Monthly Archives : March 2013

Stoking Chemophobia

In recent years, people have become increasingly concerned about unwanted substances lurking in their furniture and food. These are industrial chemicals we are exposed to every day and that have been found to accumulate in our bodies, “endangering our health in ways we have yet to understand,” CNN asserted in 2007. In 2010, a New York…Continue Reading…

Green Fatigue

On Saturday, the International Herald Tribune (a global version of the New York Times) reported on its Rendezvous blog: “Environmental warning fatigue sets in.” The post was a quick summary of a new poll that reveals: Environmental concerns among citizens around the world have been falling since 2009 and have now reached twenty-year lows, according to…Continue Reading…

What's Not Blowing in the Wind

I’m often fascinated by what’s left out of environmental stories. Tim McDonnell has written a piece for Mother Jones that is picked up by the Guardian. It’s titled: “Why the U.S. still doesn’t have a single offshore wind turbine.” There is a major omission in this section on wind opponents: Blowback from “stakeholders”: Whale and bird…Continue Reading…

New Ecology Paper Challenges "Tipping Point" Meme

The state of humanity is getting better every day. On the whole, people are richer, healthier, and living longer than ever before. We are also a less violent species, it seems. Statistically speaking, my two boys, born in 2004 and 2007, can look forward to a nice long life. Several years ago, a Duke University demographer said:…Continue Reading…