The Forecast

The Forecast has gone home to Railroad Earth's new website! See you there!

2009-08-23T14:51:00.000-07:00

Go to Railroad Earth at www.railroadearth.com

An Ecological Stimulus

2009-08-16T17:16:00.000-07:00

by Stacy Small(Conservation Scientist from Environmental Defense Fund) (from Bioscience)Washington, DC, is abuzz with economic stimulus. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 invests $787 billion in the domestic US economy, giving priority to “shovelready” infrastructure projects, mostly in transportation and energy. Conventional definitions of infrastructure emphasize manufactured

Why I hope the EWG is wrong

2009-08-08T20:45:00.000-07:00

Posted by Lynn Miller in Legislation on August 1, 2009No one makes a habit of displaying the inside of their medicine cabinet. But I’m doing it to make a point.The other night I took my skeptical husband to watch the filming of what’s being billed as “ ‘Inconvenient Truth’ for environmental health.” The Environmental Working Group’s President, Ken Cook, has presented “10 Americans” to countless

Human Activity Driving Earth’s “Sixth Great Extinction Event”

2009-07-30T18:34:00.000-07:00

By Tom Schueneman from EcoWorldyAccording to research recently published in the journal Conservation Biology, Earth is now experiencing its “sixth great extinction event” with disease and human activity as the major driver, leaving a devastating toll on vulnerable species, particulary in the South Pacific and southern hemisphere. * » See also: Madagascar: A Biodiversity “Hot Spot” for

Wal-Mart plans green ratings for its products

2009-07-19T07:30:00.000-07:00

July 17, 2009By Andrea Chang from The Los Angeles TimesIf they green it, will we shop? Wal-Mart Stores Inc. officially unveiled its widely rumored plan Thursday to slap "eco-ratings" on the hundreds of thousands of products in its stores. The world's largest retailer is betting that shoppers increasingly will care how green their purchases are -- and maybe even pay more for environmentally

Nature's 10 simple rules for survival - a look at Adam Werbach's Strategy for Sustainability

2009-07-10T07:04:00.000-07:00

From Examiner.com by Christa Avampato Adam Werbach recently published Strategy for Sustainability: A Business Manifesto. He's had an interesting, tumultuous career in the environmental space. At age 23, he was elected as the youngest president of the Sierra Club ever to serve. In 2006, he

Five Tips for A Greener 4th

2009-07-03T08:58:00.000-07:00

By Sarah F. Kessler frojm The Green LifeWhat for many Americans is the highlight of summer—the picnics, parades, and fireworks of the 4th of July—can be less than ideal for the planet. Let Earth in on the celebration this year by making these simple green choices:1. Grill intelligently: An estimated 60 million people fire up their grills on Independence Day, spewing about 225,000 metric tons of

Climate Change & Wildlife Ecology 101

2009-06-22T06:34:00.000-07:00

By Stacy L. Small, Ph.D. - Environmental Defense Fund Conservation Scientist The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported in 2007 that global air and ocean temperatures over the past 50 years are higher than any other 50 year period in the last 500 years; likely the highest they've been in the past 1300 years. Furthermore

Agriculture Holds the Key to Solving Global Warming

2009-06-15T21:38:00.000-07:00

By Barbara Kessler from Green Right Now ABC7, June 2, 2009Agriculture, so often cited as a factor in global decline - for claiming natural grasslands that store carbon, soil erosion and pesticide runoff - could become a big part of the solution to global warming, according to a hopeful report by Worldwatch Institute released today.Innovations in food production and land use that are ready to be

With green home venture, Sierra Club mixes profits with passion

2009-06-10T06:50:00.000-07:00

By Todd Woody from GristIt’s not unusual these days for big green groups to get in bed with business, but one of the oldest and most-respected environmental organizations—the Sierra Club—is going them one better by getting into business itself. The San Francisco-based Sierra Club has launched a for-profit online venture called Sierra Club Green Home as a one-stop shop for information and services

Ecological Intelligence

2009-06-01T10:38:00.000-07:00

By Brian Walsh from Time, 10 Ideas Changing the World Right NowWhen it comes to going green, intention can be easier than action. Case in point: you decide to buy a T shirt made from 100% organic cotton, because everyone knows that organic is better for Earth. And in some ways it is; in conventional cotton-farming, pesticides strip the soil of life. But that green label doesn't tell the whole

