This last week the Supreme Court has been hearing the case of Entergy v. Riverkeeper, which in layman’s terms boils down to Power Plants v. Fish, or, as always, The Bush Administration v. Environmentalists. (more…)

The term “clean coal” is an oxymoron; even if the clean coal technologies do manage to “wash the coal” or bury carbon emissions deep in the ground, coal-fired power plants are the single largest source of mercury pollution in the U.S. And the mercury released pollutes the nation’s water resources, posing a serious public health threat to the population. (more…)

With mountains, skiing, and good weather it’s no surprise that people are moving to the Rocky Mountain States in droves. However, with a rising population comes an increasing demand for more water. And, right now, water is a dwindling resource. (more…)

Photo courtesy of Madison Square Park Conservancy

By Laura Pelcher

Two hundred pumping hearts form a web across the oval field in Madison Square Park. Pulse Park, an installation by Mexican artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, measures heartbeats in visitors’ hands with two sensor sculptures and projects the two hundred most recent measurements with narrow-beam light. Each light dramatically projects a beam onto the field while illuminating the energy of humanity within each of us. (more…)

By Cindy Quezada

Rochester, Minnesota is home to the esteemed Mayo Clinic and IBM, two of the largest employers in the area. However, by the year 2020, they won’t have anyone to employ! There just aren’t enough young people who are becoming scientists, physicians, and engineers. In order to address this upcoming shortage of skilled workers, the Rochester Chamber of Commerce has had the foresight to establish a program called Workforce 2020. (more…)

It was steam power that originally conquered the West and it might just be steam power that saves it. Fed on trees and water, the first “iron horses,” or steam locomotives, forged their way across the Rockies opening up economic opportunities and building a precedent of fossil fuel dependence. And now steam power is once again in the headlines. Only this time there’s no smoke and no fire, only an almost inexhaustible supply of clean energy. (more…)

My choice of presidential candidate has been unambiguous for several months, but it was still very fascinating to learn a few months ago that presidential candidates had answered 14 questions on science posed by the Science Debate 2008 team. I was so super-interested in the whole thing because I’ve been wondering exactly how we’re planning on making a turnaround in the science world, and out came the September 25 issue of Nature, featuring McCain and Obama on the cover, with questions posed in the issue. There was only one problem: Most people don’t get Nature. Scientists get Nature.

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“No science is immune to the infection of politics and the corruption of power.” –Jacob Bronowski

Politics is based on everything that science is not. Years of study are largely unnecessary. Politicians need only the ability to read and write 4 things: Yeah, Nay, their own signature, and the digits on the check they are receiving by lobbyists to alter their votes.

But what about facts?

Most people have never heard of the IPCC report, let alone the opening statement, the entirety of section 2 and much of section 6.1. Apparently, neither has Sarah Palin, possibly our future Vice President.

Sarah Palin isn’t sure of what caused global warming, “I’m not one to attribute every man — activity of man to the changes in the climate. There is something to be said also for man’s activities, but also for the cyclical temperature changes on our planet…. But there are real changes going on in our climate.”

Of course, she knows how to fix it. “What I want to argue about is, how are we going to get there to positively affect the impacts? We have got to clean up this planet…We have got to reduce emissions.” She manages to contradict her own statement only a sentence later. I’m still not sure what “positively affecting[ing] the impacts” of climate change is supposed to mean. Is that investing in flood insurance? Maybe buying land in Alaska?

Palin loves to tout the phrase “’drill, baby, drill.’” Not only would that take 10 years to get any benefit, but ironically, would occur after Palin would be out of office, leaving some other poor sap to deal with the issue of increased green house gasses levels.

The real question is not her beliefs. They are fairly obvious. The question is whether she knows about these issues, or if she is simply completely unaware of the realities. Many people have said many things about her qualifications. I’m not going to argue those. My question is about knowledge. Is it ignorance?

In 2005, a spill of organic solvents from a uranium mill south of Canon city killed 40 ducks and geese. Now, however, the question is whether incidences of water pollution from the mine, owned by Cotter Corp. is behind a slew of health problems experienced by the local population. (more…)

Rain. Just because it falls on your roof doesn’t mean it’s yours. At least not in Colorado or Utah.

In these states, citizens or businesses that attempt to collect or store rainwater are in fact breaking the law. The overriding rule here is that of prior appropriation i.e. in order to have any rights to water you have to gain a state water right. (more…)