Latest Articles

Is raw milk becoming too popular for its own good?

Whatha’s looking it? As raw milk’s popularity grows, so does scrutiny. It’s been a tough twelve months for proponents of raw milk. Last April, as many as 81 Colorado consumers were sickened by campylobacter associated with raw milk. Last September, about 35 people became ill with campylobacter, apparently from milk from a Wisconsin dairy. And […]

The secret life of green roofs [SLIDESHOW]

The city of Portland, Ore., is aiming for 49 total acres of eco-roofs in the city by 2013 (the city’s paying up to $5 per square foot to any home or business that builds one). But what about green roofs outside the urban environment? What’s the appeal there? Blending more with the natural surroundings? Sure, […]

How to make recycling e-waste fashionable

Steven Rodrig, PCB Creations Don’t e-waste your money on a new pair of shoes when you could rock the look that screams “electronic fashionista” and “responsible recycler.” You’ll be breaking hearts — and circuits — when you strut out in heels that will never leave you feeling board. I suppose this artist either totally rejects […]

The problem with a green economy: economics hates the environment

Cross-posted from the Wonk Room. Economics is critical to getting decent climate legislation passed, as Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman discusses in a extended piece for the New York Times. Economists like me have always suspected that this was true, but then we also suspect that economics is critical to pretty much everything. The problem […]

Revkin wants to talk ‘energy quest’ not ‘climate crisis’

Andy Revkin’s Dot Earth blog on the New York Times site has moved from the science section to the opinion section, to reflect Revkin’s shift from a veteran staff reporter to a freelancer. He kicks things off at his new digs by explaining why he prefers to think about a collective “energy quest” rather than […]

The real ‘Food Revolution’ starts with healthy Appalachian cornbread

Why can’t a revolution based on traditional Appalachian foodways be televised?Photo: April McGreger Having watched the first three episodes, I’ve been thinking a lot about Jamie Oliver’s “Food Revolution” TV Show. Who can argue with his efforts to get fresh food into West Virginia’s schools? No doubt, the pantries and fridges in most school cafeterias […]

Solar PV in Los Angeles: The emperor has no clothes, says UCLA

The Los Angeles Business Council released a hard-hitting report on the future of solar photovoltaics in southern California at its annual sustainability summit on Tuesday. The blockbuster report could have profound repercussions on renewable energy policy not only in Los Angeles, but also in California. In unusually clear and concise language, the report, written by […]

Krugman says what political media won’t: economists agree climate action is necessary, affordable

Paul Krugman has a fantastic piece on the cover of the upcoming issue of the New York Times Magazine: “Building a Green Economy.” With his typical patience, cogence, and clarity, Krugman walks through the mainstream economics take on climate change: its cost, the best way to respond, the cost of responding, and the proper scale […]

Egger’s Head: School lunches

Robert Egger has a lot going on in his head. Just ask him. As a nonprofit entrepreneur, a serial searcher for ordinary people doing extraordinary things, a deeply deep thoughts kind of guy, Egger gives us something to ponder every week. In this installment, he scratches his noggin over the school lunch crisis, which has […]

Paul Krugman on ‘Building a Green Economy’

Nobelist Paul Krugman has a long piece in the upcoming Sunday New York Times Magazine, basically climate economics 101. It is nearly 8000 words, so while you should read the whole thing, I’ll post some of the highlights below. I’ll also throw some links to the scientific and economic literature that the NYT, in its […]