News & Commentary

Oklahoma Earthquake? Blame Oil and Gas

June 18, 2015 DispatchOklahomaBrian Palmer

A new study proves what we’ve suspected all along—oil and gas drilling triggers earthquakes.

Not-So-Secret Gardens

June 15, 2015 DispatchChicagoSusan Cosier

Uncovering Chicago’s gardens—and planting their locations on a map—could help sow the farming movement.

A Year Without Snow

June 4, 2015 DispatchWestBrooke Jarvis

Want to know what difference a few degrees can make as the climate warms? Look no further than the West’s critical and vanishing snowpack.

Flexing Their Mussel

June 3, 2015 DispatchOhio, MidwestSusan Cosier

The bivalves that ate the Great Lakes are fueling toxic algal blooms, too. Can’t we get rid of them already?

Toxic Two-Step

May 15, 2015 DispatchTexasJeff Turrentine

When politicians and corporate polluters step onto the dance floor in Texas, the state’s environmental agency provides the music.

When to Bet Against the House

May 7, 2015 DispatchNevadaJeff Turrentine

Will the threat of water shortages be enough to convince Vegas to stop gambling on overdevelopment?

Blame It on the Rain

May 1, 2015 DispatchChicagoSusan Cosier

Chicago’s enormous drainage system will expand this summer, but it won’t be enough to handle climate change.

Rat Pack

April 6, 2015 DispatchNew York CityAlisa Opar

New York is the city that never sleeps—and neither do its rat researchers.

Fish Out of Water

April 3, 2015 DispatchCaliforniaAlisa Opar

Scary-low snowpack may spell disaster for some California wildlife and ecosystems.

Powering Down

April 1, 2015 DispatchCaliforniaAlisa Opar

California’s proposed energy-efficiency standards for computers could make the screen time of all Americans easier on the climate.

Let's Get Wasted!

March 30, 2015 DispatchNew York CityClara Chaisson

A pop-up restaurant gives trash-bound food a place at the table.

The Call of the Bugle

March 12, 2015 DispatchKentucky, WisconsinSusan Cosier

This spring elk from Kentucky will be migrating (by truck) to Wisconsin.

Old Cow, New Tricks

March 10, 2015 DispatchWestAlisa Opar

Desert-friendly cattle that came over with Columbus might be better bovines for the drought-plagued West.

Sea to Table

February 5, 2015 DispatchWestAlisa Opar

Consumers are increasingly getting to know their local fish—and fishermen—through companies that cut out the middleman.

The Dusty City

February 3, 2015 DispatchChicagoSusan Cosier

Chicago is trying to limit how much petcoke the tar sands industry moves (and spreads) around town.

Like Sands Through the Fracking Facility

January 21, 2015 DispatchWisconsinSusan Cosier

The frac sand business is booming in Wisconsin. Too bad the state can’t get a handle on the industry’s water pollution.

If You Build It, Will They Come?

January 14, 2015 DispatchNorth CarolinaClara Chaisson

A huge chimney in Raleigh is a hotel, for birds.

Made in Vietnam

January 12, 2015 DispatchInternational

Can the country become the next major player in the global apparel industry without sacrificing its environment? Near Ho Chi Minh City, one factory owner is assembling a greener model…out of blue jeans.

Bison Back East

December 29, 2014 DispatchIllinois, MississippiSusan Cosier

Wild buffalo now roam east of the Mississippi for the first time since the 1830s, playing a crucial role in restoring Illinois grasslands.

The Sound and the Fury

December 11, 2014 DispatchCanadaKim Tingley

On the trail of the "Windsor hum," a mysterious noise that’s making Canadians crazy.