Currents

The recession may be officially over, but it doesn’t feel that way for anyone still out of work or working for less. Fortunately, money-saving tips are frequently planet-saving tips, too.

Nearing the end of a too-hot summer, the question everyone between New York and Delaware Bay is asking is: What does it take to be a real Jersey Girl?

In a surprise reversal of the notion that working from home or shopping online is an environmental alternative to driving, a new study finds that both activities increase one’s carbon emissions.

Water shortages across much of the developing world have serious implications for the future security of world nations. Author David Molden writes for the Science and Development Network that small-scale solutions are the key.

The company Pattern Energy Group—a wind and transmission developer—is planning to build a 400-mile transmission line in West Texas to bring Texas" wind power to the rest of the Southeast U.S.

High-speed rail, long seen as the missing element in the U.S. transportation picture, has finally begun in earnest. On September 17, the first significant high-speed rail project began construction in Illinois, using $98 million in funds from the Obama Administration’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Most chlorine plants in the U.S. have turned from old manufacturing processes requiring mercury to newer ones that don"t. But four chlorine plants still use the outdated process, releasing mercury emissions that later settle in the water and contaminate fish.

While it may be fashionable for politicians to acknowledge that our environment is in serious trouble, and many do work diligently to pass legislation to improve environmental protections, it’s nearly impossible to imagine any one of them saying to the public that there are—or will soon be—too many of us.

In his book Twelve by Twelve: A One Room Cabin Off the Grid and Beyond the American Dream (New World Library), author and aid worker William Powers recounts his life without modern entrapments. His solo adventure shines a revealing light on our busy lifestyles.