The spring issue of NRDC’s award-winning OnEarth magazine is out, and it’s chock full of good reading. Some of the highlights…

Let Them Eat Grass – A revolutionary idea gaining ground in America’s heartland may change the way we eat and grow our food: farmers can reap greater profits, control rampant flooding, humanize farming, and shrink their carbon footprint, just by letting cows eat grass. In a visit to farms in the region, author Richard Manning examines the environmental, financial, culinary and health benefits of going back to basics and converting prime corn land into permanent pasture for grass-fed beef.

Hot Rocks – What if you could slow global warming by pumping carbon dioxide into a common type of rock? According to scientist Peter Kelemen, peridotite, a major component of the earth’s mantle, can soak up CO2 like a sponge, removing it from the atmosphere forever. Scientists are about to test the theory in Oman.

Next Train Runs Express – High-speed rail—commonplace in Europe and Japan—has remained nonexistent in the United States. That’s about to change. Rising demand has spurred the development of an ambitious high-speed rail project in California that will run from Sacramento to San Diego, and that is just the beginning. With a new administration in Washington committed to a radical overhaul of the nation’s infrastructure and to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Americans may finally rediscover the convenience, efficiency, speed—and pleasures—of rail travel.