Next week, the U.S. Congress is expected to vote on the bulk of $60 billion in emergency spending to provide for recovery from Hurricane Sandy. Clearly, significant aid is needed to repair the damage left by the storm and to help many people put their lives back together. But the bill before Congress includes provisions…

There have been devastating droughts in the past few years in places like Africa, Australia, and the United States. Last summer, the drought in the central US caused the loss of massive crops and a major economic hit for the country. The seemingly increasing prevalence of droughts has some announcing the effects of climate change…

By now the New Year’s fiscal cliff deal has received quite a bit of press. We have already discussed the significance of extending the Wind Production Tax Credit here earlier. Less well known is the inclusion of measures included in the deal to revive tax credits for advanced biofuels. It is well worth a moment…

With a small and declining population due to forest clearing and overhunting in New Guinea, the western long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus bruijnii) is listed as “Critically Endangered” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species. In Australia, the species has been thought to be extinct as fossil remains from the Pleistocene…

Scientific evidence already has connected pesticide exposure with an increased risk of Parkinson’s disease. Chemicals like paraquat, maneb, and ziram, commonly found in pesticides have been found in farmworkers and others living and working near the fields, and are tied to an increase in the disease. New research has identified another chemical from pesticides, benomyl,…

The trading of big cat pelts is nothing new, but recent demand for snow leopard pelts and taxidermy mounts has added a new commodity to the illegal trade in wildlife products, according to the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA). Traditionally, the market for large cat products has centered around tiger bones and parts for traditional Chinese…

Concord is the first town in the nation where the sale of plastic water bottles is prohibited. A new year brings a controversial new law into effect in Concord: no one can sell single-serving plastic water bottles. “I think Concord, you know, they have a good point about the plastic. I really do and I…

Transocean, the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig where 11 men died in April 2010, has agreed to pay $1.4 billion in criminal and civil penalties to resolve Justice Department allegations over its role in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The air quality in downtown Cairo is more than 10 to 100 times of acceptable world standards. Cairo has a very poor dispersion factor because of lack of rain and its layout of tall buildings and narrow streets, which create a bowl like effect that traps pollutants. The main air pollution problem in Egypt is…

While you’re busy putting finishing touches on the holiday meal, your teenagers and pre-teen kids might have other ideas about how to use the season’s aromatic spices and other ingredients. And the results could be dangerous.