Adverse Health Effects of Plastics

2009-05-26T17:18:00.000-07:00

From The Ecology Center In addition to creating safety problems during production, many chemical additives that give plastic products desirable performance properties also have negative environmental and human health effects. These effects include Direct toxicity, as in the cases of lead, cadmium, and mercuryCarcinogens, as in the case of diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP)Endocrine

Power from the People: The developing world generates innovative strategies for renewable energy

2009-05-17T18:45:00.000-07:00

From Utne Reader, May/June 2009 by Elizabeth Ryan At a time when phrases like “climate crisis” and “global warming” are bandied about to the point of fatigue and sustainable energy is becoming a necessity rather than a talking point, perhaps it’s time we took a cue from the developing world, where solutions to dire energy shortages are readily emerging.Over the past four years, for instance,

Climate Change in Pictures

2009-05-12T07:25:00.000-07:00

By Laura Shin from Green Inc. In a recently published book, Gavin Schmidt, founder of RealClimate.org, attempts to tell the story of climate change in pictures. Gavin Schmidt, a NASA climatologist, has in many ways become the news media’s conscience on climate science, exposing exaggeration and opinion in climate coverage on the blog he founded,

Human Nature

2009-05-04T13:00:00.000-07:00

by Mark Dowie from Guernica Is modern conservation linked with ethnic cleansing? In an excerpt from his new book, the investigative historian explores the concepts of wilderness and nature, and argues that the removal of aboriginal people from their homeland to create wilderness is a charade.One way to guarantee a conversation without a conclusion is to ask a group of people what nature is.—

We Believe Global Warming is Happening, Just Not Necessarily to Us

2009-04-27T07:29:00.000-07:00

by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden from Treehugger (April 27, 2009)The inverted pyramid shows we believe climate change is affecting everyone more than us.A survey of 2,164 adults by George Mason University and the Yale Project on Climate Change discovered some of the distressing ways in which we humans just can't see to think very long term: just 32 percent of the Americans surveyed believe

Wolves back in the crosshairs after Salazar decision to remove federal protection in the Northern Rockies

2009-04-20T07:25:00.000-07:00

From Defenders of Wildlife, April 1, 2009WASHINGTON – Tomorrow, the rule removing wolves in the Northern Rockies from the list of endangered and threatened species is expected to be published in the Federal Register. It will take effect on May 4, after which wolves throughout Idaho, Montana, and parts of Utah, Oregon and Washington will no longer receive any protection under the

Breaking the silence about Spring

2009-04-12T20:50:00.000-07:00

By eric from RealClimateDid you know that in 1965 the U.S. Department of Agriculture planted a particular variety of lilac in more than seventy locations around the U.S. Northeast, to detect the onset of spring — in turn to be used to determine the appropriate timing of corn planting and the like? The records the USDA have kept show that those same lilacs are blooming as much as two weeks earlier

The Amazing Benefits of Grass-fed Meat

2009-04-06T12:44:00.000-07:00

By Richard Manning from Mother Earth News Converting cropland to perennial pastures produces healthier meat, builds better soil and combats climate change.I have been fascinated by the permanence and healing power of grassland for 15 years now. If we respect the great original wisdom of the prairies, I’m convinced we can heal the wounds inflicted on the American landscape by industrial

Food scare! Would new food-safety legislation 'criminalize organic farming'?

2009-03-30T16:15:00.000-07:00

By Tom Philpott from GristmillThe Internets are abuzz with accounts of a House bill, allegedly sponsored by Monsanto and pushed through Congress by its lackeys, that would "criminalize organic farming" and even backyard gardening. The object of frenzy: H.R. 875, known as the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009, a bill that attempts to bolster the broken food-safety system. Here's how one

Breathing Queasy: Improving Indoor Air

2009-03-23T11:40:00.000-07:00

by Laura Sevier, from the Ecologist So much for home sweet home. When it comes to air quality, chances are you’re better off wandering the fume-filled streets of any major city than sitting at home in front of the television.Take your favorite sofa, for instance. Particles of the fabric can abrade and be taken up by your nose, mouth, and lungs. These particles are likely to contain “mutagenic

