Bus blues: Cities like Pittsburgh and Boston are having to make drastic cuts in bus and train service as the economic crisis continues to provide them with lower-than-expected tax revenues. For an extra dose of irony, these cuts come at a time when demand for transit is on the increase, due to high fuel costs and … you guessed it … the economic crisis. The Transport Politic
Trashed: The amount of plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch has increased 100-fold over the past four decades. Just another sign, as Julia Whitty wrote in the cover story to our spring issue, that we’re close to pushing the oceans past the point of no return. MSNBC
Fight fire with … fracking?: Colorado is facing a terrible drought and fire season. Seems like a good time to save up the state’s dwindling water supply, no? Or the oil and gas industry could just pour it all into underground wells for hydraulic fracturing. Guess which way they’re going. Boulder Weekly
Panel power: Big box chain stores aren’t all bad. They’re giving solar panel installers a way to reach customers who want to harness clean energy right from their rooftops. Too bad most of those solar panels are being made in China, where the clean tech industry is thriving thanks to stronger government support than we’re willing to provide here in the States. New York Times
Paging the Avengers: Hey Cap and Iron Man, we’ve got the plot for your inevitable sequel: “super weeds” that have become well-nigh invulnerable to common herbicides are taking over U.S. farmland, choking agriculture, and endangering our food supply. (Maybe Doctor Doom’s behind it?) If only it were fiction. Instead of sending in the Superfriends, a national summit of weed experts convened in Washington this week seeking solutions to the super weed invasion. Top of the list for farmers: stop relying on so many chemicals. Reuters
Speaking of which ...: Maybe since the super weed problem has already reached a crisis point, we shouldn’t do anything to make it, you know, worse. In other words, channeling Samuel L. Jackson/Nick Fury here: Sir, please put down the new superpowerful herbicide. Wired
Blowhards: Why is it so easy to compare industry propagandists (sorry, “think” tanks) to supervillains sometimes? Oh, maybe because they conspire to do things like … launch anti-wind energy PR campaigns for the benefit of their corporate masters with no regard for the public good. The Guardian
Love train: Need something inspiring on this Friday morning to hold you over until the weekend? Here’s a baby bear conga line. You’re welcome. Buzzfeed
Tips: @OnEarthMag (tag it #greenreads)
Image: Chuck Coker/Flickr
