Two of the first five calves born at Ft. Peck Indian reservation this year. (Bill Campbell)

Blog posts about Earth's magnificent places and creatures were the most popular themes for unEarthed readers in 2012. By far the most-read post concerned Arctic drilling, followed by reports of bison being restored and wolves losing protection. Not shown in our top 10 blog posts, below, are the delightful tales of curious critters painted in words by our own Shirley Hao. Posts written years ago by Shirley are still being discovered and read by thousands of people every year.

And, now, for your enjoyment, we present our most-read posts of 2012:

The Pepco Benning Road Power Plant towers over the river. PCB waste allegedly comes from the plant and has ended up in the river.

We have spent more than 15 years championing the need for cleaning up the Anacostia River (as well as the Potomac River and Rock Creek). And what better reason than the fact that several District and Prince George County residents depend on the river for sustenance. This disturbing (you’ll know why in a moment) Washington Post article details the hundreds of anglers who fish the river, pulling out catfish, rockfish and carp, according to a study released by several groups, including the Anacostia Watershed Society. AWS is one of several environmental groups we’ve represented in numerous legal challenges.

According to the Post, nearly 75 percent of anglers consume part of their catch, despite a strong advisory to catch and release. Here are the facts: catfish bottom-feed in the Anacostia, where their food is mixed in with a cancer-causing stew of toxic metals and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

This is not good. What is particularly bad about this scenario, is that of the nearly 75 percent who catch these contaminated fish, most share it with people back home, dispersing these fish sometimes to pregnant women and children.

Vickie Simmons, a tribal member, stands in front of Reid Gardner Power Station.  (Chris Jordan-Bloch / Earthjustice)

In his address at the Tribal Nations Conference, President Obama spoke with his usual eloquence about invigorating growth on tribal lands, and the perfect example of this new growth is the Moapa solar project on the Moapa River Indian Reservation. Situated just 30 miles north of Las Vegas, the site will generate up to 350 megawatts of clean, renewable energy. It highlights in many ways the future of the nation’s energy supply, and unfortunately the Paiute Indians themselves know the industry’s cloudy past.

Just next to the reservation is the Reid Gardner Power Station. This coal-fired power plant generates more than just electricity; it produces more than 4,000 tons of toxic, arsenic-laden coal ash every year. This waste is stored in landfills near the power station, but often it does not stay there. On bad days, the wind sends the ash sweeping into the reservation, a condition some tribal members compare to a sandstorm. Locking the doors and staying inside is the only recourse on these bad days, and even that has not protected the Moapa Band of Paiutes. The locals have plenty to say about their health, ranging from headaches and dizziness to asthma and even serious heart conditions. The almost-50-year-old belching coal plant has plenty to answer for.

Still, the Moapa Paiutes are determined to show the world that there is a better way forward.

The results of a comprehensive study investigating the impacts of living near 378 coal plants in the United States have found that people of color and low-income communities are disproportionately more burdened by this pollution than any other segment of the population. Coal Blooded was pulled together by the NAACP, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO) and the Indigenous Environmental Network.