Which Fish Are Safest for Pregnant Mothers? Laura Pugliese of Miami got her hair tested for mercury several years ago, and then postponed her pregnancy when she found her levels were well above what the EPA considers safe. Mercury pollution comes primarily from coal-fired power plants and falls to earth in rain, and then accumulates in fish. Laura stopped eating albacore tuna, her mercury levels went down, and last December, gave birth to healthy baby girl named Alexa.
CNN's Greg Hunter tells Laura's story and then ends his report touting low-mercury fish at the Chelsea Fish Market in New York. You can learn more about mercury here, as well as order a mercury hair testing kit from the Sierra Club for the non-profit rate of $25.
All Biofuels Aren't Created Equal Biofuels can be made from nearly any organic material, but corn, which is the source of 95 percent of U.S. ethanol, would reduce global warming emissions only about 15 percent on average compared to gasoline. Cellulosic ethanol, made from switchgrass, slash, and agricultural byproducts, could cut emissions by more than 90 percent. But it's not commercially available. And then there's sugarcane ethanol, which is booming in Brazil, soybean biodiesel, and cooking grease biodiesel, even biodiesel made from algae -- all with their various pros and cons.
Want help separating the wheat from the chaff? Check out "Bio-hope, Bio-hype" in the most recent issue of Sierra, complete with a useful chart comparing six different biofuels.
Who's Cuter? Leonardo or Nanu?
If there's one question more important than how we address global warming, perhaps it's whether Leonardo DiCaprio, narrator and executive producer of 11th Hour, is cuter than Nanu, the polar bear cub that steals the show in the Arctic Tale.
Take your pick: For a broad and substantive exploration of global warming and other environmental challenges (and a few glimpses of Leo), see 11th Hour. For something more warm and fuzzy, go to Arctic Tale, which focuses on one of the species that is already literally feeling the heat from global warming.
For great green content on the small screen, check out these two public TV series that the Sierra Club is proud to support: Building Green shows homeowners just how easy, cost-effective, and healthy it is to go green, while dispelling the myth that an environmentally conscious lifestyle means doing without. Emmy Award winning Natural Heroes is about to launch its third season of global stories of ordinary citizens finding ways to protect the planet.
A Day of Protest, Prayer, and Possibility for Gulf Coast Recovery On August 29, the 2-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the Sierra Club and a host of other community groups are taking to the streets for a "Day of Presence" in support of Gulf Coast recovery, and to draw attention to the lack of progress in rebuilding.
A quarter of a million people are still displaced from the hurricane, unable to return because they have no homes, jobs, or the means to rebuild. Meanwhile Katrina cleanup has generated tons of debris, much of it being sent to landfills in low-income neighborhoods.
The Sierra Club is working with residents of the largely Vietnamese Village de L'est section of East New Orleans to force the closure of a landfill for Katrina debris. The Club and its partners are also pushing to incorporate more green building techniques into the recovery effort.
Our Favorite Reader Stories -- and a Great Offer
Sierra Club Books' just-wrapped Piece-of-Paradise Sweepstakes was a huge hit, with many hundreds of Insider readers submitting stories about their own piece of paradise in the outdoors.
Read some of our editors' favorite submissions -- AND get a great offer on the book that inspired the sweepstakes.
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