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Buy green, forget Congress — or not

Need or want?Courtesy soundfromwayout via flickrAmericans concerned about climate change are far more likely to shop green than to call or write a lawmaker, according to a new poll from Yale and George Mason University. Of those who say they are “alarmed” by global warming, 75 percent say they have rewarded and punished companies based […]

Top USDA official gets serious about local/regional food systems

Hope and fresh produce: Kathleen MerriganWith the climate bill gutted by Big Ag and stalled in the Senate, with health-care reform on the verge of collapse, prospects for real change in national politics are looking grim. Well, here’s some hope from what’s traditionally one of the executive branch’s most retrograde agencies: the USDA. USDA deputy […]

Oxfam activists dive into the 100 day countdown to Copenhagen climate talks at the London Aquarium

Living with climate change: a family affair?Zac Macaulay, MMIXI get to do some strange things working for Oxfam. On Wednesday night I watched as an average family — mom, dad and son — sat around with their dinners on their laps staring at the TV. Glasses of soft drinks and wine sat on the lounge […]

Coalfield uprising and heroes need national defense, green jobs

Now is the time for all good greens, rednecks, social entrepreneurs, hellraisers, Repower America and Al Gore to come to the aid of their fellow citizens in the Appalachian coalfields. While Big Coal Gone Wild continues to unravel in its bizarre P.R. campaigns this summer, coalfield residents and advocates from around the country have been […]

Palm oil, healthy rainforests, and your kitchen

In Checkout Line, Lou Bendrick cooks up answers to reader questions about how to green their food choices and other diet-related quandaries. Lettuce know what food worries keep you up at night. Just get rid of all this annoying rainforest stuff, and you can have all cookie shortening you want.Hi there,I keep hearing that the […]

Post/ABC poll shows oil-and coal-funded efforts to kill clean energy are failing

The Washington Post is reporting this morning that according to joint poll conducted with ABC News, a majority of Americans support Obama’s and Congress’ efforts to overhaul US energy policy, and that support includes passage of comprehensive climate and energy legislation. Says the Post: “Nearly six in 10 of those polled support the proposed changes […]

The Real FACES of Coal: Adfero’s shadowy GOP beltway astroturf operatives

Cross-posted from Wonk Room. A new “grassroots” fossil fuel front group, FACES of Coal, is employing a shadowy Republican-staffed company to spread its message. The Federation for American Coal, Energy and Security — a new pro-mountaintop removal campaign that refuses to reveal its “grassroots” members — is employing a GOP Beltway shop to promote its […]

A tasting of five organic olive oils

Yummy, with a chance of drizzles.Homer (the Greek scribe, not the cartoon dork) is supposed to have declared extra-virgin olive oil “liquid gold.” If by that he meant something to treat as if precious, things have changed considerably three millennia later and half a world away from the Mediterranean. TV cooking gurus evoke Homer’s gold […]

White House announces Gulf restoration task force amid criticism of Army Corps

In response to criticism that the Army Corps of Engineers has failed to take needed action, President Obama is creating a federal task force to overhaul management of coastal restoration efforts in Louisiana and Mississippi. White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley made the announcement this week in an interview with Bloomberg News. […]

100 days before Copenhagen, here are 100 things you didn’t know about Copenhagen

We hope you already know that the most important climate meeting evah will take place in Copenhagen, Denmark, from Dec. 7 to 18.  If all goes according to plan at the gathering — known in wonk-speak as COP15 — world leaders will hash out a new global climate treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol. Now, […]