Thomas Fisher, 12/05/12

Professor and dean, College of Design at the University of Minnesota

We ended the Dust Bowl by returning much of the landscape back to its native state and changing how we treated the land we continue to occupy. And we will end disasters like Hurricane Sandy the same way.

Theodore Johnson, 12/05/12

Commander, Information Warefare Officer, U.S. Navy

Just as President Clinton presided over the Internet boom that accompanied rapid economic growth in the late '90s, the nation may be on the verge of an energy boom that will define the Obama economy -- and his presidency's legacy.

Summer Rayne Oakes, 12/05/12

http://www.summerrayne.net

It was my sophomore year of college when I discovered Tom Eisner's class: For Love of Nature.

Peter Bjerregaard, 12/05/12

Climate analyst

It probably doesn't come as a surprise that political action often lacks behind scientific recommendations, but it should inspire reflection when scientists consider the lack of communication between the scientific community and politicians to be one of the most pressing issues of this century.

D.A. Barber, 12/05/12

Independent journalist

The election is over, but the science-denying campaign lingers. Maybe it's a good time the president finally leads the charge against an ideology that dictates to its acolytes that all science is a hoax.

Francesca Koe, 12/04/12

Director of Campaigns, NRDC

As families around the world prepare festive plans for holiday feasting, thankfully a certain soup is swimming off the menu this year -- shark fin soup. As a result, many of the important and majestic sharks that maintain balance in our marine ecosystems will roam free, fins intact.

Katherine Dunn, 12/05/12

Artist of Apifera Farm; author, Creative Illustration Workshop'

Someone finally blew the whistle on the property, and The Humane Society helped the county sheriff remove the herd of goats. But right away, there was one standout who endeared himself to the rescuers -- Stevie.

Mike Sandler, 12/05/12

Political Economist, Climate Change Professional, and Sustainability Advocate

If carbon pricing in the United States were a baby, it would have been born on November 14, when the California Air Resources Board launched its first auction of Cap and Trade greenhouse gas permits. If carbon pricing is the baby, then the climate dividend is the birth announcement.

Miyoko Sakashita, 12/04/12

Oceans Director, Center for Biological Diversity

The federal government just

Don Ringe, 12/04/12

Issue Advocacy Media Consultant

Certain world leaders have buried their heads in the sand for years on this issue, seeking to stay competitive with emerging manufacturing markets. But history will not be kind to those who think they can watch and wait. One day they may call this period the second "Black Death."

Carl Safina, 12/04/12

Author, 'The View From Lazy Point; A Natural Year in an Unnatural World'

We all want to just eat and not worry too much about it. That's hard if you're confused about GMOs, mercury, other toxic chemicals, antibiotics, and radioactivity.

Adam Greenberg, 12/04/12

U.S. Youth Delegate to the UNFCCC

Right now, Obama's legacy and America's future are on the line. I believed the president in 2008 when he told us that generations would look back and say "this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal."

Frances Beinecke, 12/04/12

President, Natural Resources Defense Council

America is known for facing challenges head on and solving them with action, resourcefulness and innovation. We must do the same with the climate crisis.

Sea to Table, 12/04/12

Sea to Table partners with local fishermen from small-scale sustainable wild fisheries, finding better markets for their catch, connecting fishermen with chefs.

Though we do need better regulation, the real issue is the supply chain. It's constructed around an outdated model in which suppliers hide their sources, dealers hide their markets, and fish becomes a commodity whose value is lost from the people and communities who harvest them.

Anette Engelund Friis, 12/04/12

Manager, Climate Change Policy, Danish Agriculture & Food Council

Until a Work Program on Agriculture is approved by the United Nations, it will become more difficult for farmers to continue to produce the food we need, and carbon emissions will continue to rise.

Rachel Smolker, 12/04/12

Co-director, Biofuelwatch

This past week, the Senate voted to strike language from the National Defense Authorization Act that would have limited military use of biofuels

Bill Chameides, 12/04/12

Dean, Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment

A mix of factors, ranging from the ethnic to the territorial and political, can be pointed to as the root cause of the Congo War. John Prendergast also points to another: greed abetted by Congo's rich supply of four lucrative metals -- gold, tin, tungsten and tantalum, all used in modern electronics.