Bloggers worry about how a Wall Street bailout and economic turmoil might affect environmental issues, and they advocate for green avenues to help the economy. David Roberts at Gristmill compiles warnings from opinion leaders about not letting a bailout interfere with green investments, and advocates for an energy-efficiency initiative to help the economy. Alex Salta […]
By now, you’ve probably heard that VP nominee Sarah Palin has been tripped up a few times by tough questions from CBS New’s Katie Couric. Real brain twisters like: “what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this to stay informed and to understand the world?â “[Besides Roe v. Wade] what other […]
by revere, cross-posted at Effect Measure Scientists have been using genetic data to estimate when species first appeared for some time. The basic idea is to use differences between species and a guess as to how fast sequences change as a molecular clock, running it backward until they show the same sequence. The same trick […]
American News Project has just posted a new video segment about how tactics used to defend tobacco are now staving off action on climate change. In “Smoke and CO2: How to Spin Global Warming,” Danielle Ivory gives an eight-minute overview of how we went from reassurances that tobacco isn’t really harmful to insistence that we don’t […]
As our population gets older and heavier, healthcare workers are having to lift more and heavier loads as they transfer and position patients. The increased physical demands have translated into alarming rates of musculoskeletal disorders. NIOSH reports: Direct and indirect costs associated with back injuries in the healthcare industry are estimated to be $20 billion […]
Weâve written previously about Devra Davisâs The Secret History of the War on Cancer, which generated a lot of controversy. Dick Clapp, an environmental health professor at Boston Universityâ School of the Public Health (BUSPH), wrote for us about two opposing reviews of that book, and now heâs exploring the controversy surrounding another book that […]
Despite a short 30-day comment period, dozens of interested individuals and organizations provided comments to Asst. Secretary Leon Sequeira about his proposed so-called risk assessment policy. I’ve pulled some of my favorite excerpts for your consideration: “The proposed rule is a parting gift from an outgoing administration to its supporters in industry and should be […]
The Labor Department has rejected calls from numerous public interest groups and even the chairman of its legislative oversight committee to conduct public hearings and extend the time period to provide feedback on its worker health risk assessment proposal. That means that today, Monday, September 29 is the final day to submit comments on the Assistant Secretary for Policy […]
Updated below: 9/29/08 5:00 pm Over the last year, Matthew Faraci has served as the MSHA spokesman, providing official statements, for example, about the Crandall Canyon investigation, touting the Agency’s progress implementing the MINER Act, and defending the Administration’s request for an additional $19 million for MSHA.  In fact, Faraci even organized a media briefing so that agency officials could explain why the requested […]
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has announced the winners of its 2008 MacArthur fellowships (or “genius grants”). Maggie Mahar at Health Beat links back to past stories on geriatrician Dr. Diane Meier and critical care specialist Dr. Peter Provnost. Andrew Plemmons Pratt at Science Progress looks at the work of neuroscientist Sally Temple with stem cells. Jacob Goldstein […]