10 Tips for Traveling More Responsibly

Each year, almost 1.2 billion people travel abroad, making travel and tourism one of the largest industries in the world. Representing a whopping 10 percent of the global economy, it supplies millions of jobs and benefits countless communities. Yet while travel has many positive impacts, it can also take a heavy toll on the environment, from putting increased strain on fragile ecosystems and culturally significant sites to...

Zinke, Burgum tout innovation over regulation at o...

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum shared similar visions Wednesday for regulating oil development, focused on partnering with industry to spur innovation. “I don’t think the government should be in a position to be an adversary,” Zinke said as he delivered the keynote speech at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference in Bismarck. “We have to, as Interior, be a better partner. We have to work...

Q&A: Business group offers Ohio candidates a ...

Ohio’s next governor could grow the state’s economy by supporting clean energy, according to a business group’s policy agenda released last week. Ohio Advanced Energy Economy urged Republican Mike DeWine and Democrat Robert Cordray to adopt policies that promote clean energy. The organization is an affiliate of a national association representing companies in the cleantech and renewable energy sectors. Midwest Energy News...

Worthington councilmen pushing for clean-energy pr...

Worthington voters could see a Nov. 6 ballot issue that would give them the option to invest in clean and renewable energy sources. Many details are uncertain, but like the city’s purchase of Renewable Energy Certificates earlier this year, for now the investment likely would be in the industry and its technology rather than direct use of “green” electricity to power their homes. In March, Worthington City Council members...

BY MAY 23, OHIO HOUSE COULD VOTE ON HB 393, OIL AN...

HB 393 Fact Sheet Say “NO” to HB393/SB 165, Say “NO” to Oil and Gas Waste on Our Roads Ohio state lawmakers are pushing ahead with Ohio House Bill 393 and Ohio Senate Bill 165 that will allow oil and gas waste, including fracking fluids, to be sold as a “commodity.” These products would be available in stores, and expand the use of hazardous waste as a road deicer by the Ohio Department of Transportation. Oil and gas...

Oberlin Council passes climate resolution

OBERLIN — City Council voted unanimously Monday evening to approve a resolution calling on the U.S. Congress to accept climate solution legislation. The resolution would call on Congress to pass “carbon fee and dividend” legislation that would give an economic incentive for people and companies to become more fuel-efficient. The policy would charge a rising fee at sources such as oil wells, coal mines, etc. The proposed fee...

Voters approve Athens carbon fee

Athens voters overwhelmingly approved a carbon fee in the primary election that will be collected to fund solar projects in town. There were 1,410 votes in favor of the initiative and just 437 against, according to figures provided Tuesday night by the Athens County Board of Elections. The results are unofficial. As The Messenger has previously reported, the opt-out carbon fee will only charge members of the Southeast Ohio...

Utah High Schoolers Convinced State Lawmakers to A...

Utah’s state lawmakers aren’t exactly friendly to climate change legislation. Their Republican governor said in 2015 that man-made climate change is “a little debatable.” In 2010, the state legislature overwhelmingly passed a resolution that implied global warming is a conspiracy and urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to stop all carbon dioxide reduction policies and programs. But thanks...

Appalachia’s Toxic Dumping Ground

Ohio residents speak out about the state’s influx of fracking waste The abandoned Ginsburg injection well sits exposed to the elements in Athens, Ohio. The community organization Torch CAN DO is campaigning to close and plug the open pit. Photo by Roxanne Groff Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week the trucks stream through eastern Ohio’s rolling landscape along Highway 50. Most come from West Virginia and Pennsylvania....

How Big Is Your Environmental Footprint?

If you want to make a positive change this Earth Day but don’t know where to start, one of best things you can do is take an honest look at your environmental footprint. For instance, how much water are you wasting? How much plastic are you throwing out? How much planet-warming carbon are you producing? Luckily, there are many online calculators that crunch through your consumption habits. While the final tally might...

How to Raise an Environmentalist

We often talk about leaving the world a better place for our children. But our kids are not standing idly by while we wonder how to clean up the mess we’ve made. Energetic, adept with technology and enthusiastic to create change, kids already have the tools to become stewards of the planet’s ecological health. And they are ready to start now. Meanwhile, part of our job as parents, educators and mentors, is to...

Majority of Americans Want Climate Education in Sc...

 In a rebuke to efforts by the Heartland Institute and at least 10 state legislatures, a large majority of Americans believe climate change should be taught in schools, the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (YPCCC) reported Wednesday. When the YPCCC asked Americans, “Should schools teach our children about the causes, consequences, and potential solutions to global warming?”, a national average of 78...

The big eco-challenge: Wealth can up concern – but...

Call it the environmentalism paradox. As nations become wealthier, their negative impact on the environment increases, yet so does their capacity and desire to help. Ahead of Earth Day, it’s a reminder that the health of the planet depends largely on how powerful we can make the second half of that equation.   Is the environmental movement too elitist? Various studies show that, as individuals and nations rise out...

5 Environmental Victories to Inspire You This Eart...

Planet Earth is at a crisis point. Researchers say we have to begin reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 2020 if we want to meet the temperature goals outlined in the Paris agreement and avoid catastrophic climate change. The work to be done can seem overwhelming. A survey published this week found that only 6 percent of Americans think we will succeed in reducing global warming. But Earth Day weekend is no time to give up!...

Stand up for science: More researchers now see eng...

As the first anniversary of the March for Science approaches, researchers continue to reflect on the relationship between science and society. A recent survey of 2017 marchers indicated that nearly all were also actively participating in other types of science advocacy. In the past year, inspired by the call to stand up for science, scientists have written editorials, contacted members of Congress, attended public...