| Mar 9, 2016 | Environment / HealthAmerica’s military adventures — and, just as often, its misadventures — have inspired thousands upon thousands of books. But the military isn’t just in the business of inspiring books: Sometimes it bans them, too. The Pentagon recently announced that it was refusing...
| | Environment / HealthTeflon, you might have heard, may cause cancer. The culprit was a toxic, now retired compound called PFOA. Also known as C8, the chemical became the subject of a major lawsuit accusing DuPont — the manufacturer of the popular nonstick coating — of sickening thousands...
| Jan 13, 2016 | Environment / HealthNow that it’s already been phased out, the world can agree that a chemical used in Teflon — the famous coating on nonstick pots and pans — was toxic. A recent New York Times Magazine article told the story of the heroic victims who paid with their health and the...
| Dec 2, 2015 | Food / FarmingAsk anyone who’s lived through California’s drought: Water scarcity is getting scary. And banning long showers isn’t even a drop in the bucket when it comes to finding a solution. The biggest water sponge by far is food production, yet agri-giants continue to douse...
| Sep 23, 2015 | Food / FarmingWhen I began writing about agriculture nearly a decade ago, I learned quickly that people generally believed that Roundup, the best-selling weed killer made by Monsanto, was relatively harmless. Roundup breaks down quickly, everyone said — and into non-toxic...