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Democrats must move to attract conservation-minded evangelicals before the Republicans do

The vast majority of green voters are Christian. Apparently, there just are not enough of them. One must also keep in mind that environmental issues have not historically split along party lines. Before their assimilation by the religious right, the Republican Party used to be the environmental party.

Here is an article from the Associated Press that pretty much sums up the looming "creation care" dilemma:

Dewitt said evangelicals will not call themselves environmentalists. They are going to call themselves pro-life ... But pro-life means life in the Arctic, the life of the atmosphere, the life of all the people under the influence of climate change ... Robinson said he voted for Bush in 2004 because of his opposition to abortion, but it was a tough decision, making him feel he was voting against the environment. If the conservatives want the Christian vote, they are going to have to address this ... The pastor feels like Noah cutting his first tree to build the Ark.

How ironic, cutting trees to build an ark. And there is this:

Documentary on massive sweatshops in Tijuana airs Tuesday on PBS

Get out your day planners, people. On Tuesday, Oct. 10, (that's next week) at 10 p.m. (but don't trust me, check your local listings) PBS partners with Grist to present Maquilapolis, a documentary about the hidden costs of cheap electronics and the realities of life for Mexican maquiladora workers. (And you thought I was only interested in brain-numbing reality television ...)

The term "Maquilapolis" refers to the "city of factories" in Tijuana, Mexico, where huge warehouses turn out televisions, electrical cables, toys, clothes, batteries, and medical equipment. And the film is focused on the workers in those factories: women like Carmen Durán (pictured at left, photo: David Maung). From the film's website, here's a brief glimpse at what life is like for Carmen and other maquiladora workers:

Maybe we shouldn’t be courting the religious demographic

While I'm loath to disagree with Al Gore on anything -- much less political strategy -- I have a number of reservations about the environmental movement actively courting the religious demographic. Most of them are irrelevant to the larger discussion, but an article in The New York Times makes me wonder if we aren't being overly tactical in our thinking, at the expense of a long-term strategy.

New food column opens with a look at a superlative coffeehouse

Note: This post marks the launch of Mad Flavor, in which the author describes his occasional forays from the farm in search of exceptional culinary experiences from small artisanal producers.

Three Cups in Chapel Hill, N.C., offers what might be the nation's finest non-espresso coffee experience.

I can't say so definitively. Nearly every U.S. city now has at least one café lorded over by a coffee-obsessed madperson; I've by no means sampled them all, though I'd love to try. Every time I go to a new town, though, I seek out the best coffee, and I've found nothing that matches Three Cups.

Me

Sorry again for my blog absence. I'm afraid it will be ongoing, as I'm leaving mid-day today to head down to Westwind in Oregon to speak at a meeting of the Northwest Environmental Defense Center. I'm speaking from notes, but I may try to write it up as a post later.

Also, I hope we can get some discussion going on the God & the Environment series, which is going to expand in coming weeks. I've got several interesting people lined to talk to. This thing started almost by accident -- I had an interview with E.O. Wilson lined up, then the Sleeth book crossed my desk, and then the Moyers PBS special popped up, and then ... it just spiraled out from there. This topic is on a lot of people's minds these days.

As y'all probably know, I'm ambivalent about religion in general, and about the intersection of religion and environmentalism. But I must say the passion and commitment of the people I've talked to recently has been affecting. Putting the factual content of religion aside, it certainly seems to be a source of inspiration that nothing in the secular world has yet matched.

Anyway, lots to talk about. More next week.

Underwater concert sets world record

Katie Melua has two impressive credits in her CV. One: she's the biggest-selling female artist in Britain. Two: she performed the world's deepest underwater concert.

On Monday, Melua and her five-piece band played two gigs for workers on a gas rig nearly 1,000 feet below sea level, an event Melua called "surreal." The concert was held to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Statoil -- a Norwegian petroleum company -- and was filmed for broadcast on Norwegian TV. In addition to British pop singers, other recent deep-water discoveries include 10 new species of corals and a "treasure trove" of other new marine species.

The concert took place just hours before the re-release of Disney's The Little Mermaid -- a popular film featuring marine life jamming on the ocean floor. Coincidence? I think so.

A show about it

Check out this amazing show on Wildaid, which is trying to curb the illegal wildlife trade. It may change your views on a few things.

Here's the Wildaid website.

See You Later, Navigator

Grist off discovering vacation, claiming it for themselves Whatever you think of when you hear “Columbus Day” — genocide, getting lost, or just a day off school — it’s sailing our way on Monday. In order to contemplate all that’s gone awry on this continent since 1492, and give us time to think of more […]

The Log Days of Bummer

GAO blames Bush administration for high cost of Biscuit timber salvage The Bush administration, not environmental lawsuits, is to blame for the nearly $11 million cost of a logging project that will salvage only $8.8 million worth of timber, says a new study from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office. After the 2002 Biscuit fire burned […]

Gloom and Plume

Hazardous-waste plant explosion forces evacuations in Apex, N.C. An explosion at a hazardous-waste disposal plant in Apex, N.C., late last night forced the evacuation of more than half the town. Some 17,500 people left their homes, and more than 40 have been hospitalized. The toxic plume that emerged from ironically named Environmental Quality Industrial Services […]