Environment and Health
Life Comes at You Fast. Plan Ahead.
For some 45 years, it’s been my good fortune to team up with Susan DeMarco — my cohort, companion, and co-conspirator in all things progressive and fun. But life comes at you fast… often including an abrupt end to life. Sadly, after a blood clot had slammed into her...
If You Want to Kill Drug Dealers, Start with Big Pharma
At a recent rally in New Hampshire, Donald Trump called for the death penalty for drug traffickers as part of a plan to combat the opioid epidemic in the United States. At a Pennsylvania rally a few weeks earlier, he called for the same. Now his administration is...
The Mosquito Gap
How poverty, climate change, and bad policy put poor people at greater risk from pest-borne diseases.
Don’t Make the Border a Wasteland
Some Americans think of the U.S.-Mexico border as a wasteland. In fact, the mountains and deserts of our borderlands are teeming with wildlife. Here you'll find large cats like the jaguar, the subject of my research. Jaguar sightings have been reported in New Mexico...
To Believe In Science, You Have to Understand How It’s Done
I met a climate crisis denier today. It came out of nowhere. I was getting my camera repaired, and I was chatting with the repairman afterward. Just before I left, he dropped into our conversation that he didn't believe in manmade climate change. After all, the earth...
Clean Energy is Calling. Will Your Phone Company Answer?
There currently is a cavernous lack of leadership in our federal government on tackling climate change. Fortunately, cities, states, universities, and some businesses have stepped up to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and grow our renewable energy. But there’s...
Racism is Literally Killing African-American Mothers
At first glance, tennis star Serena Williams and the late activist Erica Garner don't have much in common. They lived different lives on different ends of the socioeconomic spectrum. But as black women in America, they both shared horrifying stories due to...
I’m an Eagle Scout, and I Don’t Want Pipelines in My Wilderness
I’m an Eagle Scout from Virginia. Troop 149, an enthusiastic and lively troop from Arlington, made me the person I am today. Being a member of Troop 149 meant a lot of things, but most importantly it meant incredible outdoor expeditions on the Appalachian Trail. The...
Mass Shootings Shouldn’t Be the Only Time We Talk About Mental Illness
After every mass shooting, we repeat all of the same things. Some call for gun control. Those against gun control say this isn't the time to talk about it. The Onion reprints its story titled, "‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens,"...
The Attorney General Thinks Aspirin Helps Severe Pain. He’s Wrong.
Recently Attorney General Jeff Sessions gave Americans suffering severe pain some advice: "People need to take some aspirin sometimes and tough it out a little." As someone who has suffered chronic pain for over 20 years, his remarks make me very angry. Sessions was...
