Latest Articles

Tackling climate change at the local level

Sister Evelyn Mattern had two goals in mind as she stood vigil recently with a Protestant colleague in a gas mask, singing, “This Air is My Air!” at the North Carolina statehouse. Her short-term aim was to lend support to stricter regulations for the state’s coal-fired power plants. Yet she also had a loftier, long-range […]

Looking for leadership on climate change

Two hundred-odd years ago, on his way out of office, George Washington famously advised his successors to avoid entangling alliances with foreign nations. That was in 1796 — pre-NAFTA, pre-International Monetary Fund, and pre-globalization, not to mention pre-Darwin, pre-internal combustion engine, and pre-Republican Party. Hell, back then, all of Texas was still ruled by Spain. […]

Umbra on weeding

Dear Umbra, We moved into a suburban neighborhood in Ft. Collins, Colo., last year and I began my usual organic gardening practices. I created a beautiful flower garden in our front yard, but I still receive complaints from my neighbors because I refuse to apply herbicides to kill the dandelions and other weeds in the […]

Umbra on lawn and garden pesticides

Dearest Umbra, Goddess of Green Knowledge, A few years ago, a farmer friend of mine argued that more pesticides and chemical fertilizers are applied to suburban lawns and gardens than are used in commercial agriculture. I can see how this might be the case, given the massive size of the lawn and garden chemical industry, […]

Umbra on clothing

Dear Umbra, My nephew says that new clothes and other apparel that come from foreign countries are treated with toxic chemicals to avoid various types of fungal or insect contamination, and upon arriving at the loading dock of your favorite wanker-mart, they are ripe to toxify the air, your skin, your eyes. He worked on […]

Wheezy Riders

Motorcycles and gas-powered recreational boats could become substantially cleaner if emissions cuts proposed by the Bush administration late last week are enacted. The proposals call for halving emissions from motorcycles (which are, on average, 20 times more polluting per mile than a new car) and reducing boat emissions by 80 percent. The new standards would […]

Charms to Soothe the Savage Breast

Ten years ago, a group of women headed to Washington, D.C., from their homes in Long Island, N.Y., to demand answers from the government about why so many women from their area were afflicted with breast cancer. Ultimately, the energy, dedication, and political savvy of those women rocketed the Long Island breast cancer story into […]

Hanford and Stuns

Oregon officials and anti-nuclear activists are taking aim at the draft assessment of the federal government’s plan to ship thousands of truckloads of radioactive nuclear waste through Oregon to the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state. The draft environmental impact statement by the U.S. Energy Department estimates that the environmental effects of transporting the waste […]

Space Goes Coast to Coast

Living on the coast is often a lose-lose situation — beaches erode, and big storms take out pricey homes — but that hasn’t seemed to quench the thirst for development along the Florida shoreline. Rather than discouraging beachfront development to protect property owners and the environment alike, state laws and practices promote such development and […]

Kristin Casper, Greenpeace Clean Energy Now!

Kristin Casper is a campaigner for Greenpeace Clean Energy Now!. She works with schools, cities, and the state of California to invest in clean energy and protect the climate and future generations from global warming. Monday, 29 Jul 2002 SAN FRANCISCO, Calif I like Monday mornings. As a Clean Energy Now! campaigner for Greenpeace, I […]