Could We Return to the Original Earth Day?

Environmental issues remain one of the last wedges in the American culture wars

I never get tired of recalling the story of the original Earth Day. On April 22, 1970, millions of Americans spontaneously turned out for thousands of largely uncoordinated community actions to demonstrate their concern for our one and only planet. Some people…
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by: Jason Mark – April 22, 2013

Goldman Prize Winner Aleta Baun Decodes US Supreme Court Genetics Case

“We only sell what we create, and we will not sell what we do not create”

It would seem odd that an Indigenous woman from the hinterlands of Indonesian West Timor would help decide a case before the US Supreme Court, but that’s exactly what happened (in my head, at least) as I listened to Aleta Baun receive…
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by: Jason Mark – April 17, 2013

Goldman Environmental Prize Winners Offer a Spark of Inspiration

Six eco leaders from around the world receive a cash prize and international recognition for their accomplishments

Environmental activism — like any other attempt at social change — is a slog. Victories are often tempered by setbacks and even the most clear cut wins can seem provisional. As David Brower, the founder of Earth Island Journal, famously said, speaking…
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by: Jason Mark – April 15, 2013

Keystone Opponents Target Obama at SF Fundraiser

Environmentalist base is worried about president’s waffling on tar sands pipeline

Environmentalists Wednesday kept up their campaign against the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline by staging a large protest outside a San Francisco political fundraiser headlined by President Obama. Photo by Shadia Fayne Wood/350.orgAlthough protesters were kept well away from the Getty…
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by: Jason Mark – April 4, 2013

Proposed Law Could Deliver Major Boost to Urban Agriculture in California

Bill would give property tax breaks to landowners who lease their parcels to urban farmers

Small-scale farming isn’t easy. The prices farmers receive for their goods are often low, the margins are tight, the days are long, and the chores never-ending. For farmers who don’t own their own property, land insecurity compounds financial instability. It’s tough to…
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by: Jason Mark – March 28, 2013

A New Francis of Assisi?

The world could use a pope who is a tribune of Earth

I don’t go much in for Vatican Watching (all that particulate matter from the smoke signals, you know), but I’ll admit that I felt a little thrill of hope when Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio took the name Pope Francis. Photo by…
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by: Jason Mark – March 14, 2013

Major Universities Come Out in Support of Monsanto in Supreme Court Case

Research institutions eager to protect their lucrative patent income

Two weeks ago the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Vernon Bowman vs Monsanto Company, a dispute over how long Monsanto’s patents last for and whether farmers should be able to save genetically modified seeds and replant them.…
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by: Jason Mark – March 5, 2013

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