Rev. Billy Talen – Standing Rock: A Moment of Clarity for Progressive Activists

Earth-force meets money-force at Standing Rock. I’m so relieved I’m here. It scares me to think that I might have missed this. We get up at dawn. Four hundred people walk slowly in a light snow to the river by the camp. A teacher is talking. His headdress is a crisscrossing of long, narrow feathers. He is of the Havasupai, …

Reynard Loki – ‘Beyond Unacceptable’: Judge OKs Uranium Mine at Grand Canyon

In June, the Grand Canyon was named one of the “Most Endangered Places [3]” in America by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. But the designation came just two months too late to possibly influence U.S. District Court Judge David Campbell. In April, he denied a request by the Havasupai tribe and a coalition of conservation groups to halt new …

Analysis: Republican Attacks on Endangered Species Up 600 Percent Per Year

WASHINGTON— Over the past five years, Republicans in Congress have launched 164 attacks on the Endangered Species Act — a 600 percent increase in the rate of annual attacks over the previous 15 years, according to a new analysis by the Center for Biological Diversity. The report, Politics of Extinction, also identifies five Republicans responsible for nearly a quarter of …

Koch-backed Group Calls for End of National Parks By Joan McCarter

The National Park system is broke, argues Reed Watson, the executive director at the Koch-backed Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) in an op-ed, so the only thing to do about it is stop creating national parks [3]. Because, of course, actually funding them is out of the question. “True conservation is taking care of the land and water you already have, …

Report lists Grand Canyon’s Colorado River as most imperiled

According to conservation outfit American Rivers, the section of the Colorado River flowing through the Grand Canyon is most endangered freshwater way in the United States. Every year since 1984, American Rivers puts out its “America’s Most Endangered Rivers” report. This year’s report lists threats like harmful human development, groundwater depletion and uranium mines as just a few of the …

Add nature, art and religion to life’s best anti-inflammatories

Taking in such spine-tingling wonders as the Grand Canyon, Sistine Chapel ceiling or Schubert’s “Ave Maria” may give a boost to the body’s defense system, according to new research from UC Berkeley. Researchers have linked positive emotions – especially the awe we feel when touched by the beauty of nature, art and spirituality – with lower levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, …