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History Channel explores a world without humans

What would the earth be like if we finally manage to bring about our own extinction? Find out Wednesday night.

Conservationists highlight weirdness of rare amphibians in push to save them

Roughly 20 percent of the 100 most imperiled amphibians haven't been seen for years.

Sonar gets presidential pardon, seas more violent

Citing national security, President Bush exempted the U.S. Navy from a judge's order to cease sonar use in areas frequented by marine mammals ...

... the National Marine Fisheries Service said that the Atlantic white marlin did not meet requirements to be included on the Endangered Species List ...

... a report by the U.K. Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership found that seas around the U.K. were becoming more violent, thanks to rising water levels and increased carbon dioxide ...

... a Japanese whaling ship detained two activists that were accused of throwing acid and illegally boarding their vessel ...

Friday music blogging: Ha Ha Tonka

Growing up in the South, I was pretty keen to reject everything connected to the culture, which I viewed — even before I’d seen any alternatives — as closed-minded and […]

Federal officials suggest killing sea lions to protect salmon

To protect endangered Northwest salmon, the National Marine Fisheries Service suggests giving Oregon and Washington state officials the authority to kill sea lions, which last year gobbled up more than […]

Green manufacturing could save the economy

Paul Krugman has been a hero of mine during the long, bleak reign of Bush the Younger, articulating arguments against Bush's philosophy and policies oh these many years. Krugman is one of the leading authorities on international trade, however, and so I was holding my breath, intellectually speaking, waiting to see what would happen when there were global economic troubles.

I can exhale, because he's revealed his Panglossian side: our current economic troubles are the result of a "global savings glut" -- that is, the U.S. is the victim of its own success. Foreigners are investing in our country because we are so wonderful, and the problem is that they got snookered into investing in scams like sub-prime mortgages.

What's this got to do with the environment? Krugman's argument, which was made first by now Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke (and the folks at the Cato Institute), distracts attention from what I think is the true problem: the decline of manufacturing. If people would understand the real problem, they might be more open to a greening of America by revving up manufacturing of renewable energy technologies, public transit, and retrofitting, to name a few.

But first let's take a look at what Krugman said:

Nora Roberts will match donations to Defenders of Wildlife

Well, well, well. Who ever said that trashy romance novels couldn’t change an endangered species’ life? Ferret-related plagiarism by romance novelist Cassie Edwards has brought the world more than just […]

Judge temporarily drops two restrictions on Navy’s use of sonar, retains others

Earlier this week, President Bush exempted the U.S. Navy from parts of an environmental law so it could continue to use mid-frequency sonar off the California coast. Mid-frequency sonar has […]

Green groups seek to overturn mine exemption from ESA reviews

Four green groups and two state agencies have filed a petition with federal wildlife and mining agencies seeking to change the long-standing policy of exempting mountaintop-removal mining from specific Endangered […]

Deal reached to remove Klamath River dams for salmon; obstacles remain

The Klamath River near the California-Oregon border has been a hotspot in the clash over endangered salmon runs and the irrigation needs of area farmers, but a formal deal reached […]