Environment and Health
A Fossil-Fueled Fantasy
Newfangled carbon-capture power plants supposedly burn coal without poisoning the planet. They don’t. Extracting coal from the ground and disposing of its toxic byproducts makes a dirty mess no matter how it’s burned. But this “clean coal” ruse is conjuring up...
Zigging and Zagging Down a Slippery Slope
GOP Climate Denial Syndrome Sweeps Wisconsin
It's well-known that harsh climate conditions can mess with your mind — from cabin fever to heat delirium. But America is now experiencing an even more dangerous disease: Climaticus Non-Vocalism Extremism. This syndrome almost exclusively afflicts a narrow segment of...
Virginia Is for Dirty-Energy Lovers
If you live in Virginia and would like to shrink your carbon footprint, here’s what passes for good news: We’re now officially free to ban fracking. For two years, Old Dominion communities weren’t at liberty to prevent that kind of oil and gas drilling. After the...
Dirty-Energy Supporters Cower before Hurricane Francis Strikes
Some of corporate America's biggest climate-change deniers — from Exxon-Mobil to the Koch Brothers — are dreading a potent storm that's gaining strength and headed right at them. It's the category-5 "Hurricane Francis," which threatens to overwhelm their flimsy...
Converting the Fossil-Fuel Fundamentalists
Kicking humanity’s addiction to oil, gas, and coal before those industries render the planet uninhabitable may take a miracle. So it’s a good thing that the climate movement found a patron saint. I’m talking about Pope Francis, of course. Before an upcoming encyclical...
Drink Outside the Box
I recently checked out an upscale yoga studio here in Madison, Wisconsin and discovered a new and disturbing trend: boxed water. Boxed water? OK, I've heard of boxed wine — and maybe even drunk a little. But water? The yoga studio in question appeals to a young,...
The Real Drug Racket
Al Capone, the infamous mob boss and bootlegger in Chicagoland during the 1920s, always maintained that he was just a businessman. The only difference between him and others, he insisted, was that the law criminalized his business while legalizing the criminality of...
Mindful Kids, Mindful World
I often ask my youngest yoga students, “What does it mean to be mindful?” “Mindful is when you pay attention to right now,” one of my first graders once responded. “Like your mind is full of just right now.” Pretty spot on. Researchers at Berkeley define mindfulness...
Coal’s Collateral Damage
Coal’s death throes are drawing closer, especially in Appalachia. Nearly three-quarters of the coal extracted from West Virginia, Virginia, and Kentucky these days is being mined at a loss. The number of coal companies declaring bankruptcy or edging toward it is...
