According to a report from the Center for Climate Strategies and John Hopkins University, the implementation of a federal climate policy could create 2.5 million new jobs. With a stagnant economy and high unemployment rates, you have to ask: How can a new climate policy create that many new jobs? Job creation would occur in areas such as forestry and waste, energy supply, residential,......read more
More than a million homes and businesses along the nation’s coasts could flood repeatedly before ultimately being destroyed. Entire states in the Southeast and the Corn Belt may lose much of their agriculture as farming shifts northward in a warming world. Heat and humidity will probably grow so intense that spending time outside will become physically dangerous, throwing industries like......read more
This week, the Obama administration approved financial support for two new nuclear reactors in Georgia—the first plants built in the United States since the 1970s. Do nuclear power’s virtues (zero greenhouse emissions) outweigh its vices (cost and waste disposal)? That's the question posed to a group of academics and policy wonks on The New York Times' Room For Debate ......read more
In September 1964, Congress passed the Wilderness Act, which created a national system of protected natural areas. As environmental legislation goes, it is uncompromising. The definition of wilderness provided by the act is "an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.” But today, in the face of climate......read more
Here is the trailer for Last Call at the Oasis, the highly anticipated new documentary from Academy Award-winning director Jessica Yu. Inspired by Alex Prud'homme's book The Ripple Effect: The Fate of Fresh Water in the 21st Century, the film is a thorough examination ofthe global water crisis, with a focus on industrial and agricultural pollution in America and the drying of the Southwest. Last......read more
Kate Sheppard for The Huffington Post: Former Vice President Al Gore sees parallels between the last two and a half weeks of budget chaos on Capitol Hill and the climate crisis: Many will deny there's a problem -- until they are ultimately compelled to take action by forces beyond their control. "The tendency by many members of Congress to deny the reality of the government shutdown and the......read more
In 1971, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency embarked on a project to document the state of America's environment in images. With 15,000+ images, the Documerica Project [previously] is an important record of American life in the 1970s, before environmental legislation like the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act came to be. The Atlantic's In Focus recently hosted a week of Documerica......read more
This looks like it's gonna be good. Fall & Winter explores the nature of a planet at the crossroads. Traveling 12,000 miles across the United States, the filmmakers interviewed a diverse group of people whose lives and work intersect in many ways, and discovered a burgeoning movement that just may be humanity's saving grace. From the filmmakers' statement: This film presents the......read more
You abandoned single-use plastic water bottles long ago (obviously), but you've probably never seen a reusable bottle like this. The US-made Hydros Bottle includes a filter to get rid of nasties in sketchy water. "The Hydros Bottle is a filtering water bottle that turns questionable water – from public water fountains, bathroom taps, and kitchen skins – into crisp, clean water. Our......read more
When it comes to protecting the environment, House Republicans simply do not give a damn. Not only that, but they view economic prosperity and environmental sustainability as mutually exclusive endeavors, which is simply inaccurate and ignorant. The Interior and EPA spending bills are working their way through Congress, and Republicans are proposing massive reductions in both budgets. Boehner and......read more