Latest Articles

Nestle flexes its muscles at Miami water utility

For months, the bottled-water industry has been losing its grip over people’s pocketbooks. Consumers are realizing that buying purified tap water at pumped-up prices, packaged in little plastic bottles, makes zero sense in economic, ecological, or health terms. Now the industry appears to be losing its grip on reality. From the Miami Herald: In the […]

Notable quotable

“I kind of thought that eco-friendly clothes meant misshapen hemp sweaters — you know, from like 1992 or something.” — actress Maggie Gyllenhaal

Obama’s proposal for an economic ‘rescue plan’ includes green features

In Toledo, Ohio, on Monday, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama unveiled his “Economic Rescue Plan for the Middle-Class” — a new $60 billion economic stimulus package, to be added to an already-proposed $115 billion stimulus proposal. As he introduced his new plan, he made several references to energy issues. “I won’t pretend this will be […]

McCain spins concerns about nuclear safety as anti-troops

“By the way, the next time Senator Obama tells you that nuclear power has got to be made safe and environmental and all that, take him over to see one of our Navy ships with nuclear power plants on it, my friends. And ask the men and women who serve proudly on those nuclear powered […]

A point of no return as alarming as the tundra feedback

A new study in Nature Geoscience ($ub. req’d, abstract below) projects that “a warming of 4 degrees C causes a 40 percent loss of soil organic carbon from the shallow peat and 86 percent from the deep peat” of Northern peatlands. And that amplifying carbon cycle feedback is dangerous for three reasons: The northern peatlands […]

Old breeds, new ideas are helping small farms

I just returned from a 10 day photo assignment covering the efforts of Heifer Project — Poland to return heritage/locally-adapted breeds of chickens, geese, cattle, and pigs to small farmers struggling to keep a foothold in this changing country. These breeds in many cases are already making a difference. One of these, the Polish Red […]

Snippets from the news

• Payless launches eco-friendly shoe line. • Amtrak reports record annual ridership. • New Bible version has green theme. • GM and Chrysler talk merger. • Beijing’s new traffic rules don’t seem to make a difference. • Mexican marijuana cartels sully U.S. forests and parks.

Cause and defect

“How in the hell — heck — are you going to change it unless you know what caused it?” — Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden, commenting on Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin’s repeated contention that the cause of climate change is uncertain

How modern cities made themselves livable

Financial deregulation has obviously been a disaster. Perhaps we are entering a new era, one in which it is acceptable to talk about the positive actions that governments can take. A friend of mine, Bryn Barnard, has written about how government first stepped in to provide a minimally healthy environment — in a chapter about […]

NYT Magazine features Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Maverick Farms, Anna Lappé, and more

You know the Sunday New York Times Magazine issue I blogged about a few days ago, the "food issue" featuring a major essay by Michael Pollan? It also highlighted the farm I help run, Maverick Farms, in a section on "food fighters." We’re extremely flattered and delighted to be included in the same list as […]