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Global warming commitments at the G8 and the major economies forum in Italy

If you haven’t been in Italy you might not have realized it, but two events just occurred there in which leaders of the 17 largest-emitting countries tried to make progress in the run-up to the Copenhagen climate talks this December.  The first event was the annual Group of Eight (G8) meeting, which brings together the […]

Farm City author cuts the foodie-elite snobbery from urban farming

Food writer and urban farmer Novella Carpenter is everything the elitist, foodie stereotype is not: she squat-farms near downtown Oakland, Calif., dumpster-dives to feed her rabbits, and offers to show anyone who still thinks otherwise exactly “what urban farming smells like.” Novella Carpenter and cute baby animals today, dinner tomorrow.Photo: Courtesy of Novella CarpenterIn Seattle […]

Worldwatch gets $1.3 million Gates grant to look at sustainable ag in Africa

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has been roundly criticized in sustainable-ag circles for throwing its considerable girth behind a “New Green Revolution for Africa.” According to critics (including me), the “green revolution” approach promotes high-tech, expensive solutions to Africa’s agriculture woes — ones more suited to the interests of a few agribusiness giants than […]

Rumor: Obama pondering big-ag man for key USDA meat-safety role [UPDATED]

Safe enough for ya?UPDATE at bottom of story. ———————————— I normally don’t write about rumors or inside information. I aspire to be like the late journalist I.F. Stone, who scorned the dubious allure of insider “access” and kept his nose in government documents, where useful information leaks out. Today — as in its own time […]

Climate-news poem: G8 edition

With deepest apologies to INXS. Congregate, heads of state, don’t be late, big G8Planet’s fate, cannot wait,Don’t stall debate or hesitate, designate your carbon rateA one world state, Italianate, on July 8, won’t abrogateA gentle trait, a balding pate, a girlish gait, pontificateWe’ll predicate our specs ornate, officiate, not deviateGreen groups berate, gesticulate, packed in […]

GOP Sen. Bond thinks climate policy is just too confusing

Missouri Sen. Kit Bond (R) is circulating this incomprehensible graphic that he says illustrates the “bureaucratic nightmare” of the Waxman-Markey climate bill that the House passed last month. Bond devoted the majority of his opening statement at Tuesday’s Senate hearing on climate policy griping that the bill is just too long for people to understand. […]

Justin Timberlake brings sexy back to green, and more

Photo: jurvetson via FlickrBring it on down to GolfersvilleJ Tee is bringing sexy back to green. The putting green, that is. And with eco-friendly practices par for this course, we’ll hold your wood any day, Mr. Timberlake.                            

Energy industry sways Congress with misleading data

This story was written by ProPublica’s Adam Lustgarten. The two key arguments that the oil and gas industry is using to fight federal regulation of the natural gas drilling process called hydraulic fracturing — that the costs would cripple their business and that state regulations are already strong — are challenged by the same data […]

The Climate Post: L’Aquila, the Senate, and shrinking sheep

First Things First: Conflicting early reports obscured events at a major international summit in L’Aquila, Italy. The Group of Eight has apparently resolved to cut greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050, but disagreed on thorny “mid-term targets,” to be reached by 2020 or so. And key players, such as the United States, have no […]

Boxer and Reid delay Senate action on climate bill until September

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, is now telling reporters that she won’t have a climate and energy bill ready for a vote in her committee until September, a significant delay for the legislation. Just a few days ago, her staff was outlining goals for getting legislation ready in […]