Currently, about 40 million acres of rainforest are lost annually, even though they are home to to five to ten million plant and animal species. In addition to their role as diverse habitats, rainforests also help mitigate the effects of global warming by absorbing greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide.

Check out this 40 second clip of Minnesota Senator Michele Bachmann calling climate change science into question as her audience laughs in her face.

Isn't this MUCH better? Thanks to EWG designer extraordinaire, Carrie Gouldin, we no longer look like a spam blog. In fact, I'd have to say (in my completely impartial opinion, of course) that we've now got one of the best designs out there. We're still making small tweaks, so please comment or email us if you have trouble with anything, or if something just looks plain wrong on your browser.

Scientists and Engineers for America is a new group, just recently formed:

"to enter the political debate when the nation's leaders systematically ignore scientific evidence and analysis, put ideological interest ahead of scientific truths, suppress valid scientific evidence and harass and threaten scientists for speaking honestly about their research."

NPR reports uncovering internal documents suggesting that EPA administrator Steven Johnson ignored the advice of EPA scientific advisors when he rejected tougher air quality standards that could save thousands of lives each year.

Every year, for last 30 years, Project Censored at Sonoma State University has been collecting and reporting on news that corporate media doesn’t cover. The issues that don’t make it to the corporate media usually involve social justice, human rights, corporate greed and the environment.

The scientific journal Nature has added a new element to its system of reviewing articles for publication---posting submissions online and allowing feedback from recognized scientists and institutions. The posting of pending research is meant to support, not replace, the traditional peer-review process, which has come under increased scrutiny as of late for failing to weed out shoddy or even fraudulent research. Nature's editors hope that poorly drawn conclusions and flaws in experimental design, will be more easily flagged with more eyes reviewing them.

Union of Concerned Scientists is in the final round of its Scientific Integrity Cartoon Contest, recognizing the best cartoons dealing with the intersection of politics and science. Only 12 finalists remain--check out all 12 and vote for your favorite. Here's mine.

Pulitzer-prize winning biologist E.O. Wilson is working to unite religious Creationists and secular believers of evolution theory around a shared commitment to environmental conservation. "There are two world views in conflict -- religious and secular -- but yet they can meet in friendship on one of the most important issues of this century," he said.
Amen, prof! [Link]