With a suddenness that has taken us all by surprise, the era of cheap and abundant food appears to be drawing to a close. The good news is that the twinned crises in food and energy are creating a political environment in which real reform of the food system may actually be possible for the first time in a generation. [...more]
New research shows rights-based approaches necessary and cost-effective; call for independent advisory and auditing to support UN action on climate change [...more]
Exactly 20 years have passed since Dr. James E. Hansen of NASA first testified to Congress on June 23, 1988 that global temperatures had risen beyond the range of natural variability. Waiting another 20 years before taking decisive action is not an option. [...more]
An article in the current issue of Environmental Health Perspectives highlights the connection between animal agriculture and the most pressing environmental issue of our time—climate change. Published in the peer-reviewed journal of the U.S. government's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, a subdivision of the National Institutes of Health, the piece written by staff members of The Humane Society of the United States will reach public health and environmental experts and policy makers worldwide. [...more]
Campaign Is First Ever National Consumer Initiative to Address Climate Change Crisis through Food Choices Sign-On “Cool Foods” Pledge Encourages Restaurants and Food Retailers to Reduce Their “Foodprint” by Making Responsible and Sustainable Food Choices New York, NY, April 16th, 2008 - This afternoon the Center for Food Safety and the CornerStone Campaign announced the launch of the [...] [...more]
In the first experiment in a natural environment, Brown University scientists have shown that greater plant diversity significantly enhances an ecosystem’s productivity. The finding, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, underscores the importance of biodiversity to an ecosystem’s value, such as capturing the global warming gas carbon dioxide. [...more]
A lot of people come to the climate change issue as environmentalists. Environmentalism is diverse, but I would say that a common denominator for environmentalists is that they are concerned with the negative impact of human activity on the ecosystems that sustain life on the planet and want to make changes that reduce that negative impact — or have no impact or positive impact. But having agreed on this, there are many different views within environmentalism. [...more]
Forest and climate change campaigner Jutta Kill explains why planting trees is no substitute for reducing pollution. [...more]
Coal-fired power doesn't pay. That's the lesson that electric utilities are learning, as the price of renewable energy continues to drop, as state and local regulators increasingly favor renewable power, as alarm grows about the health concerns from burning coal, and as more energy consumers demand cleaner power. [...more]
Findings have major implications for climate change policy Turning native ecosystems into "farms" for biofuel crops causes major carbon emissions that worsen the global warming that biofuels are meant to mitigate, according to a new study by the University of Minnesota and the Nature Conservancy. [...more]
