As director of program development at The Environmental Careers Organization, Kevin Doyle knows a thing or two about job searching. In this recurring column for Grist, he explores the green job market and offers advice to eco-job-seekers looking to jumpstart their careers. Is it hot out there, or is it just me? Lately, I've been hearing from employers who can't find the talent they need and more than a few lucky job seekers who have multiple offers. Are these just random anecdotes, or is the environmental job market heating up along with the summer thermometer? In an effort to track …

Big soy companies pledge not to source from recently deforested Amazon Now for some Amazon news that won't make you want to slit your wrists: Soy producers operating in Brazil -- including U.S. agribiz giants Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland -- announced yesterday that they will put a two-year stop to buying soybeans grown in recently deforested areas of the Amazon. They also said they won't buy soybeans from plantations that use slave labor. During the moratorium, producers will work with the Brazilian government and non-governmental organizations to develop new rules for operating in the Amazon region. An in-depth Greenpeace …

Green job market heating up After hearing from environment-related employers struggling to fill open positions and green job-seekers receiving multiple offers, Kevin Doyle of the Environmental Careers Organization decided to do some job searching of his own. An examination of job postings at government agencies, nonprofits, green businesses, and environmental consulting firms in the U.S. revealed that the green job market may be just as hot right now as the summer temps outside. What skills are in highest demand and who's hiring whom? Doyle sums up his research in his latest column on eco-careers.

In late 2004, Adam Werbach proclaimed that environmentalism was dead due to the movement's unwillingness to connect with ordinary working people and its inability to effectively grapple with the most profound problem the earth has ever faced, climate change. His diagnosis was clear: In order to build the next liberal majority in this country, environmentalists must create bold new "frames" that will unite us with our working-class brothers and sisters around "shared values." Werbach argued that to win we must begin by challenging our most basic assumptions. "What if we stopped defining global warming as an environmental problem and instead …

Picture Al Gore standing in a modest auditorium deep in America's heartland before an exultant crowd of Wal-Mart employees, comparing their campaign to lighten the company's environmental footprint to the Allies' righteous struggle in World War II. This after Rev. Jim Ball, head of the Evangelical Environmental Network, likened the giant retailer's greening efforts to the work of Jesus Christ. Al Gore. Photo: Amy Tierney / WireImage.com This strange scene unfolded last week in Bentonville, Ark., and Muckraker was there to witness it. The occasion was an environmental strategy meeting of some 800 Wal-Mart execs, managers, suppliers, and partners, where …

How many light bulbs does it take to change a supply chain? In the case of Baxter Healthcare Corp., just three. When Jenni Cawein, manager of corporate environmental health and safety engineering at the Illinois-based $9.8 billion health-care giant, arrived six years ago, she saw that the company was losing ground on waste. "I asked my boss, 'Who's working with purchasing?' It turned out it was nobody," she says. Cawein set out to build a case for integrating environmental criteria into the company's procurement process. Show them the money. Photo: iStockphoto. "I asked what the purchasing department cared about the …

I write from a quarterly meeting of Wal-Mart managers and execs, focused on implementing CEO H. Lee Scott's eco-friendly vision. (For more on that vision, see my interview with Scott.)   I never dreamed I'd find myself feeling anything but depressed after a day of immersive conference activities at Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. But now that I'm here, I'm feeling decidedly optimistic. Granted, I was a tad creeped out when the 800-plus members of the audience erupted in a Wal-Mart chant that involved much gesticulating, grunting, sky-punching, and the like. ("Give me a W ... A ... L ... …

A nifty PBS show called California Connected recently did a special on organic food, focusing on Wal-Mart's decision to get into the organic-food market. It's unusually substantive and thoughtful (at least relative to cable tv fare). Check it out.

Several blogs have noted this item about Al Gore addressing the upcoming quarterly meeting on sustainability at Wal-Mart. Apparently Rich Cizik, Adam Werbach, and some other eco-luminaries will be there as well, and some fairly significant stuff is going to be announced. Our very own Amanda Griscom Little will be reporting from the scene. In the meantime, read her interview with Wal-Mart CEO H. Lee Scott, and to wash that corporate taste right out of your pristine progressive mouth, follow it up with this InterActivist with anti-Wal-Mart activist Al Norman.

Over the last few weeks, much of the world has clustered around TVs, watching World Cup rivals fight for the right to hoist what may be the ugliest trophy in sport. Inevitable arguments have broken out over who ought to win, and who invented "the beautiful game." As we head toward the final match this weekend, it's all made us wonder: could humankind ever apply that same energy and enthusiasm to the distinctly less exciting pursuit of sustainability? At some point along the way, whether you peg soccer's origins to soldiers in China's Han Dynasty, the Greeks and Romans, or …