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. …
There is a rapidly rising energy demand from literally billions of devices that remain “on” but may be used for only a few minutes or hours per day. Currently, the estimate for global electricity wasted in this way by network‑enabled devices is 400 terawatt hours (TWh) per year. Consumers pay …
Making the electricity grid greener is boosting its vulnerability to computer hacking, increasing the risk that spies or criminals can cause blackouts. Adding wind farms, solar panels and smart meters to the power distribution system opens additional portals through which hackers can attack the grid, according to computer security experts …
When the Obama administration in 2012 announced long-awaited changes to require more fruits and vegetables and less sugar and salt in government-subsidized school meals, no group celebrated more than the School Nutrition Association. The group had anticipated the changes for three years, and it was enthusiastic in thanking President Obama …
More torrential rain worsened flooding in the American midwest, spawning high water that swept away an Iowa teenager, caused a traffic nightmare near one of the nation's busiest airports and threatened to swamp a Missouri town for the fifth time in less than a decade. More than 3in of rain …
More than 240,000 homes and businesses remained without power in the U.S. Midwest on Tuesday after severe thunderstorms rolled through the region overnight. Commonwealth Edison, a unit of U.S. power company Exelon Corp, in northern Illinois said it had almost 200,000 customers still without power. The company said the storm …
California may ratchet up enforcement of drought-related pumping restrictions in slow-moving creeks and lakes under new rules being considered on Tuesday, prompting worry among farmers as the state enters the dry summer season. The widely anticipated move by the State Water Resources Control Board comes during worsening drought conditions and …
The U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday said it would provide a $150 million loan to support construction of the proposed Cape Wind development off Massachusetts' Cape Cod beach resort area. Developers of the planned wind farm, which would feature 130 turbines capable of producing enough electricity to meet the …
A federal plan to lower thresholds for warning the public about contaminated beach water is drawing protests from state officials in the Great Lakes region and along the ocean coasts who say the revisions could unnecessarily scare away swimmers. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's draft plan drew a flood of …
The world loses or wastes a staggering 25 per cent to 33 per cent of the food it produces for consumption, losses that can mean the difference between an adequate diet and malnutrition in many countries, the World Bank said in a report. "The amount of food wasted and lost …
The U.S. Supreme Court sidestepped a dispute over whether California’s low-carbon fuel standard discriminates against out-of-state ethanol producers. The court let stand a federal appeals court ruling that rejected claims the standard was unfair to Midwest ethanol producers and amounted to an illegal regulation of business outside California. The standard …
A worker walks amongst piles of coal loaded onto barges on the Ohio River in West Virginia. The mining industry accounted for 5.5 percentage points of West Virginia’s GDP growth in 2013. The Environmental Protection Agency calls its carbon rules an economic winner that will deliver more than $10 in …
When President Obama and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency unveiled new rules aimed at corralling carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, critics were quick to respond with the following headlines: "EPA carbon dioxide rules a job killer." "Will EPA carbon standards hurt the economy?" "Double Whammy: EPA Carbon Regulations Will …
In a decision with far-reaching implications for the future of natural gas drilling in New York State, its highest court ruled on Monday that towns can use zoning ordinances to ban hydraulic fracturing, the controversial extraction method known as fracking. Since the issue arose about six years ago, there has …
The pain of California's three-year drought is spreading from its agricultural belt to urban lawns and backyards, where residents are being hit with fines for excess water use, and businesses such as golf courses and lawn care are seeing revenue dry up due to water restrictions. About 60 California cities …
In the state of Pennsylvania’s gas drilling boom, newer and unconventional wells leak far more often than older and traditional ones, according to a study of state inspection reports for 41,000 wells. The results suggest that leaks of methane could be a problem for drilling across the nation, said study …
After more than a year of delays, BP has paid the first 100 of about 10,000 medical claims filed by Gulf Coast residents and cleanup workers affected by the 2010 oil spill. Payments to cover the costs of treatment for skin and respiratory ailments and other human-health impacts from the …
How many companies think climate change will have a material impact on their business? Not too many, apparently. Roughly half of the 3,000 biggest publicly traded companies in the U.S. say mum’s the word, reporting zilch in their annual filings to U.S. regulators. A new online tool makes it easy …
President Barack Obama said Monday that the United States wants to help Chile build Latin America's largest solar power plant. Obama touted the project during an Oval Office meeting with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, who has returned to office after winning election in March. Obama said Chile has been a …
Mountaintop mining (MTM) affects chemical, physical, and hydrological properties of receiving streams, but the long-term consequences for fish-assemblage structure and function are poorly understood. We sampled stream fish assemblages using electrofishing techniques in MTM exposure sites and reference sites within the Guyandotte River basin, USA, during 2010–2011. We calculated indices …
The prevalence of class III obesity (body mass index [BMI]≥40 kg/m2) has increased dramatically in several countries and currently affects 6% of adults in the US, with uncertain impact on the risks of illness and death. Using data from a large pooled study, we evaluated the risk of death, overall …
