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Excerpt from acceptance speech released

From McCain VP-pick Sarah Palin’s prepared remarks, excerpts of which were just released: Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America’s energy problems — as if we all didn’t know that already. But the fact that drilling won’t solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all. […]

Merrily pretending I belong amid the glamorous U.S. food scene

An interviewer once saw fit to lump Vladimir Nabokov with his illustrious contemporaries Jorge Luis Borges and Samuel Beckett. Nabokov replied that the comparison made him feel like a “thief between two Christs.”  Well, I know myself (more or less), and I know I’m no Vladimir Nabokov. But his statement does describe how I felt […]

Snippets from the news

• Giant Arctic ice shelf breaks away. • New eBay site is environment minded. • Big Auto’s sales continue to skid. • Toddlers chock full o’ flame retardants. • Western forests face flammable future.

National Toxicology Program still concerned about BPA

The National Toxicology Program begs to differ with the Food and Drug Administration’s recent conclusion that common chemical bisphenol A is safe at currently regulated levels. In a report released Wednesday, the NTP notes “some concern” that BPA can affect children’s brains and reproductive systems. The agency made the same conclusion in a draft report […]

Congressional Dems get smart on pushing ‘all of the above’ energy vote

Looks like the Congressional Democrats are shrewd enough to take on the GOP big lie that Republicans in Congress actually believe in an “all of the above” energy policy. Greenwire reports today that “Democrats plot strategy for putting GOP on its heels” ($ub. req’d): Democrats plan to return to Washington and the campaign trail next […]

Ecoflip offers a twist on online classifieds

Buying something used and local is already a fairly green way to consume (if consume you must) so I was curious what Ecoflip, which calls itself a “green craigslist,” would entail. The categories are fairly standard but have a splash of hippie: Fuel-efficient vehicles get their own section (along with the more expected green living […]

Photos of protesters, political seed art, coal propaganda, and more in the Twin Cities

Photos from my first few days covering the Republican convention and exploring Minneapolis and St. Paul:

The 12 (annotated) principles for a healthy food and agriculture system

Being based in Northern California, I am lucky to be located at the epicenter of the sustainable agriculture and Slow Food movements in the U.S.; it means very tasty cuisine all year round. I was intrigued by the recent 12 principles for a healthy food and agricultural system disseminated by some of the luminaries in […]

One farmer says ‘peak oil’ prompted energy-saving steps

Admit it, climate change is the kind of problem that leaves you wondering, “What the heck can any one person do about it?” That’s exactly how Patrick Holden said he felt about it during the “Climate Change and Food” panel discussion last week at the Slow Food Nation conference in San Francisco. Holden has been […]

Why future Katrinas and Gustavs will be much worse, part 2

A lot of knee-jerk deniers (please don’t write in — I know that is redundant) misread “part 1,” as I knew they would. I was not wading into the issue of whether global warming has already made intense tropical storms more common. That remains a great subject of debate, mostly because of the inadequacy of […]