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Issues: Health and the Environment

King Coal by any other name.

May 15, 2008

Posted by Rob Perks

Tags:
ABEC, ABECC, coalindustry, mountaintopremoval

It looks like changing your name is the new trend in the coal industry. A few weeks ago I wrote about ABEC (American’s for Balanced Energy Choices) changing their name to ACCCE (American Coalition for Clean Coal Energy), and if...continued

Survey shows rising honey bee losses

May 8, 2008

Posted by Melissa Waage in Health and the Environment

Tags:
agriculture, bees, colonycollapsedisorder, food, simplesteps

A national survey released this week shows honey bee losses on the rise this year, prompting the state of Pennsylvania to pump money into colony collapse disorder (CCD) research. The Apiary Inspectors of America's annual survey indicated 36.1 percent of commercial...continued

Smart growth improves air quality, says new research

May 7, 2008

Posted by Kaid Benfield in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably

Tags:
airpollution, brownfields, congestion, emissions, infill, neighborhood, smart-growth, smartgrowth, sprawl, traffic, transit, transportation

 The federal Environmental Protection Agency has released important new research detailing the benefits of smart growth on transportation emissions and air quality.  In particular, the report reviews the effects on traffic and pollution that would occur if new growth and land development...continued

Neighborhood food choices may affect your health

May 6, 2008

Posted by Kaid Benfield in Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably

Tags:
choices, community, diabetes, fastfood, neighborhood, obesity, simplesteps, sustainability

The balance of healthy-vs.-unhealthy food options near your home has a major impact on your health risk, according to a new report released this week by PolicyLink, UCLA's Center for Health Policy Research, and the California Center for Public Health...continued

Happy Bike Month!

May 1, 2008

Posted by Rich Kassel in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably , Moving Beyond Oil , Solving Global Warming , The Media and the Environment

Tags:
bicycling, bikecommuting, bikelane, bikemonthnyc, bikeway, diesel, hudsonriverpark, newyorkcity, NYC

Happy Bike Month, Switchboard readers!Today starts Bike Month in NYC.  So, for the next few weeks, I will be writing about biking issues every few days.  How come?First of all, biking is part of how I got involved and interested...continued

Five more green apples for NYC

May 1, 2008

Posted by Kaid Benfield in Curbing Pollution , Environmental Justice , Green Enterprise , Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably , Solving Global Warming

Tags:
affordablehousing, cities, cityparks, community, driving, green-building, greenbuilding, neighborhood, newyork, parks, subway, sustainability, sustainabledevelopment, transportation, walkability, walkable, walking

 Last week my longtime NRDC colleague Eric Goldstein posted a blog entry highlighting five laudable environmental sites (green apples) and five awful ones (bad apples).  Eric got it right as usual.  I am particularly a fan of his because, like...continued

How to go green, according to architects

April 30, 2008

Posted by Kaid Benfield in Green Enterprise , Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably , Moving Beyond Oil , Solving Global Warming

Tags:
architecture, community, driving, green-building, greenbuilding, greendesign, neighborhood, smartgrowth, sprawl, transportation, walkability, walking

 The American Institute of Architects has announced their annual “Top Ten Green Projects,” as chosen by the Institute’s Committee on the Environment (affectionately known as “COTE”).  Now I have to say that I personally like and am impressed by just...continued

NRDC and EDF blast White House interference in EPA chemical assessment program called IRIS

April 29, 2008

Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment

Tags:
chemical, EPA, information, integrated, IRIS, policy, pollutant, risk, simplesteps, system, toxic

 Today the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works will host oversight hearings on EPA Toxic Chemical Policies. Discussions will include new revisions that will delay and weaken the process EPA uses to update the Integrated Risk Information System...continued

Why Endocrine Disruptors Should Be a Household Word

April 25, 2008

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably

Tags:
babybottles, bisphenol-a, BPA, breastcancer, endocrinedisruptors, hardplastic, phthalates, plasticbottles, simplesteps

In the past week, there have been a lot of news reports and blog chatter about BPA, also known as bisphenol-A. Finally, government agencies, consumers, and manufacturers are starting to take this toxin seriously. But BPA is only one member...continued

Cleaner diesel fuel - at no extra cost

April 24, 2008

Posted by Rich Kassel in Curbing Pollution , Green Enterprise , Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably , Moving Beyond Oil , The Media and the Environment , U.S. Law and Policy

Tags:
diesel, EPA, ulsd

Recently, a good friend asked me about last year’s transition to ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD). fuel.  More specifically, he wondered about the price differential between ULSD and the prior low-sulfur diesel fuel (yes, in the jargon of the policy world that...continued