Stories by Stan Cox

With 90 percent of all international cargo being hauled by sea, we rely heavily on the exploitation of seafarers, mostly from low-income countries.

Should we be talking about extreme weather events as evidence of global warming? The experts weigh in.

There's no doubt that air-conditioning can save your life, but as heat waves increase in the future, should we all be armed with A/C?

'Vertical' farming would not solve the most pressing agricultural problems -- just make things worse.

Counting food miles can lead to wrong turns: Instead of worrying about how far our food has traveled we should look at the way it's produced and hauled.

Those expensive juices with exotic ingredients promise a healthy body and a fat income. But can they pull you through a recession and a health-care crisis?

A thousand people a day move to Florida, but with development gone wild, the state's natural systems have passed the brink of sustainability.

If we scale down economic activity -- especially if the rich do -- we could all live in a cleaner world.

20% of Americans are subject to homeowners associations, which have sweeping powers to dictate almost anything you want to do to your own home.

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.

Can the pumping of ethanol into American fuel tanks really make it harder for parents to feed their families?

Five states are locked in fierce competition over a proposed bioterror lab that will host the world's most feared human and animal pathogens.

The chemical industry has helped fortify our homes against microbial invasion. But is our fear of germs making us even sicker?

Americans' out-of-control clothing shopping is causing an ecological plague, humanitarian nightmare and the need for some really, really big closets.

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.

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.

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.

This Christmas, America's pets will be tearing open $5 billion worth of presents, making them luxury consumers in their own right.

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.