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Oprah and climate change

Apparently, as we speak, Oprah is on with Leonardo DiCaprio and Dr. Michael Oppenheimer discussing climate change.

Reports from our researcher in the field indicate that Leo is spouting facts and figures and Oprah is embarrassing herself with repeated clips of cute polar bears and cries of "I can feel it!"

We can order a transcript for $6, but really I want to see it. Any chance one of you Gristmill readers has a tape or digital file you can send us? This I gotta see.

Dateline NBC explores that question

Here at Grist, we like to keep you on your toes. On the one hand, we tell you that the Christian Right is swaying politicians and threatening the environment. On the other, we show that some of the evangelical leadership is urging its members to adopt eco-friendly living habits and exhorting the government to lighten America's environmental footprint.

For those of you who don't have anything better to do on a Friday night, you have an opportunity for a different perspective. Dateline NBC will be airing "In God They Trust," in which Tom Brokaw "explores why so many Americans are turning to this expression of faith, and asks whether or not some Evangelicals are going too far."

I doubt they will be discussing the environment, but one can pray hope.

Ford says trips to the WC are slowing production of SUVs

This is kind of a personal question, but throw away your privacy for the good of the company: Exactly how many minutes did you spend in the loo during work yesterday?

CNN reports that the management at Ford Motor Co.'s Michigan Truck plant has released a memo declaring that too many of the factory's workers are spending more than the 48 minutes allotted per shift in the lavatory. Direct quote from the memo:

In today's competitive environment, it is important that Michigan Truck plant immediately address this concern to avoid the risks associated with safety, quality, delivery, cost and morale.

Delightful mental picture: Suit-clad Ford up-and-ups standing on alert at the door of the powder room, thumb poised on the stopwatch.

What? You wonder what this has to do with the environment? Oh yes. According to the article, workers' prolific excretion is slowing production of the Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUVs. Well, I think I speak for all enviros when I say, "Do not stop urinating, friends! Fight for your right to crap freely and often!"

Since greens get blamed for everything these days, I'll keep an eye on the news for reports of environmentalists concocting intricate plans to widely distribute laxatives to Ford workers.

And yes, it is impressive that I wrote this entire post without using the word "bathroom." Thank you.

We Must, We Must, We Must Increase Our Bust!

Brazilian cops crack down on Amazon logging gang In a burst of dawn raids, Brazilian police busted an Amazon logging gang yesterday. Some 400 agents fanned out across five Amazon states and arrested at least 34 people accused of forging and selling permits that facilitated the transport of millions of dollars worth of illegally logged […]

Taint Bernard

La. eco-group slams official silence on toxins in New Orleans suburbs The soil in two New Orleans suburbs may be highly contaminated with heavy metals and petroleum products, charge residents. They say local and federal officials aren’t warning returning residents about toxic hazards or cleaning up the mess. The Louisiana Bucket Brigade paid a certified […]

Leadership gap

Here's U.S. News & World Report's list of America's 25 Best Leaders.

See any environmentalists in there?

Update [2005-10-26 15:36:3 by David Roberts]: Okay, lest I just be sour, let's turn this into a positive exercise. What American environmental leader do you think deserved a place on this list? Leave your candidates in comments.

And look to nature

Jeremy Faludi over at WC has written what I've found to be a fascinating primer on biomimicry:

It's easy to talk about how exciting biomimicry is, and how we'll see more of it in the future, but it's another thing to actually design and built things that are biomimetic. Most designers, engineers, architects, and other people who build things just don't know that much about biology and the natural world; and even when they do, there's often a gap of capability in available materials, manufacturing methods, and economic systems. Some of these obstacles are out of the designer's hands, and you just have to move on to things that are more feasible. (But don't forget your ideas; maybe ten years from now the technology will be there.) Even with existing technology, however, an enormous realm of possibilities is feasible, it just requires the right approach. Here is my attempt to describe the biomimetic approach, with a comprehensive list of principles. It combines lessons from Janine Benyus, Kevin Kelly, Steven Vogel, D'Arcy Thompson, Buckminster Fuller, Julian Vincent, and my own limited experience. I also mention at the end where biomimicry will not help you, a subject often glossed over, as well as further resources (books and schools).

And to get the discussion going here in Gristmill, are there any natural designs that you think humans can steal learn from?

Whither New Orleans?

Speaking of rebuilding New Orleans, NPR's Living on Earth this week talks to a cross-section of city denizens -- including an artist, a bar owner, an environmental-justice activist, and a co-chair of Gov. Blanco's Louisiana Recovery Authority -- to get their opinions on what should come next for the Big Easy. Listen, or check out text and photos, on the LOE website.

LEEDing Us Astray?

Green-building certification system confronts growing pains and critics Is LEED broken? The U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program is rapidly becoming the dominant system for certifying buildings as eco-friendly. But green-building practitioners Auden Schendler and Randy Udall fear the program is seriously flawed. In a provocative essay that’s been stirring […]

The built environment discriminates against those who choose not to drive

We're happy to present this guest essay from Joel S. Hirschhorn, author of Sprawl Kills: How Blandburbs Steal Your Time, Health and Money and former Director of Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources at the National Governors Association. He can be reached through SprawlKills.com.

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Analyses of the failure of all levels of government to prevent or effectively manage the Katrina calamity in New Orleans have generally missed a crucial point. Alongside bias against poor people and African-Americans is automobile apartheid, born of fifty years of suburban sprawl. First-class citizens drive motor vehicles, second-class Americans walk, cycle, or ride public transit. Certainly many of the latter are poor, but millions more are middle-class Americans.

When emergency response largely ignores the plight of second-class citizens, no one should be surprised.

Automobile apartheid means anyone who wants mobility through walking, cycling, or public transportation suffers discrimination in a built environment designed for automobiles. In the past 20 years, as automobile addiction has increased, sprawl has run rampant, the number of trips people take by walking has decreased by more than 42 percent, and obesity has skyrocketed.

Personal freedom and independence should mean more than the ability to go wherever one wants, whenever one wants. Americans should also have the freedom to travel how they want. When cars are the only option, freedom is diminished.