Environmental

I remember when people changed the oil in their cars and trucks themselves. Most of us dumped it around a utility pole or fence post. On the farms where I put up hay, they dumped it into gullies. Nobody knew better. What we called a gully, nature calls a stream – a seasonal, or “ephemeral” stream, but a stream nonetheless. …

Soaring almond prices, drought, and the future of food. With climate change making drought an inescapable part of America’s future, we need to act now to conserve agricultural water and prevent runaway – Mark Hertsgaard The almond harvest is almost complete in California, where a drought that may rank as the harshest in 500 years is pushing the price of …

Dear EarthTalk: What are some of the more dangerous threats to our air quality and what can be done to eliminate them so we can all breathe more easily?              — Melanie Smith, Pomfret, CT The main threats to local air quality across the United States (as well as most everywhere else) remain smog and particulate pollution, which combined or acting …

Pine sawflies, (members of the order of Hymenoptera), normally attack white pines and other ornamental pines two times during the year; once in the spring when the first batch that wintered over emerges and again later in the summer when eggs laid in the current season hatch.  This year, perhaps because of our exceptionally warm winter we seem to have …

Dear EarthTalk: I recently heard that Sweden is the greenest country in the world. Is this true and, if so, by what standards? And where does the U.S. rank?                  — Raul Swain, New York, NY Sweden topped the recently released environmental sustainability ranking of 60 countries by the Global Green Economy Index. The rankings take into account a wide range of key issues, …

Dear EarthTalk: What’s the latest on efforts to ban plastic bags? How many U.S. locales have instituted some kind of ban, and have these initiatives made a dent in the amount of plastic litter? — Melinda Clarke, New York, NY California made big news recently when it announced the first statewide ban on plastic shopping bags set to kick in …

Dear EarthTalk: A friend of mine recently stopped using skin and beauty products with parabens in them. What are parabens and should we all be avoiding them? — Betsy Johnson, Port Chester, NY First commercialized in the 1950s, parabens are a group of synthetic compounds commonly used as preservatives in a wide range of health, beauty and personal care products. If …

Dear EarthTalk: How is it that some food purveyors are contributing to the destruction of tropical rainforests by ditching unhealthy “trans fats?”                                        – Billy S., Salem, OR Most public health advocates applaud efforts by processed food producers, restaurants and fast food chains to get rid of so-called “trans fats”—partially hydrogenated oils added to foods to improve texture and extend shelf …