by Jessica Daniels | Is the District’s air safe to breathe?  For the residents in the Washington metro area who suffer from heart and respiratory ailments, not always.  The lungs act as filters.  When dirty air is inhaled, and there are impurities than cannot be expelled by normal bodily processes, damage can occur, especially for sensitive [...]

by Cecily Beall | Did you know that is it illegal to idle a commercial vehicle in the District for more than three minutes?  In fact, the District has an aggressive idling enforcement and outreach program.  All fossil fuel-powered vehicles emit air pollutants, although diesel vehicles are a particular problem.  Tailpipe emissions contribute to a wide [...]

by Pierre Erville | Lead has posed serious health concerns for humans for many centuries.  Lead is said to have caused the fall of the Roman Empire.  Even Benjamin Franklin wrote about “the mischievous effects” of lead, more than 200 years ago.  Yet, lead paint was only banned for residential purposes in the US in 1978, [...]

by Richard Albright | To the millions of visitors who travel to Washington, DC, each year, the city’s countless museums, monuments, and memorials offer a window to our history and greater insight into our national character. Few know, however, that the District of Columbia has a complete military history of its own, and that this military [...]