Uncategorized Archives

Friday Finds: Predator vs. People

Environment loses in predator versus people standoff A new study has found that the decline of the world’s largest predators is wreaking havoc on the rest of the ecosystem, reports the Washington Post. Nature abhors a vacuum, and by killing off large sums of the world’s wolves, lions, buffalo and wildebeest, humans have inadvertently opened…

Playing Hide-And-Seek With Energy Efficiency Information

Today, we begin with a quiz: Which of the following should online consumers have to do to be able to evaluate the operating costs of an appliance? Scroll to the very bottom of a long page of text, then visit other websites and do the same until they have enough data points to make their…

EPA Dings Forest Service on Roadless Plan for Colorado

The Environmental Protection Agency found much room for improvement when it weighed in on the Forest’s Service environmental impact statement that analyzes a proposed rule to weaken protection for roadless lands in Colorado. Among the EPA’s concerns: the Forest Service proposed to grant the highest level of protection to about one-seventh of Colorado’s 4 million acres…

Obama's Monumental No-Show

Late in his administration, Bill Clinton attempted to build a conservation legacy worthy of Teddy Roosevelt by designating more than a dozen national monuments across the West. George W. Bush tried to undo that legacy. And President Barack Obama, to his dis-credit, has allowed the Bush-adopted, monument-undercutting status quo to remain, despite being the "hope-y, change-y"…

An Ill Wind Blows in Moapa

A giant cloud of toxic coal ash is seen blowing at the Moapa River Reservation.

It starts with a warning. Then it's just a matter of which way the wind blows.

Unplugged: DOE Approves Codes for Residential Buildings

(Updated 7/20) This week, the Department of Energy announced new energy efficiency standards for all low-rise residential buildings (like houses, row-houses and small apartments) and commercial buildings. This means all states will need to review and make a determination about their residential building codes by July 2013. DOE also committed to update the baseline standards…

Historic Numbers of Americans Call for Clean Air

How many Americans does it take to clean up dirty coal-fired power plants? 639,000. A coalition of public health, environmental and social justice groups delivered that number of public comments to the Environmental Protection Agency today at an event in Boston. This is a historic amount of support for air pollution standards that are projected…

OMG, GMOs: Organic Seed Farmer Frank Morton

This is the third in a series of Q & A's on genetically engineered food, which harm the environment by increasing pesticide use, creating pesticide resistant superweeds and contaminating conventional and organic crops.

Friday Finds: Schmuck Hunt

Republicans cutting enviro bills shoot themselves in the foot Republican measures to cut environmental programs that keep the nation’s air and water clean may prove foolish if they continue to ruffle the feathers of outdoorsmen, reports Politico. The angler and hunter crowd may typically swing conservative, but that could change if House Republicans continue their…