozart during bath time. But wait -- there's more. You'll find your next assignment in the pages of Colleen Moore's Silent Scourge: Children, Pollution, and Why Scientists Disagree.
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Bump and Rind
Please Help Put an End to Our Silly, Sophomoric Grapefruit Fundraiser Here’s a five-second reader survey for you: Should we change the name of the Daily Grist to the Daily Rind? No, no, we’re just kidding … but on this second-to-last day of the 2003 Grist Grapefruit Challenge, with daily rinds piling up around us, […]
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Death Warmed Over
Climate Change Tied to 150,000 Deaths a Year, WHO Says How’s this for classic gloom and doom: Climate change led to 150,000 premature deaths in 2000, and the annual number of such deaths could double in 30 years if current warming trends are not reversed, according to a new report by the World Health Organization. […]
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Baby’s Breath
Exposure to Pesticides May Lead to Childhood Asthma Yet another reason to keep pesticides out of the house: Children exposed to household bug-killing chemicals during the first year of life may be more than twice as likely to develop asthma as those not exposed, according to new research by scientists at the University of Southern […]
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Let ’em Snowmobile, Let ’em Snowmobile, Let ’em Snowmobile
Bush Administration Will Allow Snowmobiles in Yellowstone Snowmobiles will be welcome to keep zooming through Yellowstone National Park, the Bush administration announced yesterday, despite tens of thousands of public comments calling for the vehicles to be phased out from the oldest national park in the U.S. Final rules released yesterday on the issue will place […]
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Umbra on washing produce
Dear Umbra, Does one really need to wash produce off the shelf or out of the bag? I’ve been eating vegetables as they are for years. Does it really do any good to wash them? If they are contaminated internally, then washing the outside won’t help, will it? JaneSteubenville, Ohio Dearest Jane, Please wash your […]
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Umbra on eco-friendly meat
Dear Umbra, While I’m not a vegetarian, I try to choose my foods based on their environmental impact. For me, most non-organic meat doesn’t make the cut: It uses too much water, land, and other resources, and it pollutes our land and water. I know this because I know about CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations), […]
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Umbra on food storage
Dear Umbra, I recently read about the possible effects of plastics on women and the fetuses they may be carrying. I’m ready to change my ways, but I’m not sure how. Do you have some good suggestions about other ways we can package our leftovers or pack foods for lunch at school and work? NataliePortland, […]
