Latest Articles
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The city that ended hunger did it by going local
What struck me in Frances Moore Lappé’s piece at Yes! on Belo Horizonte, Brazil — the city that ended hunger — was how simple the solution was: [The city] offered local family farmers dozens of choice spots of public space on which to sell to urban consumers, essentially redistributing retailer mark-ups on produce — which […]
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Book exposes the messy conditions of Canada’s tar sands
Of all the absurdities at play in extracting oil from Alberta’s vast northern tar sands deposits, the most staggering might be the nuclear renaissance it threatens to create in Canada. Andrew NikiforukWhether nuclear energy presents a legitimate alternative to greenhouse-gas-emitting energy sources is one question. Environmentalists have long debated that. But Canada is considering something […]
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Hilarious headline of the day
“Saudi Arabia Warns on Rapid Shift to Renewable Energy“
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Titular head of GOP says we’re in period of global cooling
OMG. RNC Chair Michael Steele (i.e., the titular head of the GOP) says that global warming is really “global cooling.” Sam Stein at HuffPost excavates Steele’s thoughts on global warming from his little-noticed stint as guest host of a conservative talk radio show on March 6: We are cooling. We are not warming. The warming […]
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DARPA to investigate geoengineering
Oh, great, DARPA — the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, an arm of the Defense Dept — is convening a meeting to look into geoengineering. Count me with Ken Caldeira: “The last thing we need is to have DARPA developing climate intervention technology,” says Caldeira. He says he agreed to go to the meeting “to […]
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Ecuadorian government shuts down leading environmental group
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa Last Monday, environmentalists were shocked to learn that the Ecuadorian government had shut down Acción Ecológica (Environmental Action), withdrawing the legal status of one of South America’s best-known environmental groups. Acción Ecológica has in recent months supported indigenous-led, mass protests and highway blockades against President Rafael Correa’s support for large-scale mining. […]
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The choice of what to do with carbon revenue is a clear-cut issue of justice
The debate around various climate policies sounds complex, but there’s a simple way to understand it: follow the money. When we put a price on carbon emissions, we place value on something that used to be worthless. That means all the sudden there’s a big new pot of money. The most important question facing policymakers […]
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Umbra on water softeners
Dear Umbra, I live in an area that has fairly hard water. The calcium build-up on the sink faucets, shower enclosures, and even the dog water bowls is really bad, and hard to remove. So I have considered a full house water softener. However, I know nothing about them — but I do know you […]
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Will combining climate and energy into one big bill help or hurt the climate cause?
Congressional leaders want to combine energy and climate provisions into one big bill this year, rather than moving a few smaller bills on the issues. But while some on Capitol Hill are cheering this as a way to expedite the process, others are skeptical about the chances of passing one giant bill in 2009, and […]
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