Tag: united states

  • 5 Ways the Farm Bill Brings Home the Bacon for Big Ag

    Today the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Farm Bill, which fails to make meaningful reforms to correct this imbalance in our food policy: 1. “Direct Payments” Bait and Switch The Farm Bill eliminates the “Direct Payments” program—long the poster child for wasteful agricultural subsidies, known for handing out checks to rich landowners who don’t…

  • Pesticide Exposure Linked to Alzheimer’s Disease

    By Robin Lally Scientists have known for more than 40 years that the synthetic pesticide DDT is harmful to bird habitats and a threat to the environment. Now researchers at Rutgers University say exposure to DDT—banned in the U.S. since 1972 but still used as a pesticide in other countries—may also increase the risk and…

  • Will President Obama Address Climate Change in the State of the Union?

    By Andrew Steer When President Obama addresses the nation on Tuesday, climate change is expected to be featured. The President recently said that one of his personal passions is “leaving a planet that is as spectacular as the one we inherited from our parents and our grandparents.” The next two years will determine if his…

  • 7 Surreal Natural Wonders in the U.S.

    America is filled with places just as strange as any surrealist painting. Spanish painter Salvador Dali passed away 25 years ago this January. His name by then all but synonymous with that of the art movement he championed during the prime years of his career: surrealism. In honor of Dali—and weirdness in general—here are seven wild…

  • 5 Climate Policy Priorities That Should Top President Obama’s To-Do List

    By Daniel J. Weiss, Jessica Goad and Shiva Polefka  On the eve of President Barack Obama’s second inauguration in Jan. 2013, the Center for American Progress recommended 10 energy and environmental priorities for President Obama’s second term to build on his first-term clean energy successes. Now, one year later, with the annual State of the Union address coming up, we can assess…