News — Environment

— The world is changing. While the pandemic has taken up the forefront of our minds, there are other issues that are just as, if not more, pertinent to the legacy of humanity. Climate change is an issue that cannot be ignored any longer. Modern society has been built without the environment in mind and now we are forced to make retroactive changes to leave behind a cleaner and more sustainable world for our children. While it’s easy to throw up our hands, blame politicians and the corporate elite, we are all culpable for the world around us. You may...

  We often forget how fortunate we are to have this amazing planet to live on. In 2020, we celebrated the fiftieth earth day, so here are 50 ideas to make our planet healthier. We encourage you to try at least one of them.   Thank you for being on the planet with us! Stare at the clouds moving around in the sky, and wonder where they have been. Go to water.org and learn about clean water efforts Visit your local zoo’s website and read the last three articles. Think about something you can reuse, instead of recycling. Take a...

Other Cities Should Follow Its Lead. Oakland, California, on Saturday started to phase in what it is calling a “slow streets” initiative, to give residents “more room to spread out safely.” The city’s mayor, Libby Schaaf ultimately plans on closing 74 miles, or 10 percent, of its streets to cars, creating more space for pedestrians, joggers, and cyclists. According to data from the National Association of City Transportation Officials, a coalition of departments of transportation throughout the country, Oakland’s initiative is the first large-scale closure of city streets during the coronavirus outbreak.  This is a dramatic departure from the unstated commandments...

— By Doug Moss and Roddy Scheer   Dear EarthTalk: Is there any truth to the assertion that e-bikes recharged off the fossil-fuel grid actually generate fewer carbon emissions overall than conventional human-powered bikes? —Sandy McClave, New York, NY   Well, actually, there could be… E-bike pioneer Justin Lemire-Elmore argues that e-bikes are better for the environment, at least if you compare the carbon emissions associated with producing enough extra food to fuel the rider of a standard bicycle against the emissions from coal-derived electricity used to charge an e-bike. “Although counterintuitive that a vehicle fueled by something as dirty...

— By Doug Moss and Roddy Scheer   Dear EarthTalk: Is there any truth to the assertion that e-bikes recharged off the fossil-fuel grid actually generate fewer carbon emissions overall than conventional human-powered bikes? —Sandy McClave, New York, NY   Well, actually, there could be… E-bike pioneer Justin Lemire-Elmore argues that e-bikes are better for the environment, at least if you compare the carbon emissions associated with producing enough extra food to fuel the rider of a standard bicycle against the emissions from coal-derived electricity used to charge an e-bike. “Although counterintuitive that a vehicle fueled by something as dirty...