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Author Archive

Articles by Curtis Brainard | Email the Author

 

  1. Campaign Desk

    Obama’s NASA Plan Gets Little Play

    November 29, 2007 11:10 AM

    With a few notable exceptions, journalists missed an opportunity to rip into a rare intersection of education and science on the campaign trail last week. It should be noted, penitently, that this column also appears a bit late, and usually... Continue reading

  2. Campaign Desk

    NYT Runs Out of Energy

    November 28, 2007 03:25 PM

    It looked promising, at first: a story on the front page of the The New York Times business section that appears to use soaring oil prices as the news peg for a roundup of our presidential candidates' various energy... Continue reading

  3. Campaign Desk

    “Evangelicalese 101”

    November 27, 2007 01:14 PM

    Evangelicals are the swing voters to watch in 2008. At least, that's the impression one gets from the large number of news articles this group has stirred up this campaign season. It is safe to say, however, that no single... Continue reading

  4. Campaign Desk

    Fusing Climate to the Campaign

    November 19, 2007 04:53 PM

    Three presidential candidates gathered at a forum in Los Angeles on Saturday to talk specifically about global warming and energy issues. It was the "first time in history" that this has happened, according to a press release from the... Continue reading

  5. Behind the News

    Where is the Climate ‘Middle’?

    November 16, 2007 02:47 PM

    In late October, The New York Times finally gave its climate reporter, Andrew Revkin, what he has wanted for some time: a blog of his own, called Dot Earth. Blogging might not seem like the next obvious... Continue reading

  6. Campaign Desk

    Climate Consensus: Bravery or Blunder?

    November 7, 2007 02:21 PM

    In early October, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama unveiled their campaign platforms on energy and the environment. John Edwards hasn't made an event out of his, but he has one, and so do the other Democratic candidates. All of them... Continue reading

  7. Campaign Desk

    Bloomberg Overshadows Edwards

    November 5, 2007 11:54 AM

    John Edwards spun through New Orleans like a, well, not like a hurricane. On Saturday he blew in and out of the city where he launched his campaign a year ago without causing much of a stir. Edwards... Continue reading

  8. Behind the News

    Those Complicated California Wildfires

    November 2, 2007 12:47 PM

    It's almost inevitable these days: from hurricanes, to drought, to wildfires, people want to know (and journalists can't help asking) if these natural disasters are the product of man-made global warming. It's hard to fault all those guilty... Continue reading

  9. Behind the News

    The “Other” Water Problem

    October 25, 2007 08:42 AM

    In a long, New York Times Magazine cover story last weekend, Jon Gertner envisioned a dry future in the American southwest where, unless conservation measures are enacted soon, states could be squabbling over diminishing stores of water. <br... Continue reading

  10. Campaign Desk

    Inhofe In The Crosshairs

    October 11, 2007 02:11 PM

    The novelties of this presidential race have captured so much media attention that the need to also elect a suite of congressmen and women and governors in 2008 has hardly registered yet. The Oklahoman broke the quiet on Wednesday, however,... Continue reading

  11. Behind the News

    Low-Hanging Fruit

    October 9, 2007 02:05 PM

    Whoa now. It's not often that I see another media critic writing about environmental journalism. The notion that we need more of them is one possible inference to be drawn from Sam McManis's column in The Sacramento Bee today:... Continue reading

  12. Behind the News

    Education or Indulgence?

    October 9, 2007 09:51 AM

    Not many diplomats shared Czech President Vaclav Klaus's opinion about global warming at a special meeting of the United Nations two weeks ago: Contrary to many self-assured and self-serving proclamations, there is no scientific consensus about the causes... Continue reading

  13. Campaign Desk

    Clinton Vows to Protect Science

    October 5, 2007 01:57 PM

    Hats off to Hillary - she made a smart play yesterday, using the fiftieth anniversary of the Sputnik launch to expound on her science platform before a beltway crowd at the Carnegie Institution in Washington, D.C. Like all... Continue reading

  14. Behind the News

    Yale Launches Climate, Media Forum

    October 2, 2007 12:33 PM

    The consensus on how to improve news stories about climate change is even more solid than the consensus on global warming itself: reporters and scientists need to communicate better with each other. It's a two-way street, and if you spend... Continue reading

  15. Campaign Desk

    Climate and the Campaign

    September 28, 2007 11:00 AM

    As the federal election rapidly approaches, climate change, energy, and environment have become leading issues among candidates and the media ... in Australia. It was a big week down under. Last Sunday, Prime Minister John Howard announced new... Continue reading

  16. Behind the News

    Climate, Front And Center

    September 25, 2007 03:40 PM

    Today is the second day of what The New York Times labeled "Climate Week" in an editorial last Saturday. Beginning with a special, one-day session on climate change at the United Nations yesterday, and concluding with a two-day, White... Continue reading

  17. Behind the News

    What’s Healthy?

    September 19, 2007 12:53 PM

    What do red wine, cell phones, and daycare have in common? All have ambiguous links to human health established by epidemiological, or observational, studies. The list of dietary, consumer, and lifestyle choices that can affect wellbeing is long; anybody who... Continue reading

  18. The Kicker

    Precisely

    September 13, 2007 04:44 PM

    It could be that I'm just tired after a week covering a science journalists' conference in California, but I came across a bit of contradictory language in a USA Today article today that is worth spotlighting. ... Continue reading

  19. Behind the News

    Environmental Journalism? Environmentalism?

    September 11, 2007 11:53 AM

    I suppose that when I walked into the opening reception of the Society of Environmental Journalists annual meeting last Wednesday, I expected the revelry I found. It had been a big year for them (us, I guess). Thanks, largely, to... Continue reading

  20. Behind the News

    What Kind of News do People Really Want?

    August 31, 2007 12:44 PM

    It's almost fifty pages long, but well worth the read: a recent study by the Pew Research Center for People & the Press synthesizes 165 separate national surveys and finds that American news preferences have remained "surprisingly static" over... Continue reading

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