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From the hills of West Virginia

My good friend Peter Slavin just published the most up-to-date article on mountaintop-removal mining out there.

Here's some information on developing MTR stories:

The Appalachian Coal Field Delegation will be attending the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Conference for the second time this year. The conference runs from April 30-May 11, but Bo Webb learned from experience last year that corporate execs and the bigwigs that matter usually only attend the last week, so this year he and the other delegates will, too. They want to go beyond linking to NGOs with similar interests and goals to form a common language with which to (hopefully) influence U.N. policy. To bring attention to their efforts, the Coal Field Delegation, along with friends and supporters, will host an event in New York. Should attract some pretty big names from what I hear.

A candidate for president of France is quite Obamish

As you may or may not know, France is holding presidential elections this year. The two frontrunners are Nicolas Sarkozy (Chirac’s heir, from the right-wing UMP party) and Ségolène Royal, a rising star in the Socialist Party who surprised everyone by elbowing ahead of several more senior party members in the polls. She’s held a […]

Get Out of Jail Fee

Dutch company pays nearly $200 million to help resolve Ivory Coast mess Six months after toxic sludge was pumped from a ship and dumped in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, leading to 10 deaths and thousands of poisonings, the company responsible will pay the country nearly $200 million. Oops, did we say responsible? Trafigura, the Dutch-based company […]

Salon dishes out Grist-like advice

Roz pointed me to this advice column on dishwashing from Salon. In typical hand-wringing, teeth-gnashing style, an eco-aware woman writes a (long, long) letter asking whether it’s OK to buy non-green detergent that gets her dishes cleaner. Cavalier columnist Cary Tennis writes a (long, long) response saying: use whatever the hell you want. Then go […]

Wow

This is amazing.

He will green you up

Wow. Just wow.

The B.C. government is trying to out-green California with a sweeping strategy unveiled Tuesday to fight global warming by cutting back on greenhouse gas emissions from everything from cars and industry to the daily energy consumption of ordinary people.

As far as I can tell, Campbell's government looked at each of the recent advances in Gov. Ahnold's climate policy in California -- the emission goals, the broad authority to develop a cap and trade system, the vehicle emission standards, policies on electric power -- and tried to take each one a step further.

AEI story

I hope everyone’s seen the piece Andrew and I have up about the AEI brouhaha. I’m never really sure whether Gristmill readers are aware of stuff that gets posted elsewhere on the site. Anyway, it’s there. I’m quite fond of it, though I expect some folks will not be. Please comment over there and not […]

Watch in wonder …

… as President Bush chides a child for throwing up a peace sign during a photo-op. Oh, the symbolism. Also, this is just classic: As Bush chatted with some children, other youngsters were overheard by a pool reporter. “He’s my favorite president,” one said. “My favorite president is President Obama,” another replied. “Who’s that?” “He’s […]

That’s not gonna stop us from talking about it

It’s kind of funny — no matter how many times Gore and his people issue the exact same bland non-denial denial, journalists keep try to gin up some new hook around which to write about his possible entry into the presidential race. The latest is New York Observer‘s Steve Kornacki, who breathlessly reports "Why Al […]

Grab an eco-sex kit for your Valentine

Sure, today is Singles Awareness Day Valentine’s Day, but what about Valentine’s Night? Awww, yeah. This ain’t your grandmother’s tree-huggin’. Or is it … Anyway, I’m tickled (hee, hee!) to point you to this Eco-Sexy Kit from Babeland. Inside is a vibrator made from latex-free and phthalate-free material, a soy massage candle, natural lube, and […]