Good Food is First Food. It is not junk food. It is the food that connects nature and nutrition with livelihoods. This food is good for our health; it comes from the rich biodiversity of our regions; it provides employment to people. Most importantly, cooking and eating give us pleasure. …
The South Portland City Council has voted to ban the transfer of crude oil onto ocean tankers, effectively ending any attempt to bring oil from western Canada through a pipeline into the city. The City Council voted 6-1 Monday night in favor of the ordinance that was hailed by environmentalists. …
Mortality and injuries caused by ship strikes in U.S. waters are a cause of concern for the endangered population of blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) occupying the eastern North Pacific. We sought to determine which areas along the U.S. West Coast are most important to blue whales and whether those areas …
AFTER rising steadily for more than 10 years, the proportion of U.S. kids defined as obese due to a large waist circumference held steady between 2003 and 2012, according to a new analysis of national data. The new results echo recent studies that found the increase in U.S. obesity rates …
Most Americans oppose a carbon tax, considered by many economists a cost-effective way to fight climate change, but they are willing to support it if the money is returned to them or used to fund renewable energy, a poll Monday finds. Only a third, or 34%, say they support taxing …
When the federal government implemented new school-meal regulations in 2012, a majority of elementary-school students complained about the healthier lunches, but by the end of the school year most found the food agreeable, according to survey results released Monday. The peer-reviewed study comes amid concerns that the regulations led schools …
Sheriff's deputies in Utah arrested nearly two dozen environmental protesters who chained themselves to fences and construction equipment on Monday at a tar sands mining project in the remote Book Cliffs mountains, an activist group said. The Tar Sands Resistance group said about 80 activists set up a "blockade" at …
THE United States Agency for International Development (USAID) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Ebonyi State Government to establish a collaborative development partnership to modernize the state’s water utility. The agreement cements an ongoing working relationship to strengthen the institutional, legal and regulatory framework of the Ebonyi State …
U.S.-funded incinerators in Afghanistan unused, inspector general says Batteries, plastics, tires and aerosol cans tossed into open burn pits in Afghanistan, report says Although the U.S. has spent millions to build incinerators in Afghanistan to avoid exposing anyone to toxic smoke from open burning, American troops sent waste to an …
The School Nutrition Association nearly doubled its lobbying spending this year as it has battled over new school lunch standards. The group, whose members include school nutrition officials and some food industry giants, spent more than $105,000 to press its case with Congress and the executive branch from April 1 …
Child poverty rates in the U.S. are on the rise, but health and education trends are showing improvements—including teen pregnancy reaching a historic low, according to the annual KIDS COUNT Data Book by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. In its analysis of children's overall well-being, the 25th edition of the …
More extreme droughts, floods and wildfires — these are just some of the impacts of climate change that won't just occur in the distant future to our great-great grandchildren, but are happening now. To address the changing climate's current effects on communities in the U.S., President Barack Obama announced a …
In New Orleans, discarded butts are being turned into something useful. The first of 50 cigarette butt recycling receptacles was installed at a downtown intersection Monday. Developers of the program say New Orleans is the first U.S. city to participate in a large-scale recycling effort launched in Canada last year. …
WASHINGTON -– So far, 2014 has seen a renewed interest in climate change on the Sunday morning political talk shows. In just the first six months of this year, the major newscasts have featured more coverage of climate change than they did in the four previous years combined, according to …
A jury in northwest Florida awarded a staggering $23 billion judgment late Friday against the country’s second-largest tobacco company for causing the death of a chain smoker of lung cancer at the age of 36. The company, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., promised a prompt appeal. Michael Johnson Sr. died in …
With the advent of effective antiretroviral treatment, the life expectancy for people with HIV is now approaching that seen in the general population. Consequently, the relative importance of other traditionally non-AIDS-related morbidities has increased. We investigated trends over time in all-cause mortality and for specific causes of death in people …
President Obama announced a series of climate change initiatives on Wednesday aimed at guarding the electricity supply; improving local planning for flooding, coastal erosion and storm surges; and better predicting landslide risks as sea levels rise and storms and droughts intensify. The actions, involving a variety of federal agencies, were …
After a last-minute deal that cut the money requested in half, a key state board on Wednesday approved a $256 million loan from federal clean-water funds to the New York State Thruway Authority to help finance the building of a $3.9 billion twin-span replacement for the Tappan Zee Bridge. Environmental …
Californians who waste water will have to pay up to $500 a day for their extravagance under new restrictions approved Tuesday by the State Water Resources Control Board. The move comes after the board concluded that voluntary conservation measures have failed to achieve the 20 percent reduction in water use …
Weather- and climate-related disasters have caused $2.4 trillion in economic losses and nearly 2 million deaths globally since 1971 according to a new report. While the losses are staggering, the report also shows that we have learned from past disasters, lessons the world will need as development continues in hazardous …
Say what you want about oil spills. At least when you're standing in one it's hard to miss. That's not true of methane spills, which are invisible and -- unless it's a potentially explosive concentration of gas -- unsmellable. Persistent, low-grade methane leaks are of interest for a couple of …
