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Articles by Curtis Brainard | Email the Author

 

1. The Observatory

   Limbaugh Suggests NYT’s Revkin Should “Kill Himself”

   October 20, 2009 05:28 PM

   There’s commentary and then there’s hateful insanity, and nobody is blurring the line between the two better than Rush Limbaugh. On his Tuesday radio program, the shock jock compared environmentalists to jihadists willing to dispatch child suicide bombers in support... Continue reading

2. The Observatory

   Columbia Suspends Environmental Journalism Program

   October 19, 2009 02:36 PM

   For the first time since it was created fourteen years ago, Columbia University’s highly regarded dual-degree graduate program in environmental journalism will not be accepting applications for next academic year. In a letter to faculty at the Graduate... Continue reading

3. The Observatory

   SEJ Accused of Protecting Gore

   October 12, 2009 11:39 AM

   An independent filmmaker accused the Society of Environmental Journalists of “protecting” Al Gore on Friday after the filmmaker’s mic was cut while challenging the former vice president to acknowledge alleged errors in the 2006 documentary An... Continue reading

4. The Observatory

   Synthetic Biology Still Not a Story

   October 6, 2009 02:15 PM

   According to a recent poll, Americans know very little about synthetic biology, which seeks to genetically engineer new forms of life or endow existing ones with novel powers. Part of that may be the press’s fault. While the field has... Continue reading

5. The Observatory

   Grantham Prize Seminar To Honor Air Pollution Series

   October 2, 2009 12:28 PM

   Anybody in or around Washington, D.C. on Monday should check out the fourth annual Grantham Prize Seminar on the State of Environmental Journalism. The event, which is free and open to the public, features an impressive list of... Continue reading

6. The Observatory

   Green Rankings a Means, Not an End For Journalists

   September 28, 2009 04:24 PM

   Are you invested in a dirty company? If you work for the state of New York and plan to draw benefits from one of its pension funds, you might be. “One aspect of Newsweek's just-released rankings of 500... Continue reading

7. The Observatory

   Are Americans Wild Enough?

   September 25, 2009 06:20 PM

   On Sunday evening PBS will air Ken Burns’s much anticipated documentary, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. News outlets and blogs were filled with reviews on Friday, a fitting end to a summer awash in news... Continue reading

8. The Observatory

   Newsweek Ranks 500 Greenest Companies…

   September 22, 2009 06:45 PM

   The press’s latest attempt to quantify and categorize the environmental track records of myriad businesses attempting burnish their eco-credentials is the most ambitious to date. But the emerald paint is still wet in a couple places. On Monday, Newsweek released... Continue reading

9. The Observatory

   MinnPost.com Launches “Science Agenda”

   September 18, 2009 04:43 PM

   On Thursday, I wrote about a group of thirty-five research universities that have launched a “newswire” called Futurity.org to showcase their best research. The impetus for the project was the decline of science coverage in the... Continue reading

10. The Observatory

    Is Futurity the Future?

    September 17, 2009 04:52 PM

    Citing the decline of science coverage in the mainstream news media, thirty-five of the country’s top universities have banded together to launch their own “news channel” for publicizing their best research. In March, the consortium created a Web... Continue reading

11. The Observatory

    From Hudson to 9/11

    September 11, 2009 04:26 PM

    Remember remember the month of September. So says a smart tribute in today’s New York Times, pairing the eighth anniversary of 9/11 and the four-hundredth anniversary of Dutch explorer Henry Hudson’s first voyage, on 9/12, into what would... Continue reading

12. The Observatory

    EPA Targets Major Emitters

    September 4, 2009 11:41 AM

    The Environmental Protection Agency sent a “tailoring rule” to the White House for consideration on Saturday that would limit regulation of greenhouse-gas emissions under the Clean Air Act to large, industrial sources. It’s easy to view the rule... Continue reading

13. The Observatory

    Can Science Be “Humanized?”

    August 31, 2009 09:38 AM

    There is a hauntingly dystopian headline in the September issue of Harper’s Magazine: “Dehumanized: When math and science rule the school.” According to the article itself, the dehumanizing element of the school system (especially universities) is actually its... Continue reading

14. The Observatory

    Media Hype Swine Flu Report

    August 26, 2009 12:58 PM

    On Monday, the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology released a report (pdf) about the possible impact of swine flu this coming fall. The report presented a “plausible scenario” wherein 20 to 40 percent of the... Continue reading

15. The Observatory

    Forbes on ExxonMobil: “Green Company of the Year”

    August 24, 2009 12:57 PM

    What an eye-grabber! “ExxonMobil: Green Company of Year.” I mean, who woulda thunk it? Too bad the provocative headline of Forbes’s current cover story is little more than cheap window dressing. Worse still, its unnecessary hyperbole detracts... Continue reading

16. The Observatory

    March of the Politicians

    August 12, 2009 04:35 PM

    On Saturday, The Wall Street Journal fronted an article about a trip that ten members of Congress took last year to the South Pacific and Antarctica, ostensibly to study climate change. The eleven-day trip, which occurred over New... Continue reading

17. The Observatory

    It’s Tanking; I’m Teaching…

    August 7, 2009 04:27 PM

    Following the fiftieth fortieth anniversary of the first moon landing two weeks ago, The Observatory ran a short round-up of the coverage, arguing that the uncertain and controversial future of human spaceflight makes NASA “fertile ground” for space... Continue reading

18. The Observatory

    Clunkers, the Economy, and the Environment

    August 5, 2009 02:12 PM

    Since the Department of Transportation announced last Thursday that new-car buyers had bankrupted the “cash for clunkers” rebate initiative in its first week, the media have devoted countless articles to analyzing the federal program’s value. The deal--which offers... Continue reading

19. The Observatory

    Science Journalism Around the World

    July 8, 2009 10:23 AM

    LONDON — During the meeting here last week, I began referring to the World Conference of Science Journalists as my “Super Bowl.” With around 900 participants, it was surely one of, if not the, largest gathering ever of... Continue reading

20. The Observatory

    Press Eyes Copenhagen

    July 6, 2009 05:28 PM

    LONDON — Unsurprisingly, climate change was one of the most popular topics at the World Conference of Science Journalists, held here last week. As I’ve argued many times, ups and downs in the coverage thereof have been a... Continue reading

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