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Forty years gone: MLK’s dream today would be colored green

The following are my introductory remarks to the Dream Reborn conference, beginning today and running through the weekend in Memphis, Tenn.

Forty years ago today, on April 4, 1968, a sniper assassinated Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King had come to Memphis, Tennessee, to aid striking sanitation workers. The preeminent civil rights leader of his time, he was only 39 years old.

Four decades have passed since that fateful day. As of this month, Dr. King has been gone from us longer than he was ever here. As we pass this milestone in history, we gather in Memphis to remind ourselves and the world that a bullet killed the dreamer -- but not the dream.

Dr. King had a vision of an America as good as its promise, and a world at peace with itself. That vision lives on in the hearts of hundreds of millions, including two generations of adults and a rising generation of teenagers, all of whom have been born since Dr. King's passing.

The time has come for us to step forward. We must take full responsibility to advance the cause of justice, opportunity, and peace in a new century.

And yet it must be said that we are stepping onto history's stage at a frightening time -- a time of global warming and global war. A time when "the market" is free and the people are not. A time of mass incarceration of people and mass extinction of species. A time of no rules for the rich and no rights for the poor. A time of increasing profits for the few and decreasing options for the many. A time of buyouts and bailouts for the powerful and convictions and evictions for the powerless.

And yet, inside the United States, the tide has begun to turn.

Another big horticultural seed company bought by Monsanto

When Monsanto buys into a market, they buy in big. In 2005, Monsanto's seed/genetic trait holdings were primarily in corn, cotton, soybeans, and canola. That year, they purchased Seminis, the world's largest vegetable seed company (see And We Have the Seed) specializing in seed for vegetable field crops. Now their takeover of the vegetable seed sector continues, as they have announced the intent to purchase the Dutch breeding and seed company, De Ruiter Seeds.

Boosts for renewable energy get another go-round in the Senate

Wind- and solar-boosting folk are crossing their fingers that new Senate legislation will succeed in extending renewable-energy tax credits set to expire at the end of 2008. The Clean Energy Tax Stimulus Act is framed as an economic boon: “If both houses of Congress don’t pass a bill and the president doesn’t sign it into […]

Me and Vanity Fair

As noted by James Wolcott here (a small thrill for a longtime Wolcott fanboy), I have a guest residency this month on the Vanity Fair green blog, which is running throughout April in conjunction with their green issue. As you’ll see at the link, I have a few things up already. Drop by!

IMF report says economic costs of climate-change action negligible

The International Monetary Fund said in a report released today that sharply reducing the world’s carbon emissions will cost relatively little economically if a carbon-pricing scheme is adopted soon that includes all the major-emitting countries. The report didn’t endorse one specific pricing mechanism, but said that either a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade system could […]

‘State Farm can get you back behind the wheel’

Witness the humiliation as this distinguished professional is forced to … my God, I can barely say it … ride a bike to work. Do something, State Farm! Anything! "You know that place where you’re swapping four wheels for two? Oh, man, I’m there." Says Streetsblog: "Yeah, I know that place. It’s called a city." […]

Time bashes grain ethanol

This post is by ClimateProgress guest blogger Bill Becker, executive director of the Presidential Climate Action Project.

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All that glitters is not gold. And all that grows is not green.

That is the belated realization about grain ethanol -- in fact, about any ethanol whose feedstock is grown on cropland. Joe Romm has done a good job posting on this issue, including his report on the recent studies featured in Science magazine. I'd like to weigh in with a few additional points.

File under: Sherlock, No sh*t

I give you clean coal: The study, “Relations between Health Indicators and Residential Proximity to Coal Mining in West Virginia,” found that in the 14 counties where the biggest coal mining operations are located residents reported higher rates of cardiopulmonary disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hypertension, diabetes, and lung and kidney disease. In each of […]

A roundup of news snippets

• An independent expert recommends an up to $16 billion fine for Chevron’s role in polluting the Ecuadorian Amazon. • “Eco-fur” doesn’t fly. • More funding is needed to fix the Gulf of Mexico dead zone. • A Paris airport will tap geothermal energy. • The sun still isn’t causing global warming.

Animal-welfare group backs toad-killing in Australia

Australian politician Shane Knuth has proposed a special “Toad Day Out” for residents of the state of Queensland to kill cane toads, a poisonous invasive species that Knuth calls “the greatest environmental vermin and probably the most disgusting creature known to man.” The plan even has the backing of the Royal Society for the Prevention […]