Studies have shown that we are psychologically healthier when we spend time around trees and in woods. But time constraints and the stress of daily life often limit our interactions to a quick appreciation of the bottom few feet of a few trees from ground level. There is another way, a way that utilizes rope and modern techniques to rekindle this ancient relationship: Recreational Tree Climbing (RTC).
The late Rachel Carson wrote the influential 1962 book Silent Spring that detailed how pesticides like DDT were wiping out America’s birds. Her far-reaching influence gave birth to the modern environmental movement. But does that make Carson a national hero?
Environmentalists are hoping that pressure from the world’s other industrialized nations will spur the U.S. government to finally take action on setting strong mandatory curbs on the emission of greenhouse gases.
Last week, two leading environmental groups, the Pew Charitable Trusts environmental program and the National Environmental Trust, agreed to join forces. The merged entity, with 80 staffers and an annual budget topping $70 million, qualifies as one of the largest environmental advocacy organizations in the world.
A new banner with the words "A Greener Apple" cropped up on Apple Inc.’s website recently, linking to a personal letter from company founder and CEO Steve Jobs proclaiming that the company is finally going green. In the letter, Jobs writes that consumers, employees, shareholders and the industry "want us to be a leader in [green practices], just as we are in the other areas of our business. So today we’re changing our policy."
It’s a very inconvenient truth: The organized environmental movement has been almost totally ineffective at protecting the environment since the mid 1980s.
Julie MacDonald, a senior Interior Department official criticized by environmentalists for revising scientific reports to minimize protection of endangered species, resigned her post last week. Critics charge that MacDonald, a civil engineer by training, repeatedly instructed federal biologists to change their recommendations on identifying "critical habitats" for threatened wildlife in order to favor development and resource extraction interests.
Two leading environmental groups, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Earthjustice joined the state of Massachusetts last week in filing a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The suit charged the DOE with failing to update energy-efficiency criterion for commercial heating and cooling equipment when it released new standards this past March.
Biking in Beijing is downright unhealthy. With more than 1,000 new cars on the roads every day and drastic construction underway for the 2008 Olympics, fewer people are biking to get around. Dust and particulate matter from construction and industry together with the toxic emissions of 2.6 million vehicles have transformed a practical exercise and enjoyable commuting option into a gamble with respiratory disease. Add the danger of crowded traffic and novice drivers, and biking in China quickly loses its appeal.
PepsiCo made history last week when it announced it would become the nation’s largest corporate purchaser of green power. The company will work with Sterling Planet, a renewable energy provider, to find and buy the certificates to account for the electricity used for all of its U.S.-based manufacturing facilities, distribution centers, regional offices and headquarters.