The Little Things That Run the World

2009-03-15T15:16:00.001-07:00

By Ron Sullivan and Joe Eaton (from SF Chronicle, April 2, 2008)Here's another opportunity to do your bit for science without leaving your yard. San Francisco State University biologist Gretchen LeBuhn wants you to grow a sunflower - not just any old sunflower, but the North American native species Helianthus annuus - and monitor the bee traffic once it blooms. It's called the Great

Ten Tips for Budding Young Conservationists

2009-03-09T11:48:00.000-07:00

Written by Sanjayan from Cool Green Science“What skills do I need to get a job in conservation”? I visit dozens of states and speak to literally thousands of people each year, often students. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the one question I get over and over again revolves around preparations for a job in conservation. Unfortunately, my answers are not always timely enough for those on the verge of

Birds of America - Canaries in the Climate Change Coal Mine?

2009-03-02T10:24:00.000-08:00

By Dave Mehlman from Cool Green Science: The Conservation Blog of The Nature ConservancyMy colleagues at National Audubon have just released a detailed analysis of the response of birds in North America to climate change — you can read the full report here. A lot of my past research has been in the field of biogeography and changes in avian distribution, so I find this work very exciting and

Got Manure? These Trucks Run on It

2009-02-24T11:49:00.000-08:00

By Ben Mack from Wired Blog NetworkA California dairy has converted a pair of 18-wheelers to run on biomethane produced from cow manure, creating what is believed to be the nation's first cow-pie–powered trucks. Hilarides Dairy will use manure produced by 10,000 cows to generate 226,000 cubic feet of biomethane daily — enough to reduce the Central Valley farm's diesel fuel consumption by 650

Unprecedented Investment in Restoring Our Battered Environment

2009-02-17T12:54:00.000-08:00

By Bob Bendick from The Nature Conservancy's Cool Green ScienceOn Friday, Congress approved a $787 billion Economic Stimulus Bill that will now be signed into law by President Obama. While the analysts are busy debating the politics of the bill and its likely impact on America’s battered economy, there is one aspect of this legislation that, thankfully, seems quite certain — it will provide

Here come the plastics ambassadors!

2009-02-09T06:52:00.000-08:00

By Lisa Frack from Environmental Working Group's Enviroblog) Good news, everyone! The Plastics Division of the American Chemistry Council and the Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. are rolling out a new 'plastics ambassador' program. You'll be happy to know that this is part of the industry's plan to 'aggressively respond to the onslaught of misinformation about their industry.' Because,

While The Cat's Away: How Removing An Invasive Species Devastated A World Heritage Island

2009-02-02T13:16:00.000-08:00

ScienceDaily (Jan. 13, 2009) — Removing an invasive species from sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island, a World Heritage Site, has caused environmental devastation that will cost more than A$24 million to remedy, ecologists have revealed. Writing in the new issue of the British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology, they warn that conservation agencies worldwide must learn important lessons

Get Radical. Get Some Rest.

2009-01-26T14:35:00.000-08:00

by Matt Carmichael, from Resurgence (from Utne.org) In Prozac Nation, a memoir that struck a chord with millions of readers, Elizabeth Wurtzel writes, “I don’t want any more of this try, try again stuff. I just want out. I’ve had it. I am so tired. I am 20 and I am already exhausted.” Despite the fact that we are surrounded by labor-saving devices, despite the elevation of convenience and

Five Conservation Priorities for the Obama Administration

2009-01-21T09:35:00.000-08:00

By Bob Bendick from The Nature Conservancy In the first sentences of his inaugural address on January 20, President Barack Obama spoke of the threat to our planet from the way we use energy. The environment is once again on the front page. But, then, the history of conservation in this country has never been linear. Progress has come in fits and starts in response to disasters, to scientific

Obama's Inaugural Speech

2009-01-20T15:47:00.000-08:00

Text of President Obama's inaugural address on Tuesday, as prepared for delivery and released by the Presidential Inaugural Committee.My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has

