Google Earth Maps Out a Catastrophic Threat

Staff / Truthdig Sep 26, 2009 Who's that booming baritone talking about the environment? Al Gore stars in a promotional video developed by Google Earth that shows environment degradation via the popular mapping program, a sort of "climate change simulator" of ice-sheet melting and rising sea levels. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Investors Against Climate Change

Staff / Truthdig Sep 17, 2009 We normally think of capitalists as ravaging the Earth with profit in their eyes. While that still might be true, 181 of the world's largest investors have issued a united call for action against climate change, most importantly a binding treaty to cut pollution and boost funding for low-carbon technologies. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The Body Shop Under Fire

Staff / Truthdig Sep 13, 2009 An ethical row has erupted after the supposedly eco- and human rights-friendly cosmetic provider The Body Shop was accused of buying palm oil from an organization that pressed for the eviction of Colombian peasant families in order to build a new palm plantation. Riot cops evicted the farming families in July. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Environmentalists Assail French ‘Green Tax’

Staff / Truthdig Sep 13, 2009 A plan by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to slap a "carbon tax" on all forms of energy except electricity has met both popular resistance and activist snubbing. Two-thirds of French voters oppose such a tax, and environmentalists have chimed in to condemn it as halfhearted and wimpy. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Brazil’s Bizarro Sarah Palin

Staff / Truthdig Aug 19, 2009 Brazil's Bizarro Sarah Palin, former Environment Minister Marina Silva, has just resigned from the ruling Worker's Party in protest of the party's neglect of environmental concerns. The move by Silva, a popular rain forest activist who had been a 30-year party member, is also believed to be an attempt to ramp up support for a run at the presidency next year. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Climate Change Kills

Staff / Truthdig May 29, 2009 Researchers have issued a report declaring that climate change is already killing 300,000 people a year and that the number will only increase as heat, flood, storm and fire combine to create "the greatest humanitarian challenge the world faces." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Global Zero Pushes for a Nuke-Free World

Staff / Truthdig Dec 10, 2008 The founders of Global Zero, including Jimmy Carter, Mikhail Gorbachev and Sir Richard Branson, want to do for nuclear disarmament what Al Gore and other environmentalists did for climate change. While the vast majority of the world's citizens seem to favor going nukeless, the issue has been confined to the back burner. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Maryland Police Keep You Safe From Terrorist Nuns

Staff / Truthdig Dec 8, 2008 How did two nuns end up on a list of terrorists? Blame a now-defunct investigation by the Maryland State Police, who sent undercover troopers to spy on political groups and identify supposed terrorists, among them pacifists, environmentalists, a congressional candidate and those two feisty nuns. Update Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

A Whale of a Decision

Staff / Truthdig Nov 13, 2008 While some whales' hearts are as big as cars, the hearts on the Supreme Court that ruled Wednesday against a ban on high-powered sonar in Navy training exercises must be shrinking by the minute. The decision was a defeat to environmentalists, who argue that sonar panics whales, makes their ears bleed and pushes them to beach themselves. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

FDA Plastic Decision ‘Creates a False Sense of Security’

Staff / Truthdig Oct 29, 2008 The chemical BPA is common in plastic products such as baby bottles and food containers, despite concerns among scientists and environmentalists about its safety. The FDA has defended BPA use and recently turned to an outside panel for backup. That group of scientists, however, ended up criticizing the agency's guidelines. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Biofuels Blamed in Global Food Crisis

Staff / Truthdig Jul 4, 2008 While environmentalists and opponents of foreign oil may have found common cause in the use of biofuels, a new, confidential World Bank report estimates that the recent increase in plant-based fuel production has actually contributed to a 75 percent rise in global food prices, sparking riots across the world and pushing millions beneath the poverty line. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Global Warming? Better Figure Out How to Live With It

Staff / Truthdig Jun 1, 2006 Many climate scientists now see global warming as inevitable (to a certain extent), and are now focusing on the controversial idea of figuring out how to live with it U News & World Report serves up the surprising details Also, check out U News' Q & A with Al Gore, and U News' story on the insurance industry cashing in on the global warming problem . Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )