NewsRack: flenvcenter/Education-Arts-and-Culture_National/Education

House preserves its own budget as others face cuts - Seattle Times: Politics

Tue, 21 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

House lawmakers are moving to protect Capitol Hill's budget even as they slash programs like education, health research, water projects and housing aid for the poor.

Forced Fluoridation of Community Water Supplies: An Open Letter - Organic Consumers Association News Headlines

Tue, 21 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Thanks for writing _____, I appreciate your expression of concern about my raising the issue of the fluoridation of Duluth's municipal water supply and how raising that old "dead" issue might possibly harm my credibility in this community.

Click here to read this article

Tom Stritikus, Susan Enfield on overcoming poverty and educating South King County kids - Seattle Times: Opinion

Tue, 21 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Earlier this week, Seattle Times reporter Lornet Turnbull wrote about the growth of poverty in South King County’s suburban communities. She highlighted the findings of a new Brookings Institute study that concludes a lack of affordable housing has led low-income households to move outside Sea

Lawmakers approve $33 million for housing and homelessness-prevention programs - MinnPost

Cynthia Boyd — Tue, 21 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

The Legislature just approved $33 million in funding for housing and homelessness-prevention programs and the state has a new director to prevent and end homelessness. So, is the end of homelessness in Minnesota within reach? “I certainly look at this legislative session as a victory for housing and homelessness. Is it everything we need? No. But it’s certainly an indication that the governor, legislators and the governor’s commissioners recognize the importance of housing stability,’’ said Cathy ten Broeke, who in February took the job of establishing a state Interagency Council on Homelessness made up of representatives from state departments like housing, human services, education and transportation. Further, she said Tuesday after the conclusion of this year’s legislative session that she’s impressed with how advocates for more affordable housing and services for the homeless banded together to make their case to elected officials. Ending homelessness needs to be a common goal, she said. ...

Eat those white vegetables? - Green Technology and Environmental Science News - ENN

Allison Winter, ENN — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

We've always been told that eating colorful foods has many health benefits. And no, I'm not talking about artificially colored candies or chips, but instead fresh fruits and vegetables. Many produce rich in color contains nutrient packed pigments and antioxidants that provide energy and other benefits to our bodies. Consequently, it is recommended that we have three to five servings of fruits and vegetables every day. But what about white foods? Some nutritionists urge us to stay away from white bread breads, rice and pastas, but what about white produce? There are potatoes, garlic, onions, mushrooms, cauliflower, onions, turnips and kohlrabi just to name a few. Are these white fruits and vegetables just as nutritious?

Chicago school board to vote on mass school closing - Yahoo: US National

Tue, 21 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

By Mary Wisniewski CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Chicago Board of Education is due to vote on Wednesday on a controversial proposal to close 54 schools in the country's third-largest public school district in what would be the largest mass school closing in the nation. The district's plans to close 53 elementary schools and a high school this year, mainly in Hispanic and African-American neighborhoods, has been met with protests by parents and union leaders who say the closings will disrupt communities and put children in danger with longer walks through troubled areas. ...

Aquifers in US Depleting, Contributing to Sea-Level Rise - Environmental News Network

Allison Winter, ENN — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

The High Plains (also known as Ogallala) aquifer underlies more than 170,000 square miles of the United States. Aquifers are water storage areas that are made up of bodies of permeable rock that contain and transmit groundwater. The High Plains aquifer serves as the principal source of water for irrigation and drinking in the Great Plains, serving over two million people. However, substantial pumping of the aquifer for irrigation since the 1940s has resulted in large water-table declines. Depleting aquifers of groundwater can lead to serious consequences as pumping water out of the ground faster than it can be replenished can permanently dry up wells, reduce water in lakes and streams, and deteriorate water quality.

Catholic schools update to compete with charter schools - Seattle Times: Local

Tue, 21 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

A number of Catholic schools in Western Washington are embracing educational innovations in an attempt to update their curriculum and to better compete with the charter schools that will open here in the next few years.

Energy chief puts LNG exports on hold until studies reviewed - Seattle Times: Business & Technology

Tue, 21 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Newly sworn in, Energy Secretary Ernest Moriz says he wants to review about 20 application for liquefied natural-gas export facilities to study the effect on prices.

Drinking Water Disinfection Byproduct Iodoacetic Acid Induces Tumorigenic Transformation of NIH3T3 Cells - pubs.acs.org

Mon, 20 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Environmental Science & Technology

DOI: 10.1021/es304786b

Moniz: LNG exports on hold until data reviewed - Seattle Times: Top stories

Tue, 21 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said Tuesday he will delay final decisions on about 20 applications to export liquefied natural gas until he reviews studies by the Energy Department and others on what impact the exports would have on domestic natural gas supplies and prices.