Neil Young gives gas guzzlers a new life -- as tire-smoking hybrids

2009-01-11T08:36:00.000-08:00

By Sean Callebs, CNNOn a beautiful, crisp late fall afternoon, rock icon Neil Young took his 1959 Lincoln Continental for one last spin before a team of mechanics ripped out its gas-guzzling engine to make way for an electric motor.Car buffs may think it's sacrilege to tear apart an automotive classic, but Young wants it to have a new life as a fuel-efficient hybrid."If we're going to make a

America’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2007: Upper Delaware River, New York

2009-01-04T18:57:00.000-08:00

From American Rivers Threat: Proposed Power Line Summary One of America’s first Wild and Scenic Rivers, the Upper Delaware River now faces a threat that would not only harm the river, but set a chilling precedent for the rest of our nation’s river treasures. A corporation has proposed a massive new power line that would cut through the Upper Delaware River

Climate Change: what we've learned in 2008

2008-12-29T08:13:00.000-08:00

from Nature ReportsWhat we've learned in 20081. Other greenhouse gases are also worryingScientists have long been aware of greenhouse gases other than carbon dioxide, but CO2 has received most of the scientific and public attention owing to its prevalence in fossil fuel emissions and its long atmospheric life. However, scientific research published this year suggests that other heat-trapping

How Green Can a Christmas Tree Be?

2008-12-22T07:20:00.000-08:00

By ANNE RAVER from the New York Times, December 4, 2008 Locally grown, pesticide-free food is gaining sway these days because it is fresh, healthy and supports area farmers. But how many of us give the same kind of thought to the Christmas trees we bring home? Can you decorate your Fraser fir without getting pesticide residue in your lungs and on your skin? Sure, if the tree is

Farmer in Chief

2008-12-16T12:28:00.000-08:00

By Michael Pollan Dear Mr. President-Elect, It may surprise you to learn that among the issues that will occupy much of your time in the coming years is one you barely mentioned during the campaign: food. Food policy is not something American presidents have had to give much thought to, at least since the Nixon administration — the last time high food prices presented a serious

Acorn Watchers Wonder What Happened to Crop

2008-12-08T18:28:00.000-08:00

By Brigid SchulteWashington Post Staff WriterSunday, November 30, 2008The idea seemed too crazy to Rod Simmons, a measured, careful field botanist. Naturalists in Arlington County couldn't find any acorns. None. No hickory nuts, either. Then he went out to look for himself. He came up with nothing. Nothing crunched underfoot. Nothing hit him on the head. Then calls started coming in about crazy

Oregon Forest Heritage on the Bush Administration's Chopping Block

2008-12-01T17:50:00.000-08:00

from Sierra Club, Oregon chapter The Bush Administration has just released its final plan to significantly increase logging on 2.6 million acres of public land in western Oregon by clearcutting and reducing protections for salmon-bearing creeks and streams. Rising out of an agreement between the timber industry and the Bush Administration, the Bureau of Land Management's 'Western Oregon Plan

Working With the Enemy

2008-11-25T07:19:00.000-08:00

by Danielle Sacks, originally in Fast Company, December 19, 2007.“To this day, they won't speak to me," says Adam Werbach. His clients--or rather, his old clients--fired him when word got out last year that he was doing work for Wal-Mart. Of course, many people make compromises to do business with the largest company in the world--accept lower profit margins, absorb relentless performance

Court rules for Navy in dispute over sonar, whales

2008-11-18T09:51:00.000-08:00

By Mark Sherman, Associated Press (November 12, 2009)WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday lifted restrictions on the Navy's use of sonar in training exercises off the California coast, a defeat for environmental groups who say the sonar can harm whales.The court, in its first decision of the term, voted 5-4 that the Navy needs to conduct realistic training exercises to respond to

FDA decision on safety of BPA 'flawed'

2008-11-11T12:45:00.000-08:00

USA Today, Liz SzaboPublished October 31, 2008GAITHERSBURG, Md. — A Food and Drug Administration advisory board voted today to say that the agency ignored critical evidence suggesting that a controversial plastic chemical bisphenol A, or BPA, could harm children. The FDA's science board, a group of outside experts, voted unanimously to endorse a report that found major flaws in the agency's

