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Friday music blogging: Middle Brother

I don’t know if you’re allowed to call a band a “supergroup” if the bands of which it is composed are all fairly obscure. But as someone who loves the constituent parts of Middle Brother — singer/songwriters John McCauley of Deer Tick, Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, and Matthew Vasquez of Delta Spirit — I’m happy […]

President Obama's Trip through Latin America: Opportunity to Advance Action on Global Warming

President Obama will be travelling through Latin America March 19-23, 2011 with stops in Brazil, Chile, and El Salvador.  This is a region that has countries that are: major emitters, key players in global warming negotiations, taking action and ripe for further action, and on the front lines of the impacts of global warming.   As […]

Why does Congress have Clean Air Act phobia?

Cross-posted from the Natural Resources Defense Council. It’s a sad state of affairs when members on both sides of the aisle in Congress seem to think it is a good idea to attack the Clean Air Act — the landmark law that Richard Nixon signed and George H. W. Bush strengthened. Yet the hits on […]

Forget farmers markets — I want to sell my pastured meat at Price Chopper

This pastured piggy went to Price Chopper.Photo: Kevin SteeleIt is time to make local passe. It is time to make regional the new local. Enough of farmers markets, CSAs, and direct on-farm sales. Yes, they are exciting — they feel like they are getting us somewhere. And, to be honest and give them their due, […]

Cities with the most energy efficient buildings: L.A., Houston, Detroit, Dallas

It’s that time of year, when the United States Environmental Protection Agency releases its list of the top 10 American cities [PDF] with the most energy efficient buildings. In this case, that means commercial buildings that have earned an Energy Star rating that signifies they consume 35 percent less energy and release 35 percent less […]

Japan’s 200 mph trains sail through earthquake with flying colors

Train, to earthquake: “Suck it!”Photo: kiyoshi.beThe tsunami that struck Japan had a devastating effect on at least four trains closest to the epicenter of the quake, washing them away completely. But in the rest of the country, it appears that the earthquake and its aftershocks only derailed a single passenger train, even through the entire main […]

Renewables or nuclear: maybe we do have to choose

Can we have it all?Debates over nuclear power in the U.S. tend to follow a certain course. The left says, No Nukes, Just Renewables! The right says, Screw Renewables, A Gajillion Nukes! Then the sensible centrist nods sagely and says, We’ll Need Both. Everyone who doesn’t want to be branded a (gasp) partisan ends up […]

How to deck your bike out like a Victorian gentleman

Photo: Walnut StudioloYou may not rock a velocipede, but that’s no reason why you shouldn’t be tooling around town looking like Sherlock Holmes. Step one: handsome vintagey leather bike accessories. Step 2: tweed helmet hat. Grow, purchase, or rent a handlebar mustache and get ready to pretend the last 200 years never happened. Photo: bitchcakesny […]

Little does this Libyan rebel know he’s fighting for our right to cheap gas

At the request of Libya’s resistance forces, the U.S. and its NATO allies have just promised to shoot down anything Ghaddafi puts into the sky. Which means that rebels like the one in the video above may think they’re fighting a war of liberation, but now that we’re on the scene, it’s about oil, as usual: This […]

Dairy cows frolic in meadow to celebrate spring [VIDEO]

Still trying to keep it positive! One thing that that makes it easier is that spring really has arrived up here in the North Carolina mountains — it must be 70 degrees, and the arugula we planted a few weeks ago in cold frames is taking off. Evidently, it’s spring-time in England, too. I dare […]