Preston Kott of U.S. Environmental Services moves oil absorbent boom into a warehouse at a pollution control staging area in Venice, La., April 27, 2010. Staging areas are being set up along the Gulf coast as the Deepwater Horizon spill continues to spread. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Patrick Kelley. Photo and caption via: uscglantareapa’s photostream.

Since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig (majority-owned by BP) exploded in the G…Read the full story on TreeHugger

Photos via Mundo Gump

For many frogs, it’s the worst of times.
Take the Poison dart frog, for example–the most poisonous vertebrae in the world. These tiny frogs contain enough alkaloid poison in their skin to kill around fifteen people, or two adult elephants. Despite this deterrent, these frogs, native to the forests of South America, are being wiped out as their Read the full story on TreeHugger

Photo via donielle @ Flickr

We’ve been following the story of the fight to save Cahuenga Peak–home of the iconic Hollywood sign–for a few months now, ever since the Trust for Public Land called on some famous friends–Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Steven Spielberg, Aileen Getty, The Tiffany & Co. Foundation, and many others–for donations to help buy back the 1…Read the full story on TreeHugger

Photo via the Post-Gazette

Surprise, surprise. I have to say that it would have been more unexpected had this not come to light: Massey Energy, the company that owns the Upper Big Branch Mine where 29 coal workers lost their lives, is under investigation for bribing safety inspectors. Very little has been confirmed yet except that the FBI is indeed conducting an investigation, …Read the full story on TreeHugger

Image: NASA, public domain.

A ‘Gag-inducing’ Fuel Smell: “my nose is now burning”
As if water and (no doubt soon to come) land pollution wasn’t enough, the BP oil spill caused by an exploding oil rig is also causing some serious – and disgusting – air pollution. The Times-Picayune reports that the city has been overw…Read the full story on TreeHugger

Image via Yanko Design

This might be something the folks on the coast of Louisiana wish were more reality, less concept right about now. It’s bottled fresh air. “Why,” you might ask, “do we need bottled air?” Considering the rate we’re clogging up the atmosphere with pollution, the designers at designaffairs STUDIO are planning for our future, and it seems to include ready access to clean oxygen w…Read the full story on TreeHugger

The effective manner in which the US has dealt with air pollution in cities since the passage of the Clean Air Act is a point of pride for environmentalists as well as legislators. But that’s not to say that pollution doesn’t persist in many parts of the nation — far from it. One recent report found that a staggering 175 million Americans — 6 out of 10 people — live in areas where particulate pollution reaches dangerous levels. …Read the full story on TreeHugger

With so much news coverage on the disastrous BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, I thought it would be helpful to compile some of the better video clips from various news outlets. Below you’ll find a growing number of video clips on the BP oil spill. If you have a video you would like to see added to the list, please post a link in the comments below.

…Read the full story on TreeHugger

Purple pokeberry power (Photo: Muffet on Flickr)

Never underestimate the power of weeds. Case in point: the common pokeberry weed – native to North America, South America, East Asia and New Zealand and whose red dye was once used by American Civil War soldiers to write letters home – may now hold the secret for revolutionizing the next generation of low-cost photovoltaic cells, making widespread, affordable homegrown solar power a real possibility, especially for developing nations.
…Read the full story on TreeHugger

Photos by Jaymi Heimbuch

Green:Net is all about how technology is benefiting our struggle towards sustainable living. But rather than a festival of green gadgets or services that do little more than help one monitor how much juice their gadgets consume, the event is a gathering of the best minds that look at how technology can play a role in utterly transforming how we interact with our world. IT has its own footprint to worry about, it’s true, but it’s minute compared to the footprint of transportation and buildings, and more importantly, IT can be used to drastically …Read the full story on TreeHugger