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Can Pres. Obama restore the integrity of federal science?

By David Wilcove / On November 20th, 2008
A reporter recently called me, asking what changes in environmental policy I hoped to see in an Obama Administration. I immediately thought of the specific issues that have troubled me over the past eight years: unregulated oil and gas exploration in the West, too few species protected under the Endangered Species Act, too many snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park, the reckless quest to drill, baby, drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, etc., etc. And then it struck me that there was something far more fundamental that President Obama needs to do.
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Will Obama take on food?

By Ann Vileisis / On November 19th, 2008
In the months leading up to the election, food activists (see the video by The White House Organic Farm Project, a.k.a. TheWhoFarm.org below) have been salivating over the possibility that they could convince the next president to turn up some sunny expanse of White House lawn and put in a lush and leafy organic farm. The bounty of veggies could feed not only the first family but also Washington's needy and fresh-food-deprived school children.
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What comes after *Yes, we can!*

By Jonathan Isham / On November 18th, 2008
So what next for climate activists swept up in ‘Yes, we can!' mania?  Perhaps we first must acknowledge how hard this is going to be.  As a friend wrote to me in reaction to last week's blog post, "I share your enthusiasm about the long-term, but the near term is going to be very challenging.  Obama needs to convince the public that some pain is required immediately in order to clean out the problems in the financial system, mortgage markets, and budget deficit." My friend is right of course, and so-far-so-good
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2009 - The end of an error?

By Frank Ackerman / On November 18th, 2008
My favorite quote from the recent campaign was the statement in Obama's acceptance speech at the convention in Denver. Speaking about the United States, he said, "We are better than these last eight years."
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Resiliant cities and the crash

By Peter Newman / On November 12th, 2008
The financial crash is developing a whole industry of responses that can tell us where we went wrong and what we must do to make our future more resilient, especially in our cities where so much of the crash is hurting. Finance and economics dominate this discussion. We believe that a better understanding of what makes cities work will help in this debate, especially how urban transport and energy are fundamental to how the urban economy works or doesn't. What caused the crash?
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A big vote for knowing how our food is raised

By Ann Vileisis / On November 11th, 2008
November 4, 2008 will be best remembered for the historic election of Barack Obama, but it was also a day when Californians voted their gut and their appetite.
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Last minute Bush Administration actions

By Elizabeth Grossman / On November 10th, 2008
On November 4, from the White House to state houses and the unsung offices of Soil & Water Conservation and Public Utility Districts, American voters elected what is likely an unprecedented number of pro-environment candidates.
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Bison slaughter in Montana

By David Wilcove / On November 7th, 2008
According to the New York Times, Jeffrey Scott Hawn, a wealthy software developer, recently pleaded guilty to one count of criminal mischief and one count of cruelty to animals for illegally killing 32 bison on his ranch in Colorado last winter. The bison apparently wandered onto Mr. Hawn's property from an adjacent ranch, probably because a heavy snowfall caused them to go searching for forage. For his misdeed, Mr. Hawn will pay $157,000 in fines and restitution.

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