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Mercury bill clears major hurdle

Great news – we’re one giant step closer to ending needless mercury pollution from chlorine plants in the United States. On Wednesday, the Mercury Pollution Reduction Act (HR 2190) passed a subcommittee vote that allows it to now be considered by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce committee. The majority of bills die, […]

How to turn your backyard into the best pizzeria in town

Photo: Whitney BrownWhat is it about the flicker of a flame, the crackle of burning wood, and the wafting clouds of wood smoke that enchant us so? Combine an outdoor fire with a spring breeze dancing on one’s skin and the sound of leaves rustling in the trees, and merriment abounds. The effect is liberating; […]

Big Pharma: The case for corporate climate responsibility

Today, Climate Counts is releasing our review of the pharmaceutical industry, and they’ve made for an interesting case: they are both extraordinarily profitable and have received the highest scores yet of any of the 14 industries on our Climate Counts Company Scorecard. But in spite of good scores on measurement and reporting, they’ve been weak […]

Global warming did NOT cause this plane crash

This is not helpful: As the investigation continues as to what brought down the French airliner over the Atlantic Ocean with 228 people on board, a Russian climatologist believes global warming played a significant part. Russia Today offers this steaming pile of reportage under the disingenuous headline, “Did global warming help bring down Air France […]

Eat real. Eat local. Eat … Hellmann’s Mayo?

The website is abysmal, full of Flash-animated chaos and tabs that bring up one-line slogans. The message is … twisted. For some reason, Hellmann’s Mayonnaise, a U.S.-based subsidiary of European processed-food behemoth Unilever, has seen fit to subject Canada (Canada?) to an eat-local campaign. Analyzing this bizarre development transcends my gifts as a social critic. […]

The Climate Post: Waxman-Markey, Bonn, and carbon counting

The U.S. Congress fast-tracks climate legislation, international negotiators hash through the first “negotiating text” for year-end global talks in Germany, and big businesses start counting their carbon. The pile of climate stories this week climbed faster than predicted New England sea levels. The American Clean Energy and Security Act — aka Waxman-Markey, aka ACES, aka […]

Lingerie model nudie by nature, and more

Nudie by natureLingerie model Miranda Kerr says she “decided to go au naturel to raise awareness of the environment, specifically koalas.” Well, we’re not sure what her Aussie Stone cover is doing for the koalas, but it’s sure raising a whole lot of something.   (Click below to see the next item in this week’s […]

What does nature have to do with climate change?

It’s sometimes easy for nature to get lost during the international climate change negotiations here in Bonn. Terms like “technology diffusion,” “financial mechanisms” and “mitigation commitments” often dominate the talks. But what does nature have to do with climate change and how does nature play into these negotiations? A group of some of the world’s […]

Pelosi won’t commit to deadline for passing climate bill

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has set a soft deadline of June 19 for committee leaders to finish their review of the climate and energy bill that passed out of the Energy and Commerce Committee last month. But she hasn’t set a deadline for passing the bill out the full chamber. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, […]

As ‘Food Inc.’ nears open, Eric Schlosser appears on Colbert

The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c Eric Schlosser colbertnation.com Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Keyboard Cat   Steven Cobert is a brilliant comedian. Eric Schlosser may be our best investigative journalist after Seymour Hersh. Together, Colbert and Schlosser create … a typically random and zany Colbert interview. But they do give […]