Stories by Stan Cox
Stan Cox is a plant breeder and writer in Salina, Kansas. His book, Sick Planet: Corporate Food and Medicine, was just published by Pluto Press.
Christmas after Christmas, polls show that clothing, the most popular present among givers, is ranked as the 'most disappointing gift.'
Posted on Nov 29, 2008
If we scale down economic activity -- especially if the rich do -- we could all live in a cleaner world.
Posted on Oct 25, 2008
As our consumer goods travel thousands of miles by boat, train and truck, they're leaving a trail of soot and cancer in their wake.
Posted on Sep 5, 2008
20% of Americans are subject to homeowners associations, which have sweeping powers to dictate almost anything you want to do to your own home.
Posted on Aug 13, 2008
SUVs and big pickups are waddling off into the sunset, leaving Americans with no more excuses for the nation's profligate oil use.
Posted on Jul 10, 2008
The corporate agriculture industry would like nothing better than to see us spend all of our free time in our gardens and not in political dissent.
Posted on Jun 23, 2008
Our obsession with dieting, including the low-carb Atkins fad, may be good for our economy but it's a nightmare for the environment and our health.
Posted on May 28, 2008
Can the pumping of ethanol into American fuel tanks really make it harder for parents to feed their families?
Posted on May 9, 2008
As long as an investing class makes all major environmental decisions, no new sources of energy will replace even one barrel or ton of fossil fuel.
Posted on Apr 28, 2008
Five states are locked in fierce competition over a proposed bioterror lab that will host the world's most feared human and animal pathogens.
Posted on Mar 29, 2008
Agribusiness and politicians are sucking our country dry with mandates for biofuels.
Posted on Mar 22, 2008
The chemical industry has helped fortify our homes against microbial invasion. But is our fear of germs making us even sicker?
Posted on Feb 2, 2008
Welcome to the weird world of medical prayer. What, if anything, does it accomplish?
Posted on Jan 11, 2008
Americans' out-of-control clothing shopping is causing an ecological plague, humanitarian nightmare and the need for some really, really big closets.
Posted on Nov 30, 2007
Space hasn't yet been weaponized but it is already highly militarized, thanks to a money-hungry arms industry and a commission started by Rumsfeld.
Posted on Nov 15, 2007
The recent mansion boom produced millions of energy-wasting homes with thousands of square feet that Americans don't need -- not the behavior of a society that's thinking about a sustainable future.
Posted on Sep 8, 2007
Many of us rely on drugs imported from developing countries like India. But a new report reveals the toxic industry that produces them and the people who pay the price.
Posted on Aug 27, 2007
For years, opponents of cell towers and wireless technology have voiced concerns about potential health effects of electromagnetic fields. Once ridiculed as crackpots and Luddites, they're starting to get backup from the scientific community.
Posted on Jul 31, 2007
Homeowner association regulations often make environmental responsibility impossible by outlawing clotheslines, solar panels -- even gardens.
Posted on Apr 26, 2007
Banks have a habit of using your savings to give credit to unseemly industries like cluster bomb manufacturers and Big Coal -- but finding a practical alternative can be tricky.
Posted on Mar 23, 2007
Evidence is piling up that emissions from the production of synthetic compounds in non-stick cookware, cleaning products, and a host of other common products may cause cancer and other health problems.
Posted on Jan 2, 2007
This Christmas, America's pets will be tearing open $5 billion worth of presents, making them luxury consumers in their own right.
Posted on Nov 22, 2006
You can't understand this country's politics using red and blue; the USA's voting patterns make more sense when the country's Wal-Marts, ecological habits, income and population size are spread across the same map.
Posted on Nov 7, 2006
Everyone's heard about the human rights abuses in African gold and diamond mines. But when it comes to their ultra-cool, razor-thin cell phones, American consumers won't get the message.
Posted on Sep 14, 2006
Everyone from anti-contraception Christians to zero-population-growth advocates is using the U.S's looming 300-million mark to advance their agenda.
Posted on Aug 10, 2006
Air-conditioning puts a chill on community spirit, aids the cause of anti-enviros, and just might have given us President George W. Bush.
Posted on Jun 29, 2006
Those air-conditioners that keep things cool and comfortable inside are helping make the outside world even nastier.
Posted on Jun 22, 2006
The pharmaceutical industry has a dream: at least one disease (and more than one prescription drug) for every American.
Posted on May 16, 2006
What if the South had won the Civil War? Kevin Wilmott's sly mockumentary imagines an America that is very different from today's -- or is it?
Posted on Apr 10, 2006
Modern human plagues like bird flu aren't the result of mysterious forces. Whether we mean to or not, we bring them on ourselves.
Posted on Mar 21, 2006
Some medical professionals say the only way to rid ourselves of medicine's vast piles of waste is to shrink the health care industry itself. Are they heretics or visionaries?
Posted on Feb 22, 2006
Is it possible to eat well without breaking the bank? Our correspondent goes shopping at Whole Foods and comes away hungry.
Posted on Jan 25, 2006
How America is failing the workers who put beef, chicken and pork on our dinner tables.
Posted on Jan 4, 2006
Judge Jones' ruling was a rare bolt of logic in a year when much of the nation seemed to be coming under the thrall of intelligent design.
Posted on Dec 21, 2005
A crop of absurd genetic patents are bamboozling U.S. patent examiners and stifling innovation among farmers and scientists.
Posted on Dec 14, 2005
America's lawn-care industry is fighting hard to make sure the nation's lawns are awash in synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.
Posted on Nov 17, 2005
The era of cheap natural gas, like that of cheap oil, is ending. We have barely begun to assess the drastic, worldwide changes that will ensue.
Posted on Oct 12, 2005
The estate tax is a crucial part of an economy that protects every family's legacy -- including treasures that have nothing to do with material wealth.
Posted on Sep 7, 2005
Seven of the greatest hits (or misses) of conservative Christian 'science' show just how little fact goes into these beliefs, and how much damage they can cause.
Posted on Aug 11, 2005
By prosecuting Steven Kurtz and Robert Ferrell, is the Justice Department trying to clamp a lid on political art or looking to chalk up a win by exploiting fears of bioterrorism?
Posted on Jul 25, 2005
1