Steve Horn: Gasland 2 Grassroots Premiere in Illinois Highlights Industry PSYOPS and Ongoing Fracking Fights - Green on HuffingtonPost.com

Steve Horn — Tue, 21 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Gasland 2 screened yesterday in Normal, IL and DeSmogBlog was there to gain a sneak peak of the documentary set for a July 8 HBO national premiere.

Melting Glaciers - Green Technology and Environmental Science News - ENN

ENN Editor — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Most of the world's frozen water is locked up at the poles. 99 percent of Earth’s land ice is located in the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. Yet the remaining ice in the world’s glaciers contributed just as much to sea rise as the two major ice sheets combined from 2003 to 2009, says a new study led by Clark University and involving the University Colorado Boulder. The new research found that all glacial regions lost significant mass from 2003 to 2009, with the biggest ice losses occurring in Arctic Canada, Alaska, coastal Greenland, the southern Andes and the Himalayas. The glaciers outside of the Greenland and Antarctic sheets lost an average of roughly 260 billion metric tons of ice annually during the study period, causing the oceans to rise 0.03 inches, or about 0.7 millimeters per year.

Climate Extreme Prediction - Climate Change News - ENN

Andy Soos, ENN — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

It seems that there is always another opinion on how the climate is or will be changing. A new study led by Oxford University concludes that the latest observations of the climate system's response to rising greenhouse gas levels are consistent with conventional estimates of the long-term climate sensitivity, despite a warming pause over the past decade. However, the most extreme rates of warming simulated by the current generation of climate models over 50- to 100-year timescales are looking less likely, according to the paper published online by Nature Geoscience.

Moniz: LNG exports on hold until he reviews data - Yahoo: US National

Tue, 21 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said Tuesday he will put on hold about 20 applications to export liquefied natural gas until he reviews studies by the Energy Department and others on what impact the exports would have on domestic natural gas supplies and prices. ...

Should we let wunderkinds drop out of high school? - Seattle Times: Top stories

Mon, 20 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

It's one thing to say tech geniuses don't need degrees. After all, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg all dropped out of college.

America 10 Years After Sequestration - Mother Jones

Mattea Kramer and Jo Comerford — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

This story first appeared on the TomDispatch website. The streets are so much darker now, since money for streetlights is rarely available to municipal governments. The national parks began closing down years ago. Some are already being subdivided and sold to the highest bidder. Reports on bridges crumbling or even collapsing are commonplace. The air in city after city hangs brown and heavy (and rates of childhood asthma and other lung diseases have shot up), because funding that would allow the enforcement of clean air standards by the Environmental Protection Agency is a distant memory. Public education has been cut to the bone, making good schools a luxury and, according to the Department of Education, two of every five students won't graduate from high school. It's 2023—and this is America 10 years after the first across-the-board federal budget cuts known as sequestration went into effect. They went on for a decade, making no exception for effective programs vital to America's ...

Climate Extreme Prediction - Environmental News Network

Andy Soos, ENN — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Melting Glaciers - Climate Change News - ENN

ENN Editor — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Big ifs loom over Camden-Glassboro rail plan - Philly.com News

Mon, 20 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Passenger trains could be running again between Camden and Glassboro by 2019, if someone comes up with $1.6 billion and the current construction schedule doesn't slip.

Mattea Kramer: How America Became a Third World Country - BBC-Hindi: India

Mattea Kramer — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

It's 2023 -- and this is America 10 years after the first across-the-board federal budget cuts known as sequestration went into effect.

Eat those white vegetables? - Environmental News Network

Allison Winter, ENN — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

How America Became a Third World Country (2013-2023) - Commondreams.org Views

jon — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Mattea Kramer

Jo Comerford

The streets are so much darker now, since money for streetlights is rarely available to municipal governments. The national parks began closing down years ago. Some are already being subdivided and sold to the highest bidder. Reports on bridges crumbling or even collapsing are commonplace.

Getting to One-Planet Living - Worldwatch Institute

Maddy Traynor — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Worldwatch Institute"s State of the World 2013 explores new ways to measure sustainability and live within our planet"s boundaries Washington, D.C. —As the world continues down the path of unmitigated and unsustainable development, it is becoming increasingly clear that we have successfully pushed ourselves out of the stable geological era of the Holocene and into the more volatile and unpredictable Anthropocene. Nevertheless, many remain blissfully unaware of this truth due to the fact that ecosystem thresholds are not always marked with warning signs of impending danger. Unfortunately, this means that we may actually pass through a tipping point unaware because it is quite possible that nothing significant will happen at first. In State of the World 2013: Is Sustainability Still Possible? , the Worldwatch Institute ( www.worldwatch.org ) discusses the need to collectively stay within our planetary boundaries if we wish to achieve environmental sustainability and return ...

Melting Glaciers - Environmental News Network

ENN Editor — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT