Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Mary Anne Hitt

The Clean Water Act is one of our nation's greatest statutory achievements. But 40 years after the Act was passed, the coal industry is still polluting with impunity, thanks to a loophole that no other industry enjoys.

Michael Marx

Director, Beyond Oil Campaign, Sierra Club

The real question here is how did State get it so wrong? The answer, simply, is that the State Department once again hired the oil industry to evaluate itself -- and, not surprisingly, the industry gave itself a passing grade.

Carl Pope

Former executive director and chairman, Sierra Club

You wouldn't know it, but the market landscape surrounding the proposed Keystone XL export pipeline has shifted dramatically in the last month.

Steve Early and Suzanne Gordon

Mayor Gayle McLaughlin first called a press conference to announce that Richmond was suing Chevron. Twenty-four hours later, she marched to the oil company's main gate with 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben and several thousand other global warming opponents.

Kevin Grandia

President, Spake Media House

If Kellogg's wants to remain a popular and well-liked brand, it is going to have to stop spinning and either demand Wilmar change its ways posthaste, or cut ties with the palm oil-giant altogether.

Ocean Robbins

Author, Speaker, www.foodrevolution.org

Amy Meyer wanted to see for herself where her food was coming from. But in the state of Utah, she discovered, that was against the law.

Todd R. Miller

CEO and founder, gwabbit.com. Author of "Going Virtual"

Today, most would consider the notion of a debate about whether the sun or the Earth lay at the center of our solar system to be absurd, and yet, today, people are debating something much simpler -- we're debating whether or not the Earth's temperature is going up.

Natalie Lapides

Student, Yale University

Investigating officers have a grisly, difficult, and often upsetting job to do after a poaching. They arrive on the scene and look for bullets in the gory carcass, determine if there is a calf and find it if there is, and search the area for evidence.

Danielle Nierenberg

Co-founder, Food Tank: The Food Think Tank

Saving seeds doesn't only help improve agricultural biodiversity, but helps farmers and researchers find varieties of crops that grow better in different regions, especially as the impacts of climate change become evident.

Steve Horn

Research Fellow, DeSmogBlog

Most don't think of hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") when pondering the future of TransCanada's Keystone XL tar sands export pipeline -- but they should.

Katy Keiffer

Food Writer and Host, Heritage Radio Network

Given the dearth of new medications in the pharmaceutical pipeline, consumers must participate in any way they can to ensure the elimination of antibiotics in livestock, save for treating specific illnesses.

Charles Alexander

Former TIME editor

Why can't most business executives, economists, politicians and journalists see the big picture? Why is "environment" hardly ever in their vocabulary, much less a priority? A good example of the cluelessness displayed by our so-called leading thinkers can be found in the August 12 issue of Time.

Debbie Salamone

Communications officer, The Pew Charitable Trusts

I asked the survivors to band together and travel to the U.S. Capitol and the United Nations to speak about the plight of sharks. The survivors responded enthusiastically because they were ocean lovers before their attacks and because their attitudes hadn't changed--despite their lost limbs. Nearly all the survivors I contacted understood they were uniquely qualified to help. They were happy to transform a tragedy into something positive.

Mike Sweeney

Executive Director, The Nature Conservancy of California

Sharks have much more to fear from humans than we do of sharks.

Eliot Daley

Writer, former executive, consultant and pastor/chaplain

It is not too much to say that climate change imperils world peace, and we look the other way at our own peril, even though we have the wealth and power to forestall its immediate impact on our citizenry for a while longer than others do.

John F. Calvelli

Executive Vice President, Public Affairs, Wildlife Conservation Society

Shark Week is back. The Discovery Channel's annual fear-fest has led millions of Americans -- including some of our own friends and family -- to warily scan their beach waters each August for lurking fins.

Roger Germann

Executive Vice President, John G. Shedd Aquarium

In our own way, each of us in the Great Lakes region can contribute to similar experiences for the next generation. For me, it's seeing the sense of wonder in my children's' eyes as they discover new treasures on the shoreline.