May 2009

America has a serious and growing problem with childhood obesity, caused by a combination of poor diet and little exercise.  There are many things we can do to fix this, but it requires approaching the problem from multiple directions.

I was disappointed, though not surprised, by the news upholding religious and sexual discrimination in California.

A key concern about climate change is that it may make weather less moderate, more extreme — especially violent weather.  Scientists are debating whether and how global warming affects hurricanes.

Previously I proposed a set of terms describing environmental disasters in economic vocabulary.  One of those was “habitat foreclosure.”  We’ve also discussed how climate change is leading to the rise of environmental migrants. The following article describes how China is already moving large numbers of people because their homes have become uninhabitable.

Language influences thought, and thought influences language. How we talk about a topic can change the way people think about it, and vice versa. A fancy term for this is “framing,” which relates to how our brains process information in system sets called “frames.” The following article explores the use (and misuse) of framing in the environmental movement.

Racial profiling is a widespread and troublesome manifestation of racism. Law enforcement officers stop people of color and search their cars far more often than they do white people.  This is so common that people talk about being stopped for DWB: “Driving While Black.”  Please show your support for legislation aimed at reducing this problem.

Previously we’ve discussed environmental and social issues relating to water. I started using the term “water wars” over 20 years ago to describe what would happen when the American southwest and west seriously ran short of water. During that time, other people have gradually awakened to the danger.  So far it’s been confined mostly to political and financial squabbles.  But in India, people are already killing each other over water.

The Wilderness Society has a petition going in support of The American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454), which has benefits for the environment yet also protects businesses and encourages job creation.  Sadly, there is a lot of opposition and people are trying to gut the bill so that it will enrich polluting companies at everyone else’s expense.  Please sign the petition to show your support for a sustainable future.