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Meet this year’s winners of the Goldman Environmental Prize

The winners (left to right): Silas Kpanan’Ayoung Siakor, Yu Xiaogang, Tarcísio Feitosa da Silva, Anne Kajir, Olya Melen, and Craig Williams. Photo: Goldman Environmental Prize.  Though the connection between people and their surroundings is undeniable — a serving of clean air, anyone? — defense of the environment is still sometimes considered antisocial behavior. But this […]

Bond and Big Lawnmower

Way back in 2003, Daily Grist noted the nefarious doings of Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) on behalf of Big Lawnmower (seriously).

Turns out he's still up to no good.

Global warming consensus

I'm seeing more and more stories like this Bloomberg piece, about the growing consensus around global warming -- and by "growing consensus," I mean "Republicans finally getting on board." (Of course, as always, our very own Amanda was ahead of the curve on this story.)

My favorite part is the increasingly nervous, defensive quotes from dead-enders. Here's White House Council on Environmental Quality Chairman James Connaughton:

Connaughton says activists merely are annoyed that Bush isn't talking nonstop about climate change. "We don't need to say it three times in the same 15-minute speech," he said in an interview.

Yeah. That's why they're annoyed.

And this:

"To those out there saying a federal carbon cap is inevitable, we beg to differ," says Bill Holbrook, a spokesman for [Sen. James] Inhofe, who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

I guess they're going to go down swinging. History will not be kind.

Where to look for responses to climate change: environmental secession?

Climate reporter Andrew Revkin wrote an essay in the NYT on Sunday wherein he tries to "bring the debate on global warming down to earth."

While I believe global warming is "breaking news" (it's the fate of Earth we're talking about after all), I'm not as interested in taking another shot at the "debate."

What struck me was the story I found in the graphs alongside the article. Several recent surveys show a fairly low level of concern for global warming and the environment generally among Americans. There is a striking disconnect between these survey results and the real, concrete steps being taken at local and state levels. Mark Hertsgaard points out one such example in the recent Vanity Fair green issue:

LCV hearts Barack

The League of Conservation Voters is having its annual Washington Dinner this Wed.

The keynote speaker? Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

The Land of Disenchantment

New Mexico cracks down on its filthy dairy industry Industrial dairy farms deplete groundwater, fill the air with bacteria-laden dust, and, what with the massive lagoons filled with manure (ew), kinda stink. If goings-on in New Mexico — the nation’s seventh-largest milk producer, fastest-growing dairy state, and home to the nation’s biggest cheese plant — […]

The World Bunk

World Bank report urges cleantech boost in developing countries The World Bank is turning its attention to helping developing countries meet their growing energy needs without, you know, frying the globe. At the request of the G8 nations, the World Bank produced a report on the subject, released at this weekend’s meeting with the International […]

Hydrogen Fidelity

Bush stumps for hydrogen on Earth Day For Earth Day, President Bush visited a California hydrogen fuel-cell project, decrying the danger posed to the planet by … high gas prices. Predicting a “tough summer” and calling the scourge at the pump “a serious problem we’ve got to do something about,” he pledged immediate action. And […]

Grist in the MSM

As a small, scrappy, poor non-profit magazine devoted to the environment, we naturally revel in our thoroughgoing moral superiority to the mainstream media (MSM).

We also, naturally, giggle like schoolgirls whenever they mention our name.

Amanda's interview with Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott is covered rather extensively in the business section of the New York Times.

Also, our Maximum Leader Chip is quoted (for reasons not entirely clear, but whatevs, we love it) toward the top of this story about carbon offsets.

Also, ML Chip is interviewed by NPR's Weekend America for Earth Day (second segment down), about the changing image of environmentalists -- a change, we find out from the disinterested interview subject, being led by Grist!

Also, ML Chip has an op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle today, about the connection between poverty and the environment -- a little late for our Poverty & the Environment special edition, but then, it's not like the problem has gone away.

And that's that for Self-Promotion Sunday. Tune in next week!

Every day is Earth Day … or at least yesterday was

I spent Earth Day in a small cabin on a sand spit that juts from the coast of Bainbridge Island, enjoying the sun, the waves, my kids' delighted squeals, and most of all, the four -- yes, four -- hour nap I took mid-day. Ah ... love me some Earth Day!

So I missed my chance to write an inspiring message. Instead, I offer this small roundup of stuff to read: