A Greener Leap Year

A Greener Leap Year

What if an extra hour somehow slipped into your day? Aside from most Arizonans and all Hawaiians, Americans get to ponder this question in early November as Daylight Savings Time gets underway. I usually fill this gap with some combination of reading, cooking, and...
Natural Gas Becomes a Fracking Mess

Natural Gas Becomes a Fracking Mess

Until late last year, Laura Gideon’s family lived in Porter Ranch on the outskirts of Los Angeles. “We didn’t ever want to leave,” Gideon told the Associated Press. It’s “a nice gated community.” What uprooted them from one of LA’s wealthiest pockets? They became...
A Healthy Way to Build Communities

A Healthy Way to Build Communities

Mark Winne, an author and anti-hunger activist, often says that the most important word in “community garden” isn’t “garden.” I saw this firsthand not long ago. Standing in the sun between several small garden plots all morning, it may not have looked like much...
Now This Is Really Criminal

Now This Is Really Criminal

The media is fond of calling out our “do-nothing Congress.” Indeed, our national lawmakers’ last term was one of the least productive in history. But maybe that’s not such a bad thing. According to author John Whitehead, Congress has created, on average, 50 new crimes...
What’s Next after Kayaktivism in Oregon

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...