Blog

Getting America’s Lawns Off Drugs

March 5, 2008

Last week I wrote about how the Chicago nonprofit Safer Pest Control Project has been working to protect people from the harmful effects of toxic pesticides. In talking with the organization’s Executive Director, Rachel Rosenberg, I learned about how common it is for people to be exposed to chemical pesticides in public places without being aware, and how dangerous this can be for children. But even more insidious than the harm posed by toxins used to rid our homes and…

“Give Our Georgia Friends a Drink Day”

February 27, 2008

Tennessee officials have fired back a salvo at the state of Georgia, which recently passed resolutions aimed at “correcting” an 1818 survey and moving its border north to gain access to water from the Tennessee River. Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield’s response was to proclaim today, Wednesday, Feb. 27, “Give Our Georgia Friends a Drink Day” (GOGFADD?). To observe the day, Littlefield is dispatching his aide Matt Lea — in a coonskin cap, no less — to deliver a truckload of…

376 MPG Car Finds New Home

February 22, 2008

A standard car that got 376.59 mpg? In 1973? Where has it been hiding all these years? Well, the record-breaking 1959 Opel T-1 wasn’t exactly tucked into a crate among millions of other crates in a giant warehouse a la “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (“We have top men working on it right now.” “Who?” “Top men.”) But it did spend years, all but forgotten, at the Talladega, Alabama-based International Motorsports Hall of Fame until it was discovered — and…

Heat Waves, Drought and, Great, Now Giant Snakes

February 21, 2008

You know those stories you hear regularly from South Florida about giant escaped pythons wolfing down pet poodles? Well, a changing climate in the U.S. means you might have to keep Fifi safe from roaming invasive snakes even if you live as far north as Norman, Oklahoma. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) this week released new climate maps showing that Burmese pythons, an invasive species of snake now comfortably at home in the Everglades, could extend their range to as…

College: Ditch the Four Wheels, We’ll Give You Two

February 19, 2008

Ripon College is offering a free Trek mountain bike to new students who come to campus this fall and sign a pledge to leave their cars at home. Campus officials say their “Ripon Velorution Program” is the first such initiative in the U.S. A four-year liberal arts college founded in 1851, Ripon College is located in Ripon, Wisconsin. The state is also home to two Trek Bike factories, one in Waterloo and one in Whitewater.

Korea Excels at Recycling; Koreans Unaware

February 19, 2008

My “I’m a Californian, so what could I learn about recycling from Korea?” attitude was shattered on my first day in Seoul. It happened innocently enough. I just dipped into a corner store and was drop-jawed at what I found out: every food store in Korea has customer recycling and compost bins. In fact, homes and businesses all over Korea recycle and compost as a general rule. More than 40% of solid waste is recycled and about 55% of food…

Thai Monks Combat Deforestation

January 19, 2008

If the foot feels the foot when it feels the ground, as the Buddha said, then does the hand feel the hand when it feels a tree? Due to commercial and illegal logging, the rate of deforestation in Thailand has been one of the highest in Asia. Most of the primary forest in Thailand is gone, with secondary forest only covering roughly 20% of the land area. This is compared to over 70% forest cover prior to World War II.…

Unbelievable UK Nuclear Decision

January 10, 2008

It doesn’t matter which UK news source you choose. It’s a story that overshadows all others today. Britain has decided to return to nuclear power in a big way. No matter that one of our former environment ministers was interviewed earlier and stated categorically what an absolutely ill-advised decsision this is. Gordon Brown’s government have today made the nuclear decision official. One of the arguments for this decision is that the government states that it will help them tackle CO2…