Pew Research Center
Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research.
The Economist: Green Wheels
Some carmakers try harder than others to be green. Besides making their models cleaner to run, many carmakers are also trying to reduce the environmental impact of manufacturing them. Having been depicted as environmental villains since the 1950s, cars and their makers may soon be able to move out of the spotlight.
Sierra Club: Buffett’s Coal Problem
To run his coal trains, Buffet needs to seize land from a bunch of Montana cowboys. The coal industry will ignore global warming. But a federal agency charged with weighing the environmental consequences of a coal-carrying railroad should do better. So should America’s most admired investor.
NatGeo: Curse of Fertilizer
Without nitrogen, the machinery of photosynthesis cannot function. Corn, wheat, and rice, the crops on which humanity depends for survival, are among the most nitrogen hungry of all plants. Yet, runaway nitrogen is suffocating wildlife in lakes and estuaries, contaminating groundwater, and even warming the globe’s climate.
NatGeo: Living Beyond 100
A plethora of new studies indicates that longevity researchers are pushing the scientific conversation to a new level. Genes alone are unlikely to explain all the secrets of longevity, and experts see a cautionary tale in recent results concerning caloric restriction. In the end, genes probably account for only 25 percent of longevity.
NYT: Slaughterhouses
So-called ag-gag laws, proposed or enacted in about a dozen states, make, or would make, criminals of animal-rights activists who take covert pictures and videos of conditions on industrial farms and slaughterhouses. Some would even classify the activists as terrorists.
Economist: Biomedical Scaffolding
Many of the scaffolds that have already been commercialised for wound repair, bone grafts and surgical aids are comparatively simple. Moving to the next generation of scaffolds for the delivery of drugs, cells and eventually genes will require extensive safety testing and lengthy clinical trials.
NatGeo: Extinct Species
The notion of bringing extinct species back to life has hovered at the boundary between reality and science fiction for more than two decades. De-extinction is now within reach. The species theoretically capable of being revived all disappeared while humanity was rapidly climbing toward world domination.
Economist: US Health Policy
“NANNY”, “tyrant”—these were among the charges hurled at Michael Bloomberg, New York’s mayor, when he proposed a ban on big fizzy-drink bottles last May. The billionaire shrugged and pushed forward. The American Beverage Association, which represents Coca-Cola and other soda companies, has sued.
NYT: Riddle of Human Species
The task of understanding humanity is too important and too daunting to leave to the humanities. Their many branches have not explained why we possess our special nature and not some other out of a vast number of conceivable possibilities. In that sense, the humanities have not accounted for a full understanding of our species’ existence.
NatGeo: The Bite that Heals
Venom is nature’s most efficient killer, but top medicines for heart disease and diabetes have been derived from venom. New treatments for autoimmune diseases, cancer, and pain could be available within a decade. There could be upwards of 20 million venom toxins waiting to be screened. Venom has opened up whole new avenues of pharmacology.
Economist: Cost of Air Conditioning
Critics counts air conditioning as more a curse than a miracle. Cooling buildings and vehicles pumps out almost half a billion tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. Between 1995 and 2004 the proportion of homes in Chinese cities with air conditioning rose from 8% to 70%.
Rewilding Europe
Rewilding Europe is a conservation vision for Europe, with wild nature and natural processes as key elements, where rewilding is applicable to any type of landscape or level of protection. It is an initiative by WWF Netherlands, ARK Nature, Wild Wonders of Europe and Conservation Capital.
RealClimate
RealClimate is a commentary site on climate science by working climate scientists for the interested public and journalists. Real Climate aims to provide a quick response to developing stories and provide the context sometimes missing in mainstream commentary.
CIEL
The Center for International Environmental Law works to strengthen and use international law and institutions to protect the environment, promote human health, and ensure a just and sustainable society. CIEL provides legal counsel and advocacy, policy research and capacity building services.
CorpWatch
The actions of private corporations have very real impact on public life. CorpWatch employs investigative research and journalism to expose corporate malfeasance and to advocate for multinational corporate accountability and transparency.
Oxfam International
Oxfam International is part of a global movement for change, to build a future free from the injustice of poverty. We work directly with communities and seek to influence the powerful to ensure that poor people can improve their lives and livelihoods, and have a say in decisions that affect them.
Center for Progressive Reform
The CPR believes sensible safeguards in the areas of health, safety, and the environment, serve important values including doing the best we can to prevent harm to people and the environment, distributing environmental harms and benefits fairly, and protecting the earth for future generations.
Barry Schwartz: Professor
Barry Schwartz is Dorwin Cartwright Professor of Social Theory and Action at Swarthmore College, and author of the books: The Costs of Living: How Market Freedom Erodes the Best Things in Life; The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less; The Battle for Human Nature: Science, Morality, and Modern Life.
Edward O. Wilson: Professor
Biologist Edward O. Wilson is University Research Professor Emeritus at Harvard University, and author of the books: The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth; The Future of Life; and The Diversity of Life, which describes how man is in the process of causing the “sixth extinction”.
Worldchanging
Since 2003, Worldchanging has brought together a global network of independent journalists, designers and thinkers to cover the world’s most innovative solutions to the planet’s problems, and inspire readers around the world with stories of new tools, models and ideas for building a bright green future.
IDEO Design
IDEO is an award-winning global design firm that takes a human-centered, design-based approach to helping organizations in the public and private sectors innovate and grow. IDEO helps organizations build creative culture and the internal systems required to sustain innovation.
PS: Health and Medicine
Medicine is being transformed by a scientific and technological revolution. Committed to identifying and presenting ideas that demand wider attention, Project Syndicate’s series of commentaries on Health and Medicine brings medical discoveries and policy issues to newspaper readers everywhere.
GAO: International Affairs
The Government Accountability Office provides public access to its wide-ranging research related to International Affairs. Covered topics include Terrorism, Human Rights, Aids Relief, Export Controls, Nuclear Nonproliferation, Humanitarian and Development Assistance, and Diplomacy.
GAO: Health Care
The Government Accountability Office provides public access to its wide-ranging research related to Health Care. Covered topics include Prescription Drugs, Medicare, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Veterans’ Health, FDA, and Group Purchasing Organisations.
GAO: Agriculture and Food
The Government Accountability Office provides public access to its wide-ranging research related to Agriculture and Food. Covered topics include Seafood Safety, Farms, Crops, Antibiotic Use, Homeland Security, USDA Modernization, Food Labeling, and Herbal Dietary Supplements.