Share
– Statement by the President Obama on health-care reform bill released by Senate HELP Committee today – Obama signs bill awarding Congressional Gold Medal to women Air Force service pilots – Declassification Policy Forum to launch this week
Share
Dear EarthTalk: As I understand it, “clean” coal really isn’t—yet the Bush Administration gushed strongly for it. What is Obama’s take on it? – John Zippert, Eutaw, Ala. Barack Obama and George W. Bush differ in many ways, but both have embraced so-called “clean coal” for providing an ongoing supply of cheap and readily available…
Share
– Press briefing with Robert Gibbs, Wednesday, July 1, 2009 – Pool report on Obama health-care town hall – Remarks of President Barack Obama at Health Care Town Hall in Annandale, Va., Wednesday, July 1, 2009 – Q-and-A from the health-care town hall – Vice President Biden launches broadband initiative
Share
Dear EarthTalk: Do insulating paints actually insulate and save energy? If they do, are they environmentally friendly to use? – Bob Dibrindisi, Easthampton, Mass. Paint additives that claim insulating qualities have been marketed since the late 1990s, but energy research organizations have not confirmed their insulating value. For its part, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency…
Share
Last week, the Congress took up several key votes relating to national security. I joined with others in the House of Representatives to condemn the regime in Iran for its repressive crackdown on non-violent, pro-democracy demonstrators. As brave citizens risked their lives in the streets of Tehran, the U.S. Congress acted swiftly to let the…
Share
Dear EarthTalk: I know of solar power systems that people can put on their roofs to generate electricity or heat water. Are there systems that serve whole neighborhoods? – Lee Helscel, via e-mail Collective bargaining is a good strategy when looking to get the best price on a given product or service. Solar power is…
Share
I am quite happy to write this column from the vantage point of some distance from the pain of my own father’s death and the time I was alone, separated, and then divorced, and raising my boys 24/7. But, it only seems appropriate to reflect on those times, the positive memories of my dad, and…
Share
Dear EarthTalk: Is there any truth to the rumor about high levels of birth-control chemicals being found in some cities’ drinking water? If so can these be filtered out? – Elizabeth Yerkes, via e-mail It is true that trace amounts of birth control and other medications—as well as household and industrial chemicals of every stripe—are…
Share
FDR realized that, “People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.” Why do most economic policies run counter to this basic point? Faith in markets leads economists to believe that full-employment is impossible, government intervention is destructive, deficits are bad, and planning is futile. That is…
Share
Liam McNamara remembered being “a little scared, a little timid” at his first graduation weekend at Fishburne Military School as an eighth-grader. “Seeing the valedictorian, it had a high place in my mind,” said McNamara, a day student at the Waynesboro prep school. “Being up there giving the valedictorian speech to a new class of…
Our content is free to read, but we do have bills to pay. Pitch in and help us keep the community informed.