nature

Wild horses and the goals of nature protection

A petition to list wild horses as endangered or threatened highlights questions about what our conservation laws should protect

Friends of Animals and The Cloud Foundation have filed a petition seeking listing of the wild horse in the American west as an endangered or threatened species. Given that, according to the petition itself, there are currently some 34,000 wild horses on public lands in the west (with other estimates closer to 50,000), listing …

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Whose Nature? God, the GOP, and Everyone Else

Some Americans say they don’t believe in climate change because they believe in God – or, more exactly, because of what they believe about God. A few weeks ago, the New York Times quoted some Indiana Tea Party activists who explained that, because the world was created for human use and benefit, using its mineral …

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The lasting legacy of DDT

Picking up on Dan’s theme that “it ain’t over till it’s over,” sometimes that’s a good thing, as with the prospects for U.S. climate change legislation, but sometimes it’s a bad thing. An example comes from the journal Nature, which recently carried a news story about DDT (subscription required). DDT, once widely used as an …

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“Nature,” not nature, makes us happier

Yale professor of psychology Paul Bloom published an essay this week in the New York Times Magazine arguing that the pleasure that “real natural habitats” provide to humans is a significant argument for “preservation” of these habitats. The essay was deeply unsatisfying to me, as it avoided all the hard questions that anyone grappling with the …

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Reflections on “Yes they can control the weather.”

Marjorie Taylor Greene is wildly wrong about government scientists controlling hurricanes. There is a rich history of weather modification experiments that make that false claim more dangerous.

Why You Should Read CA’s ExxonMobil Plastic Lawsuit

California’s lawsuit against ExxonMobil for lying about plastic recycling is the latest example of the state using old-fashioned legal tools to address more modern harms.

The Election, Vehicle Emissions, and State Climate Plans

If the California car waiver survives a possible Trump presidency, we may have the overruling of Chevron to thank.

How to Make Trees Worth More Standing Than Cut Down

The Katoomba Group is celebrating 25 years of pioneering new approaches to realizing value in nature. Here’s what we’ve learned.

Climate, Energy, and Environment on the Ballot

Ballot measures in Washington and California are especially important but others are worth noting.

Model Uncertainty in Politics and Climate Policy

The polls could be systematically off, not just due to random error. That’s a worry with climate models as well.

Still Crazy After All These Years

There’s been an alarming growth of conspiracy theories, often antisemitic ones, to explain extreme weather events.

We Need a Circular Economy for EV Batteries

California got close to making suppliers ensure EV batteries are managed responsibly at end of life. Here’s why 2025 should be the year California creates a circular economy for EV batteries.

The Dangerous Embrace of Convenient Narratives Over Inconvenient Truths

As it turns out, Nature doesn’t care what stories you post on social media or spin on TV.

New Environmental Laws Focus on Public Health

Many of the environmental-focused bills that the governor signed this year involve ways to alleviate the health disparities faced by frontline communities.