Latest Articles

Down Underachievers?

The environmental situation is not looking up in the land down under, according to a new report commissioned by a consortium of conservation organizations. Noting such environmental problems as loss of species and their habitats, degradation of inland waters, and high pollution levels from the burning of fossil fuels, the report calls Australia “a continent […]

Green Eyeshades

Scared off by corporate accounting scandals and a year of bad economic indicators, big investors are starting to keep an eye out for other possible financial red flags — and the hidden risks associated with global warming are high on their lists. As increasing temperatures trigger environmental changes ranging from drought to rising sea levels, […]

Sun Worshippers

Clean energy is next to godliness — or at least that’s the position of the soon-to-open Cathedral of our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, which has installed a $600,000 solar array that will meet 10 to 15 percent of the cathedral’s energy needs. The solar array is one of the largest to be […]

A Drinking Problem

Preventable water-related illnesses could kill as many as 76 million people by the year 2020 unless nations take action to improve their water-delivery systems, according to a report by a California environmental research institute. Most of the affected people would likely be children in developing countries, who are highly susceptible to such water-borne diseases as […]

Building a green community in the Green Mountain State

At 9:30 at night the phone rings. It is my neighbor Lorie, who asks me if I’d mind stepping out onto my porch for a minute. I think I know what this is about. Up the hill on Tom and Lorie’s porch there are candles burning on tables covered with the scattered remains of dinner. […]

No Island Is an Island

Climate change was the leading concern at the annual Pacific Island Forum this week, where leaders of small island nations chastised the United States for abandoning the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. The islands have an unusually vested interest in the protocol because they face a high risk of being swallowed up by seas swollen […]

Putting the Golf Cart Before the Horsepower

Seeking to comply with California regulations requiring automakers to reduce their emissions, General Motors has announced plans to give away thousands of electric vehicles over the next three years. The vehicles in question are literally modified golf carts (they have had seat belts, windshield wipers, and other parts added), and are only for use in […]

Walk Softly and Carry a Big Computer Model

Unless you live there, you probably haven’t been following the brouhaha in North Dakota. So here’s the skinny: The U.S. EPA insists that the state is in violation of air quality standards because of the high concentration of sulfur dioxide in the air at the otherwise-pristine Theodore Roosevelt National Park and a national wildlife refuge. […]

Umbra on diesel engines

Dear Umbra, Longtime reader; first-time writer. Love the column. My partner and I recently bought a small station wagon to replace our 4WD pick-up and ’83 sedan. After some debate, we chose a turbo-diesel engine that boasts about 45 miles per gallon instead of a gas engine, which gets about 30 MPG. Our thinking led […]

Umbra on picking the right car

Dear Umbra, In 1981, I bought my first car, a Honda Civic. It was a great car, and despite what certain congressional leaders say about car size and safety, an excellent vehicle for handling winter snow and ice in mountain driving in Steamboat Springs, Colo. The problem is that now, living in Pennsylvania, my husband […]