Eco-News Roundup: Friday, August 28

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Happy Friday. Here’s a sampling of what’s happening in the realms of environment, health, and science, here at motherjones.com and in the rest of the wide world:

No chains during birth: New York’s Gov. David Paterson has signed a bill banning the shackling of incarcerated pregnant women during labor and recovery.

Remembering Cash for Clunkers: The program was wildly popular, provided a modest but noticeable amount of economic stimulus, and helps reduce US oil consumption. Not bad for $3 billion.

SODIS skeptics: There’s a simple way to disinfect water in areas where lots of kids get sick and die from bad water. So why is it so hard to get people to do it?

Stimulus for stoves: The US government will spend $300 in stimulus money to reward consumers who choose energy-efficient appliances.

Africa, sans animals: Could poaching and encroaching kill of Africa’s great herds for good?

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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