Environmental Policies
Although it's not much in vogue to praise President Obama, this week he gets my thanks for launching what history may record as one of the most significant steps to mitigate climate change taken by any...
View ArticleCities Take the Heat for Global Warming
Five years into his presidency, Barack Obama is finally addressing the most serious issue facing the planet: climate change. Of course, this week's proposed Environmental Protection Agency orders that...
View ArticleBiodynamic Farming: Poop in a Ram's Horn
Friends of Life in the Boomer Lane belong to a food coop. When they are out-of-town, she and Now Husband receive their share (30lbs of root vegetables). Or an extra loaf of bread. The bread (and...
View ArticleThis Is the Year to Grow Your Own Food
As farmers' markets pop up around the country, many Americans browse the stacks of multi-hued carrots, peppers and tomatoes and think, "I wish I could grow something like that." There's a common...
View ArticleNuclear Giant Exelon Blasts Wind
Exelon's Christopher Crane wants Congress to kill a wind tax break, despite the fact the nuclear industry wouldn't be viable today without decades of federal subsidies. Corporate executives often tout...
View ArticleThe Moon and Stars Watch Over the Wines of Avignonesi
The sun, moon and stars shine over the vineyards of Avignonesi as they do everywhere else in Tuscany, but the owner and winemakers of this 495-acre estate in Valliano di Montepulciano (below) probably...
View ArticleThe 'Smartest' Cities in the World
by John Wogan, CNTraveler.com A few visionary communities around the world are leading a revolution in "smart" urban planning. They're incorporating technology and environmentally friendly practices...
View ArticleHoly Pig! Put Down the Pork!
That's DISGUSTING!! From "I Love Bacon" t-shirts to events like the NY Bacon Fest, it's clear that pork is on the minds -- and plates -- of many foodies. But while pork is tantalizing taste buds,...
View ArticleMilan's EXPO 2015 'Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life' Also Feeds the Mind
Some events leave lasting impressions. I daresay that anyone who has visited Italy has returned with fond memories of their trip. Well, next year there will be one more reason to go -- and a compelling...
View ArticleWhy Are These Six States Defending Horrific Cruelty to Animals?
Egg Industry Magazine has predicted that 2015 will be "the year of the lawsuit." The reason, though the magazine would not frame it precisely this way, is that the egg industry is trying to defend the...
View ArticleWater Powers Urban Life
Sao Paulo, Brazil with the credit to Scott Warren There's good news and bad news for cities. The good news is that a new study of more than 200 global cities published this week in the Journal of...
View ArticleDug In on Drug Use in Horse Racing Industry
The integrity of international cycling has been tarnished because of confirmed cases of doping at the highest rungs of the industry, with Lance Armstrong's remarkable record nullified because of his...
View ArticleWhy Are We Laughing at Things That Make Chickens Suffer?
Originally posted at ASPCA.org It's not unusual -- though frankly still bizarre -- to see live and personified chickens in fast food commercials that encourage their own processing and consumption...
View ArticleDiane Feinstein's Unsettling Victory
For a Democrat, Dianne Feinstein's had a surprisingly troubled history with environmental organizations in her home state of California. And speaking as someone who's voted for her a few times now,...
View ArticleThe Five Biggest Threats to Our Oceans
When I give talks about how we have degraded our oceans to the cusp of catastrophe, people often ask me what they can do. If you want to save the oceans, by all means eat only sustainably sourced fish...
View ArticleKellogg and General Mills Should Come Clean About Their Climate Lobbying
This week the Obama administration announced its most ambitious effort yet to crack down on dangerous carbon pollution from U.S. power plants. As the Washington Post reported on Monday, "the...
View ArticleTaking Climate Change Seriously
Climate change is about people, not just science and politics -- it is an inter-generational ethics issue. The earth is the Lord's, and in Genesis, God entrusts us with caring for Creation. The earth...
View ArticleLeader of Attack on Obama Global Warming Plan? Rudy Giuliani's Firm
After the attacks of September 11, 2001, New York's Rudolph Giuliani became "America's Mayor," mobilizing his city and standing as a defiant foe of the forces of terrorism. Then, after the devastating...
View ArticleFighting Climate Change With Sensible City Planning
It is almost a tautology to declare that our future, and that of our children and their children, depends on how we shape our communities for the 21st century and beyond. Here in the US, we’re going...
View ArticleWhy the Carbon Rule Is a Bigger Deal than the Media Understands
The headline in Tuesday's NYT gave the top-line evaluation of the Obama Administration's power plant carbon rule: "Hopes Modest for Carbon Rules." Environmentalists had hoped that the Administration...
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