Last week, my Slate piece on environmentalism was read by many people who care (and write) about green issues. Some (okay, many of them) didn’t particularly like what I wrote. I felt the rumblings on Twitter and elsewhere. And I had planned on responding, but then the horrific tragedy on Friday happened, and I just…Continue Reading…
Like the debate on climate change and other societally important issues caught in the maw of our culture wars, the discourse on guns and violence has had a depressing, unchanging quality. Here’s President Obama two years ago: You see, when a tragedy like this strikes, it is part of our nature to demand explanations –-…Continue Reading…
In a perfect world, people would not let their ideology warp their thinking. In a perfect world, people would not use screechy hyperbole to fulminate against those who don’t share their position on a given issue. In a perfect world, James Delingpole, the flammable blogger for the UK’s Telegraph, would only be permitted to shriek about which…Continue Reading…
At 3pm on Friday and with a heavy heart, I scooped up my youngest from his kindergarten class. An hour later, I was in a packed school auditorium, videotaping his older brother and his fellow 3rd graders as they sang and danced in the school’s holiday show. It was a joyous occasion. But thoughts about…Continue Reading…
Discover magazine readers familiar with my byline know that I tackle science-related issues that are often controversial and that sometimes my take hits a nerve. For example, in recent months I’ve written a few pieces for Slate on genetically modified foods (see here and here) that got a fair amount of play (at least in…Continue Reading…
Life is funny. Thirty years ago, when I was a college freshman, I was most passionate about partying, skateboarding and writing for my school newspaper. This is when I fell in love with journalism. I wrote articles about the nuclear freeze movement in Europe, why I was an atheist, and about student government shenanigans. The…Continue Reading…
Which is better for the environment: Grass-fed or corn-fed cows? The question is not as simple as you might think. Eco-minded meat eaters tend to assume that free-ranging cattle nibbling on grassy pastures is superior to herded cows fattened on corn in concentrated animal feeding lot operations (CAFO’s). Slate explored this assumption in 2010. (There is also a similar…Continue Reading…
This is a fun and exciting announcement to make. It’s been nearly four years since I launched Collide-a-Scape midway through my fellowship at the University of Colorado’s Center for Environmental Journalism (CEJ). Initially, I had thought I’d blog on the intersecting cultural/environmental issues specific to the Southwest. Of course, since it was my blog, I had license…Continue Reading…
Paul Nurse, a geneticist and the President of the UK’s Royal Society, gave an address last month titled, “Advising Society on Science.” He discusses the most controversial issues that characterize public debate on climate change and genetically modified foods. Much of what he says strikes me as thoughtful and reasonable, though I see his comments…Continue Reading…
My wife, bless her heart, goes the extra mile to protect our two boys from ubiquitous nasties, like BPA chemicals, pesticides, and high fructose corn syrup. It’s a fairly impossible task to avoid such exposures in the modern world. Still, the kids have a virtual organic food diet and all our household cleaners are eco-friendly,…Continue Reading…