Climate Culture

Zed, last of his species, in "Out of the Etheridge"

One class of chemicals is causing a cacophony of environmental problems

To the average observer, environmental crises may seem to pop up as randomly as Starbucks franchises. Every so often, worries about a substance such as DDT or dioxin surface and, after a public outcry and tireless campaigning by environmental groups, some action is taken. In his powerful new book Pandora's Poison, Joe Thornton makes the point that many of the environmental problems that have come to light in the past 40 years are not isolated from each other at all but rather have been caused by just one class of chemicals: organochlorines.

Zed, last of his species, in "Party Animal"

Pesticide labels contradict local waste laws

As another summer eases into autumn, many of us are now enjoying the rewards of a season of gardening. We proudly face the August dilemma of figuring out what to do with all those tomatoes and zucchinis that are the result of our digging, planting, and weeding earlier in the season. More than a few […]

Zed, last of his species, in "A New Wrinkle"

And You Thought Condoms Were Useful

A Hairy Situation

Zed, last of his species, in "Cup-holders the Size of Rhode Island"

I Have a New Dream

It’s so hard to do right in a world that expects you, rewards you, encourages you to do wrong. As when the Sierra Club, fighting off a Disney mountain development, discovered that it owned shares in Disney. Ever wonder what happens to all that junk mail? Photo: Philip Shepherd, NREL/PIX. As when environmentalists jet to […]

A Serious Energy Crisis