Environment and Health
A Green and Dirty Gift
As lawmakers scurried to keep the government open and head home for the holidays, they wrapped spending and tax deals into a costly measure that highlighted our nation’s mismatched energy policies. Specifically, this monster bill extended and restored tax incentives...
Pink Ribbons and Corporate PR Won’t Cure Cancer
Must everything be commercialized — even cancer? That’s a question more and more women suffering from breast cancer are asking about the so-called “pinkification” of their disease. They're referring to the ubiquitous breast cancer awareness campaign that uses pink...
A Big Fat Radioactive Lie
Not long ago, no billionaire worth his cufflinks would be caught dead without hurling bales of money at our nation’s educational system. They bankrolled charter schools, high-stakes testing, and the splintering of big high schools into smaller academies. Their failure...
How to Be a Merry Environmentalist
Here's something to consider this holiday season: Stop sending greeting cards. I know this sounds like a tip from the Grinch, but this well-meaning tradition causes very real environmental consequences. Americans mail over 1.6 billion holiday cards to each other each...
What’s Next after Kayaktivism in Oregon
Portland Mayor Charlie Hales recently took a step no other U.S. mayor in our country — and perhaps the world — has yet taken: He submitted a resolution to the city council calling for an end to all new fossil fuel infrastructure in the city. After listening to...
Indonesia on Fire
Students at the vocational high school in Pontianak, Indonesia always start their week with a ritual that's familiar to many American students: a flag-raising ceremony. They line up in the central courtyard to sing the national anthem and pledge their allegiance....
Who Can Follow This Climate Leader?
Remember that scene in the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy hits a fork in the Yellow Brick Road? As she stands there stumped, a friendly character who will accompany her to the Emerald Palace pipes up. “Pardon me, that way is a very nice way,” the Scarecrow advises as he...
Will This Lord of the Manor Get Locked Up?
Don Blankenship had it all. The West Virginia coal baron had personal wealth, absolute control over his workers, and unmatched political power that extended through every branch of state government — and deep into the back rooms of Washington policymakers. In the...
How a Pipeline Becomes a Trophy
Big Oil Can’t Go On Like This
Ensuring that our planet remains hospitable requires leaving about three-quarters of all oil, gas, and coal deposits underground or beneath the sea floor. And forgoing all those fossil fuels to avert a climate catastrophe means that loads of companies need to change...
