The Genuine Progress Indicator Could Provide an Environmental Measure of the Planet’s Health On October 17, 1995, Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) asked his colleagues in the Senate to rethink sacred notions of economic progress. “We are told daily that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in America is up, our economy is moving forward and we […]
Evidence shows that our meat-based diet is bad for the environment, aggravates global hunger, brutalizes animals and compromises our health…
The message is clear: Bottled water is "good" water, as opposed to that nasty, unsafe stuff that comes out of the tap. But in most cases tap water adheres to stricter purity standards than bottled water, whose source—far from a mountain spring—can be wells underneath industrial facilities. Indeed, 40 percent of bottled water began life as, well, tap water.
Our finite planet welcomed its six billionth citizen last year, and 10 billion will probably appear right around 2038.
The big, slow-moving Galapagos tortoise is one of the most endangered animals on Earth, confined to dwindling populations on just five islands. On one of these islands so memorably visited by Charles Darwin, a solitary male tortoise survives. Galapagos tortoises, which can grow to over 500 pounds, live to 100 and take 20 years to […]
From the time I was eight until I was 10, I lived in a pea-sized town down the road from the chemical plant and the munitions factory. Buffalo, Illinois had a bank, a grocery store, a post office and a park. And enough houses to hold three hundred people. This was where we moved, a few miles from my grandparents, after we left Phoenix.
Using the Community as a Classroom, Colleges are Rewriting the Standards for Environmental Education At American colleges, education is found all over: the computer room at 2 a.m.; athletic practice; the chemistry lab; even the local bar on Thursday nights. The lessons are as specific as the inner workings of a squid and as general […]
It’s right there in President Clinton’s 1998 Executive Order 13101. "Agencies," it says, "are encouraged to use all of the options available to them to determine the environmentally preferable attributes of products and services
" Unfortunately, the key word is "encouraged," rather than "required," and that means the federal government is moving at its usual incredibly slow pace.
Air pollution is one of the world’s oldest environmental problems. Now, on the cusp of the 21st century, we still can’t breathe easy.
Widespread Chemical Exposure Threatens Our Most Vulnerable Population We"ve all seen it: a mother crouched on the floor, arms outstretched, cooing to her baby as he lopsidedly plops first one hand, then the other, on the carpet, dragging his chubby knees behind him. His short journey complete, he rolls onto his well-padded bottom and proudly […]
