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Can sustainability survive the recession?

Ben Tuxworth, communications director at Forum for the Future, writes a monthly column for Gristmill on sustainability in the U.K. and Europe.

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What will the recession mean for sustainability? With the U.S. subprime tsunami still breaking on Britain's shores, house prices in freefall, and several major financial institutions in trouble, it's becoming a hot topic in the U.K. now, with pundits wading in on both sides. Media framing has a tendency to become self-fulfilling prophecy, so it's worrying that there's a fair amount devoted to how rising costs and stagnant incomes will inevitably trample on the green shoots of ethical consumption.

And to be fair, it's not hard to find evidence to support this view. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is, as predicted, getting a good kicking on his planned fuel-tax rises -- to the point that it's a safe bet they'll be abandoned soon. More worryingly, there are signs that some forms of ethical consumption have slowed fairly dramatically in the last few months. With food prices at supermarkets up around 20 percent on this time last year -- equating to around £1,000 (nearly $2,000) per year for the average family -- the squeeze is on.

Snippets from the news

• Strong climate policy would protect 14 million American jobs. • Schwarzenegger declares statewide drought in California. • Asian autos outsell Detroit for the first time. • Law firm forms practice group focusing specifically on climate change. • Bill Gates dumps stake in ethanol company.

World Environment Day is June 5

Thursday is World Environment Day, and you will no doubt celebrate by donating to Grist. (Thank you!) Once you’ve got that out of the way, you can also help out our dear environment by packing a lighter suitcase when you travel, jogging in the park instead of on the treadmill, using a wind-up alarm clock, […]

Mexico City residents losing sense of smell, says research

The air pollution in Mexico City is so bad that it could be harming residents’ sense of smell, researchers say. People who live in the city, which exceeds the World Health Organization’s ozone standards 300 days out of the year, did a worse job identifying common scents like coffee and orange juice than residents of […]

Officials in ‘crisis mode’ as SoCal condors poisoned

Weeks before California’s ban on lead bullets in condor habitat goes into effect, seven of the endangered birds have been found with lead poisoning. And that’s no insignificant tally, as only 34 wild condors are known to live in southern California. Wildlife officials are in “crisis mode,” says Jesse Grantham of the U.S. Fish and […]

Premier episode of a new online film series features Jones and Carl Pope

A new online film series called This Brave Nation premiered its first episode Sunday night: a conversation between Carl Pope and Van Jones. Both are natives of Frisco and both are equally adamant about environmental stewardship, but they have vastly different approaches. Here they chat about melding those tactics towards a common goal. Later this month, on June 15, Pete Seeger and Majora Carter discuss environmentalism, protest music, civil rights, and urban renewal. Should be interesting.

Snippets from the news

• Tyson Foods stops labeling its chicken as antibiotic-free. • Energy Department group will improve wind turbines. • Could fuel surcharges curb air travel? • Commercial fisherfolk lobby for offshore wind power. • Scientists present CO2 scrubber. • Turkey will sign Kyoto Protocol.

A tired pregnant chick “tests” six green baby books

Which baby book covers the gamut of green issues? Back in the old days, I used to do active product testing for Grist. Things like lotions and paper towels and CFLs — stuff that really got the heart pounding. But that was before a 30-pound orb attached itself to my front, slowing me down significantly. […]

Note to historians: mark this date!

I just got a press release that was introduced by the following: U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, today made the following remarks regarding the Senate’s historic 74-14 vote to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to debate on S. 3036, the Boxer/Lieberman/Warner Climate Security […]

Snippets from the news

• U.S. Senate votes 74-14 to debate the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act — or at least debate whether to debate it. • NASA “marginalized, or mischaracterized” studies on global warming. • New York City experiences bike shortages. • Quebec and Ontario team up to tackle global warming. • Poachers take a toll on rhinos in […]