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Now is the time to shift World Bank resources to clean energy

The World Bank has just announced its intent to seek $86 billion for a general capital increase (the GCI) from its donor countries (see World Bank press release). It is time for the World Bank to become a full part of the solution to global warming, not part of the problem and part of the […]

Using too much lawn fertilizer?

Photo courtesy of roel1943 via Flickr Brace yourself. Here comes another of my thought exercises, again inspired by my latest reading of The Red Queen-Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature by Matt Ridley. Another word of warning–random bursts of dripping sarcasm can be found in places you may not always expect it. Ever wonder […]

Round One of the EPA Coal Ash Bowl Goes to Big Coal

  Yesterday, the EPA issued their long-awaited proposal for new rules on how to regulate the disposal and storage of coal combustion waste (CCW), the byproduct of coal-fired power plants. Since December of 2008, when more than a billion gallons of toxic coal ash spilled into the Emory River from a breached impoundment at the […]

Waterkeepers question use of dispersant chemicals at oil-spewing wellhead

The chief executive of BP says crews have been able to reduce the amount of oil reaching the Gulf’s surface from a massive underwater leak by using chemicals at the gusher’s source — but environmental advocates are raising questions about the plan’s safety. “We are adamantly opposed to dispersants being used at the well-head as […]

Friday music blogging: Dr. Dog again

I’ve written about Dr. Dog before, which violates a self-imposed FBM rule, but I’m feeling lazy and they’re great and they just came out with a new album. And it’s good. So. Last time around I said they sound like “the Beatles meets doo-wop meets blue-eyed soul, played in a dingy garage after a six […]

Live Chat with Umbra Fisk

Editor’s note: The chat’s now over, but you can replay it in full. Umbra Fisk chatted live with our Friends with Benefits on April 21, 2010. And in the midst of tackling a range of questions from TV dinners to diapers to vampires, Umbra was asked to prom. Watch the replay to read her answer. […]

Reduce, Recycle, and Replant – Data Highlights on Restoring the World's Forests

The world’s forests, which cover a third of Earth’s land area, provide us with many essential services. They absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and give us oxygen, limit soil erosion, aid in flood control and aquifer recharge, and host a wealth of biodiversity. But as human populations have grown, so, too, have the demands […]

Saving Civilization is Not a Spectator Sport

Given the enormous environmental and social challenges faced by our early twenty-first century global civilization, one of the questions I hear most frequently is, What can I do? People often expect me to talk about lifestyle changes, recycling newspapers, or changing light bulbs. These are essential, but they are not nearly enough. We now need […]

Plan B – A Plan to Save Civilization

There is much that we do not know about the future. But one thing we do know is that business as usual, including our continuing failure to reverse the environmental trends undermining the world food economy, will not last for much longer. Massive change is inevitable. “The death of our civilization is no longer a […]

Corn Ethanol Lobby's $ 2.5 million ad campaign

Click here to see my anti-propaganda propaganda film. For the full effect, turn your speakers on before playing it. I see it has already drawn a video response from a company that retrofits cars to run on E-85. I cringe at the thought of the hateful comments this video will elicit. Human nature can be […]