FRANKFORT, KY, Feb. 11, 2011 -- Wendell Berry, Kentucky's most famous author and one of America's most respected essayists, is among sixteen protesters spending the weekend in the governor's office to demand an end to mountaintop removal.

After decades of opposition to the blasting of mountaintops and pollution of...

A friend who recently attended a cremation ceremony told me that it had been the highlight of his week.

Resisting the easy jokes, I asked him why.

Because, he said, there is nothing like death to remind you of what really matters.

If you've ever experienced the...

School lunch has been associated with a lot of things since Michelle Obama, the most powerful woman in the universe according to Forbes' latest ranking, put a spotlight on the issue with the launch of her Let's Move! campaign early this year:

Childhood obesity. National security. The growing health...

"Who is really responsible for the oil spill in the Gulf," a group of New Orleans students ask during a mock trial they recently staged, "BP or everyone who uses oil?"

Perhaps, a student named Jordan suggests by way of an answer, oil companies are a lot like gun...

In a few less-than-quiet classrooms in New Orleans, about 15 middle and high school students have been gathered together over the past five weeks discussing what they want to do about the BP oil spill. This was not the way they'd originally planned to spend their summer vacation.

In...

Watching McDonald's new "Big Mac World Chant" ad campaign--announced within a week of The Atlantic's latest cover story, "Fat Nation: It's Worse Than You Think"--reminded me of that famous October 2000 debate between Al Gore and George W. Bush.

Gore, you'll remember, came across as informed, articulate, capable, if...

There was a extraordinary gathering just north of San Francisco last week--including Nobel, Pulitzer, and Goldman prize-winners; famous doctors, writers, and chefs; and inspiring individuals such as Martin Strel, a Guinness World Record marathon swimmer from Slovenia who has been bringing attention to some of the world's most polluted rivers...

I was in Trader Joe's frozen food aisle when I remembered the HuffPo"Week of Eating In" challenge. Did I really want to do this? I wondered. More to the point, could I? It seemed disconcertingly likely to expose me as a great green hypocrite.

I work for the Center...

"Cultivating Failure," the much talked about Caitlin Flanagan article in the current issue of The Atlantic, lambastes school gardens. So it's no surprise that many garden proponents have already shot back with their objections -- reiterating the value of getting kids into gardens, exposing them to healthy food, and giving...

I met a teenager recently who I cannot get out of my mind--a 16-year-old who seemed to have everything going for him. He was handsome, smart, likeable, a good student, and comfortable in his lanky frame. The kind of kid whom one instantly feels will do well in life. Except...

For the past five years, ever since my second child was born, I've been asking why we don't take climate change more seriously.

The easy answer, of course, is that it's just too much to think about, especially with more immediate economic concerns. This week's poll from the Pew Research...