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The biggest Nature Conservancy financial commitment ever

The New York Times tells us about the biggest financial commitment in the Nature Conservancy's history:

On Tuesday, the International Paper Company announced it would receive $300 million in a deal arranged by the Nature Conservancy and the Conservation Fund for 217,000 acres in 10 states around the Southeast.

Urban sprawl has reached a fever pitch in many parts of the country:

If the 39,000 acres in the two tracts...near the Georgia border -- were up for sale, Mr. Frampton predicted, it would be bought up instantly and subdivided into hunting clubs and hobby farms and eventually second-home communities. There are 100 golf courses in the Myrtle Beach area... and The Charleston Post recently reported that there were 134,000 building permits in Charleston County alone.

Climate neutral carpet

I just got this intriguing email from Interface.

Getting climate change into the nightly weather report

Also on Salon today is a fascinating piece from Linda Baker on efforts among the meteorological community -- that is, local weathermenpersons -- to inject a little scientific education on climate change into their segments, and the resistance they're getting from the suits. The depressing thing is the consensus among everyone Baker spoke to that stories about, or even mentions of, climate change are bad for ratings. People seem really to resist having global warming inserted into what, uh, somebody (who was that, anyway?) called the "sacred mundane," the rituals of day-to-day life that give us a sense of grounding and safety. Joe Sixpack would rather climate change stay "out there," as a political or scientific issue, a public debate. He doesn't want it intruding on his private world.

That's the kind of barrier we have to get through. We have to connect climate change to the sacred mundane. And what's more mundane than the nightly weather report?

(On a related note, see Amanda's interview with the Weather Channel's climate-change specialist Heidi Cullen.)

Hope: the new fear

A while back I criticized the new global-warming ads from Environmental Defense for relying entirely on fear. I wrote an alternate script, based on hope and uplift.

According to near-universal consensus, my alternate script ... sucked.

Fine. But I still maintain that while fear might serve the short-term purpose of getting people's attention, like a burst of adrenaline, it won't suffice to produce substantial social change.

Happily, I'm not the only one thinking this way. Today in Salon, Kevin Sweeney offers an eloquent defense of hope.

The facts of climate change can be overwhelming. I recently observed focus groups in South Carolina, part of an effort to create messages to help moderates and conservatives understand the urgency of climate change. I saw lively conversations progress to a point when, abruptly, some of the participants began to shut down. As they grasped the urgency, they couldn't envision solutions or the political will to bring them about. They looked depressed.

Peter Kropotkin, the Russian anarchist, wrote, "It is hope, not despair, which makes successful revolutions." While this is a notion most American generations haven't needed to understand -- ours has been a fortunate history -- it may be time for us to learn it. When we tell stories of potential desperation, we must also find ways of offering hope. Always.

Word.

Come Off It … no, not like that

I feel obliged to mention that today is Come Off It Day, which has to do with reducing your personal energy use, not porn.

Biological control helps curb populations of knapweed, humans

A popular weapon in the anti-pest arsenal is biological control -- i.e., the introduction of a natural enemy. It's considered a nice environmental alternative to pesticides.

But it can still disrupt the local ecosystem and have serious consequences, like this example from a NY Times article: The knapweed is widespread in the West. The gall fly was introduced to control it. The deer mouse likes gall fly larvae, and now the mouse population is exploding. The droppings of deer mice can cause hantavirus, an infection that can be fatal to humans. Whoops!

New Giller update

She is Baby X no longer. Say hello to Ellis Adaline, coming in at 7 pounds, 11 ounces of pure, gorgeous Gillerness.

If your heart stirs at the sight of cute babies -- if you care about creating a world she can be proud of -- then how can you not contribute to Grist? I'm just saying.

(PS: These attempts to use Chip's new baby to fundraise for Grist are entirely unauthorized. I accept all responsibility and embrace my shamelessness.)

Gristmill on NPR

I was on NPR's "All Things Considered" yesterday talking briefly about the Chevy Tahoe ad campaign. You can hear the segment here.

With Rules Like These, Who Needs Rules?

Draft EPA regulation could up air pollution The U.S. EPA is considering a regulatory change that could massively increase air pollution — which is really its job, when you think about it. Currently, oil refineries, chemical factories, and other operations that emit more than 25 tons of toxics into the air a year must apply […]

The Great Peru Giveaway

Grist offers wicked awesome prize to lure new subscribers Maybe it’s been a while since you thought about Peru. Say, since you took junior-high social studies. Or read Paddington Bear. Or ate a plate of lima beans. But it’s time to start thinking again! From now until May 5, when you get your friends to […]