Latest Articles
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Umbra on organic food and farming
Dear Umbra, I try to buy organic food where possible, but I notice that there is often a tradeoff with other factors. For example, organic food has often been shipped further and/or is more heavily packaged. How do I assess those tradeoffs? EllenWatertown, Mass. Dearest Ellen, As I’ve mentioned before, the USDA national organic standards […]
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Umbra on fruit sprays and organic food
Dear Umbra, The tangerines I bought recently had this on the label: “Thiabendazole and/or orthopenylphenol and/or imazalil used as fungicides, and coated with food-grade shellac based wax or resin to maintain freshness.” Presumably the shellac stays on the skin and does not affect the fruit, but what about the other products? What are these products […]
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Umbra on vegetarianism
Dear Umbra, I have been a vegetarian for a pretty long time, but my uncle told me that if the human is not supposed to eat meat then why do we have teeth. He left me a little confused. Is the human being naturally vegetarian? LaidaSomerville, Mass. Dearest Laida, Your uncle is unkindly denigrating your […]
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Braked Alaska
The oil giant BP has withdrawn from the lobbying group that is leading the campaign to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to drilling, company spokesperson Paul Laird said yesterday. The decision underscores the growing concern among oil companies that the drilling debate could damage their public image. In the past, BP had […]
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Gill-ty
Not only has Washington state failed to warn people against fishing in many spots polluted with toxics, it has gone so far as to recommend fishing in some spots known to have high concentrations of mercury, according to a new report released by two environmental groups. The report by the Washington Toxics Coalition and Washington […]
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A Hard Rowe to Hoe
Some heavyweight funders have ponied up $10 million to create a National Commission on Energy Policy, pulling together former members of the Bush and Clinton administrations and representatives from industry and environmental groups to recommend a long-range energy plan for the United States. Over the next two years, the commission intends to develop a “centrist […]
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Mao-ie Zow-ie
China is moving forward with a massive project to redirect water from the nation’s longest rivers (including the Yangtze and Yellow) to the arid north, helping to quench the thirst of Beijing and other major northern cities. The water will travel via a canal network built over 50 years; costs could eventually exceed $24 billion. […]
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Big Bang
As if terrorist attacks weren’t enough of a threat, unexploded munitions at 16,000 inactive military ranges in the United States present “imminent and substantial” public health risks, according to newly released U.S. EPA documents. The agency said the problem might require the largest environmental cleanup program ever implemented by the feds. Jeff Ruch, director of […]
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Gonna Be a Bright Sunshiny Day
A year after voters approved a $100 million bond to boost solar power in San Francisco, planning is well underway to position the city as the country’s largest municipal generator of solar power and other renewable energies. Within five years, San Francisco hopes to add 10 megawatts of solar power to the electricity grid. In […]
