Last week, the Huffington Post unveiled a new science section. Science bloggers and science writers aren’t sure what to make of it. Some, such as Mark Hoofnagle, are cautiously hopeful. As he notes, the Huffington Post has up to now been notorious (at least in the science blogosphere) as a “clearinghouse” for “liberal crankery,” featuring things…Continue Reading…
I started Collide-a-Scape in January 2009, when I was a Fellow at the University of Colorado’s Center for Environmental Journalism ( CEJ). Initially, I envisioned blogging about the Southwest. It was to be a continuation of the energy, ecology, and archaeology stories I had already been writing during the 2000s, for various publications and for…Continue Reading…
So while American politicians and environmentalists slug it out over a proposed pipeline, China is stocking its rainy day shale and oil sands fund. Let’s start with the recent news out of Canada: China will take over full ownership over a Canadian oil sands project for the first time after Athabasca Oil Sands Corp announced…Continue Reading…
In a new post at the Yale Forum on Climate Change & the Media, I write: In 2011, there were numerous themes that ran through climate change media coverage: 1) crazy weather, 2) a litmus test for Republicans, 3) man bites dog, 4) evidence of an actual climate movement, and 5) futility. What’s that, you think…Continue Reading…
As you know, the world didn’t end last year, like it was supposed to. By now, this is an old story. Yet many people continue to be drawn to doomsday alerts. 2012 promises to be another banner year for failed end-of-world predictions. But instead of arbitrary biblical interpretations, attention will shift to a supposed Mayan…Continue Reading…
In north Texas, a resident blanches at the idea of major water restrictions kicking in because of the area’s drought: In Garland, it’s a major concern for resident Charlotte Piercy, who has lived in her neighborhood for 56 years. Piercy already hates her grass looking brown because of the Winter, but she fears, come the…Continue Reading…
Thanks for being a reader, and thanks to many of you for making this site a lively exchange of interesting perspectives, particularly on climate change related issues. Early next week, I’ll have a post up elaborating on a few new wrinkles to the blog. Meanwhile, I’d like to hear from you on something. What particular…Continue Reading…
I have a family member with some apparent gastrointestinal issues. The other night, while visiting, she was belching like a frat house drunkard. The episodes picked up in intensity after dinner. It was quite the entertainment for my two boys, who began gulping their grape juice to keep up with their best imitations. Amid the…Continue Reading…
The Economist has an excellent article about the “fate of India’s amphibians” and what is a universal conservation paradox: As economic growth has accelerated so, it appears, has the destruction of [India’s] forests. The Centre for Science and the Environment, a lobby group, reckons that the pace at which clearance permissions have been granted has…Continue Reading…
An archaeologist is peeved about the “craze over the supposed Maya prophecy of the end of the world in 2012,” which he says “is based on bogus, commercialized, fake claims.” Well, blow me down, are there any rational-minded people who would seriously entertain such a prophesy even if it came straight from a Carlos Castaneda…Continue Reading…