Environment activist // Current

Elizabeth Kucinich, a Leader in Her Own Right

If you haven't seen her yet, here she is. Elizabeth Kucinich is a brilliant and compassionate thinker who knows the issues... more

waynesumstine
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The World's Hardest Working Shaman

Western Shoshone leader, Corbin Harney talks about his prophetic conversation with the water

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GRIZZLY BEARS IN PERIL !!!!

We asked BioGems Defenders to tell us -- in their own words -- why they took action recently to protect threatened grizzly bears... more

bigdodo
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The old saying "You are what you eat" also applies to the animals we consume. That's not great news for conventional chickens or the people who eat them. Your average chicken feed contains some not-so-appetizing ingredients such as arsenic and rendered animal by-products. One thing you don't have to worry about is added hormones since it's against USDA regulations to feed them to any bird.

Many of the packaged birds we see in grocery stores were raised indoors on factory farms where thousands of chickens are crowded into small cages filled with the horrible stench of piled-up feces, rarely cleaned from the floors. Disease can spread easily under such confined conditions, so to prevent illness conventional chickens are routinely fed low dosages of antibiotics and arsenic, which also helps to fatten them up as quickly and cheaply as possible.

All the low-dose antibiotics administered aren't changing the fact that many chickens and eggs have salmonella and other bacteria that can make you sick if the food isn't cooked properly. Preemptive antibiotics found in poultry are also causing a rise in drug-resistant bacteria in the humans who eat them, so when people get sick with certain types of illnesses, common antibiotics may not work. Arsenic, a poisonous metal, causes cancer and may contribute to heart disease, diabetes, a decline in mental functioning, and hormone disruption, says the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy's David Wallinga, who also points out that these health effects are dose dependent -- the higher the exposure level, the higher the risk. Feed containing animal by-products can also be contaminated with dioxins and PCBs, probable carcinogens that accumulate in the fat of animals and get passed up the food chain.

Raising poultry and eggs can be tough on the environment, the animals, and the people who work on factory farms. Chicken waste becomes pollution; manure contaminates rivers and groundwater, and ammonia emissions from it can pollute the air. A lot of grain, water, and fossil fuels are used when raising chicken and eggs, although if they are raised locally at least they don't have to be shipped across the country. Animals are typically raised inhumanely, and workers aren't always treated well. The old saying "You are what you eat" also applies to the animals we consume. That's not great news for... more

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7 months ago

Seven Ways to Save Gas Right Now

Gas prices got you down? Save big at the pump with our simple car tips.

Pump It Up
Check your tire pressure. More than a quarter of all cars and nearly one-third of all SUVs, vans and pickups have under-inflated tires, according to a survey by the Department of Transportation. If we all keep our tires pumped up right, the nation could save 200,000 barrels of oil a day.

Slow It Down
Ease up on the pedal. Slowing down from 75 to 65 miles per hour will drop your highway gasoline consumption about 15 percent. That's money in your pocket.

Cut the Engine
If you're stuck at a freight train crossing, waiting to pick up a teenager or trapped in a huge traffic jam, turn off your engine. Across the country, idling cars waste millions of gallons of gasoline every day. If your wait is longer than 30 seconds, restarting the engine uses less gas than leaving it running.

Commute Smarter
Share a ride to work, telecommute or use transit. If your daily commute is just 10 miles each way (the national average) and you normally drive a 20-mpg vehicle, you would save 236 gallons of gas each year by opting to carpool, telecommute or use transit. If each commuter car carried just one more passenger once a week, we would cut America's gasoline consumption by about 7.7 million gallons.

Get in Tune
Take your car in for regular maintenance (check your owner's manual to find out how often your car needs a tune-up). Following the recommended maintenance schedule keeps your car running better and longer. A poorly tuned or poorly maintained engine can increase gasoline consumption by as much as 15 percent.

Use Good Motor Oil
Choose a fuel-efficient motor oil marked with an "Energy Conserving" label by the American Petroleum Institute. Motor oils with additives that reduce friction can increase a vehicle's fuel economy by 3 percent or more.

Buy an Efficient Car
If you're in the market for a new car, get one that uses less gas. Think about how big a vehicle you really need. Then compare models in the same class, and pick the one with the highest miles-per-gallon rating.Gas prices got you down? Save big at the pump with our simple car tips. Pump It Up Check your tire pressure. More than a... more

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7 months ago

NRDC urges U.S. and Canadian airlines to favor renewable energy over dirty fuel.

When it comes to scrutiny over carbon emissions, the airline industry has long gotten a free ride. That ride, however, is due for a landing. Global warming pollution from planes is expected to increase 60 percent by 2025, meaning airlines can no longer be exempt from carbon reduction efforts.

NRDC is urging the CEOs of 15 airlines and airfreight companies in the United States and Canada to embrace clean, renewable fuels and fuel efficiency instead of supporting dirty fuels made from coal, Canadian tar sands and oil shale.

These unconventional fuels are two to five times more polluting to produce than conventional oil, and extracting them devastates the environment. But both United and American Airlines have backed expanding the current million-barrel-per-day production of Canadian tar sands oil and JetBlue has supported liquid coal -- despite the harm caused by extracting and using these fuels.

The environmental consequences of using dirty fuels go beyond these fuels' tremendous contribution to global warming. Accessing tar sands oil requires tearing through the Canadian boreal forest, home to bears, lynx, caribou, songbirds and waterfowl. Meanwhile, liquid coal looms as the next big dirty fuel, with 10 U.S. facilities proposing to manufacture it. The process of turning coal into gasoline creates twice as much global warming pollution as turning conventional oil into gas; it also heightens the health and environmental problems faced in coal-mining regions. The third type of dirty fuel, oil shale, would be mined from public lands in the West, further depleting the region's already scarce water resources, threatening wildlife habitat and increasing air pollution.

Airlines can take two key steps to help usher in a sustainable energy future. First, rather than embracing dirty fuels, airlines can join the push for research and development of cleaner fuels, such as algae-based fuel and biobutanol, which can be made from sugar, beets, corn, wheat and straw. Second, airlines can improve their overall fuel efficiency. This can be accomplished through purchasing more fuel-efficient planes, such as Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner; better traffic control and routing; electric aircraft towing and fuel-saving descent practices.

Not all airlines are behind the curve when it comes to stopping global warming. Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic Airways has already signed on to invest in advancing biofuels and announced his intention to fly a Virgin Atlantic 747 on a 60 percent biofuel-kerosene mixture in 2008.
When it comes to scrutiny over carbon emissions, the airline industry has long gotten a free ride. That ride, however, is due for... more