Revealing comments on coal from Obama — and even more revealing comments from McCain

2008-11-03T19:47:00.000-08:00

From Climate Progress:The right wing has gone ballistic over a newly leaked tape of Obama talking about the impacts of a mandatory cap on carbon emissions. The leading conservative website, the Drudge Report, had (somewhat surprisingly) downplayed the issue yesterday but now has three “above the fold” links in red:"Palin Unleashes New Attack Against Obama On Coal…Audio: Obama Tells Paper He Will

Hiring Mother Earth To Do Her Thing

2008-10-27T09:55:00.000-07:00

Are capitalists the new conservationists? by E.B. Boyd, from Whole Life Times If you started at scenic Bethany Beach on the Delaware shore and drove due west on Route 26 for 10 miles, you’d hit the town of Dagsboro. Pass through town, drive a few more miles west, and you’re in Cypress Swamp Forest Legacy Area. Last year, the land’s owner, a timber company, sought to sell the

Tell World Leaders Urgent Climate Change Action Cannot Wait for a Return to Economic Hyper-Growth

2008-10-19T15:20:00.000-07:00

By Climate Ark, a project of Ecological Internet - October 5, 2008Climate change and the bad economy are both symptoms of the same growth-based "ecological bubble". Tell governments to urgently address climate change despite the economic downturn, as both Wall Street and Main Street must realize that without ecosystems there can be no economy.Wall Street's sickness of growth at any cost, and its

Out in the world, into your breath

2008-10-12T17:51:00.000-07:00

By Tom SienstraA Hoopa tribal elder called it "going invisible." My expedition partner calls it "getting into your breath." One of the nation's leading wildlife instructors for children calls it "watching your wake." "You have to go into the woods like you're invisible," said the late Jimmy Jackson, a tribal elder for the Hoopa tribe on the Trinity River. "Then you'll start seeing all kinds of

Wagging the Dog - do you know where your candidate stands on the environment?

2008-10-06T12:46:00.000-07:00

The economy, climate change, energy - there's a lot of important issues facing America this election year. Do you know where your presidential candidate stands on the issues? This week The Forecast looks at the energy and environmental stances of our Democratic and Republican Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates.Presidential Candidates and the issues BiofuelsObama: Calls for 60 billion

Living in a plastic bubble, a bubble in a plastic world

2008-09-28T20:30:00.000-07:00

What is the most common thing floating on the surface of our oceans today? Most people would be astonished to learn that it’s plastic garbage. Scientists estimate that 25% of the earth’s surface is covered with floating plastics debris. Scientists recently discovered a a floating island of plastic the size of Texas in the Pacific Ocean. Charles Moore, the scientist who discovered the “Great

Stemming the tide of invasive species

2008-09-21T21:44:00.000-07:00

The second biggest threat to biodiversity in the world is human-caused biological invasions by introduced species (the first is habitat destruction in its many forms). Biological invasions represent an important facet of global environmental change, the unprecedented opportunity for accidental and deliberate human-aided dispersal of species to new environments. Untold numbers of plants, animals

Fire on the Mountain

2008-09-13T17:13:00.000-07:00

This summer I had my first personal experience with wildfire, previously having studied fire ecology in graduate school and visited many wildfire sites to study the effects of fire on the forest vegetation. But that was always after the ground had cooled and the firefighters had gone home. On June 21st we witnessed the lightning strike during a freakish dry lightning storm on summer solstice and

Al Gores Issues Energy Challenge to America

2008-08-29T13:23:00.000-07:00

On July 17, 2008, former Vice President Al Gore challenged America to end our reliance on carbon based fuels within 10 years. To address his critics that say that we need more time, Gore replies that the world’s leading climate scientists have predicted that we have “less than 10 years to make dramatic changes in our global warming pollution lest we lost our ability to recover from this

Think Globally, Eat Locally

2008-08-29T13:00:00.000-07:00

When I started doing research for possible topics to explore for The Forecast, I was initially overwhelmed by the shear number of green-related topics I thought were important. Reducing our dependence on non-renewable resources, combating global climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, saving our collapsing fisheries, invasive species and habitat destruction threatening habitats and