This April 22, Earth Day turns 44. The green movement is not aging well. Like today’s U.S. Republican Party, it has a diversity problem and speaks primarily to a narrow, graying demographic slice of the United States. In 2009, Francis Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) said to the New York Times: Our groups…Continue Reading…
When I want to escape the cacophony of civilization, I head to the country. I love to see all the grazing cows as I drive through a quaint rural backroad. The lush, wholesome scenery is exactly like the images on my organic milk and yogurt containers. Maybe I come across an antique shop, where I…Continue Reading…
One of the first and best critiques I read of contemporary environmentalism appeared in a well known progressive magazine. The author took the green movement to task for its romanticization of nature and “its deep suspicion of all things technological.” He also criticized environmentalism’s demonization of biotechnology and the “crusade” waged against it, which he…Continue Reading…
As a child of the suburbs, my first real contact with raw nature was in 5th grade, when a friend and I built a treehouse in the woods behind the apartment complex we lived in. (This was a two-year pit stop after my parent’s divorce.) No adults helped us. It was pretty awesome. I used…Continue Reading…
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…
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…
Henry David Thoreau famously wrote: In wildness is the preservation of the world. Since the late 1800s, the notion of wilderness as nature incarnate has been an animating force in American culture. A host of seminal, hugely influential environmental writers and activists, from John Muir and Aldo Leopold to David Brower and Edward Abbey, have…Continue Reading…
Carl Zimmer has a provocative story in Yale 360 that questions some conventional wisdom on exotic species. Alan Burdick’s terrific 2005 book tread similar ground. As I see it, anything that enlarges our understanding of nature and our role in shaping it (as urban ecology has done in recent years), is a good thing.
Bob Simon, the wildlife correspondent for 60 Minutes, offers an unvarnished perspective on naturalists and wildlife biologists, and why he loves animals. Earlier this week, he was interviewed by Ann Silvio, an editor with 60 Minutes Overtime. Check out the short video segment. Meanwhile, here’s the good stuff. Silvio: Is there something about doing animal…Continue Reading…