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The Heartland Institute accidently steals seventh grader’s paper

I got a weird mailing yesterday from The Heartland Institute: a little pamphlet titled "Scientific Consensus on Global Warming: Results of an international survey of climate scientists."

Amazingly, there is a price list on the inside cover; this little gem could be yours for only $5.95. I looked all over the Institute's website but couldn't find the darn thing, until finally I thought to look under "Books," and lo and behold -- the 5" x 8", 23-page pamphlet was listed there.

I'd say one for everyone in your family ... and you could probably spring for one for everyone at work. Heck, you might just get up into discount territory (101 copies or more for $2.95 each)!

You could teach an entire class in propaganda with this jewel as your only example -- a master class in careful statements designed to strongly suggest without ever quite making a clear statement.

Three designers tell all during Seattle’s first Green Fashion Week

If you still think eco-friendly fashion means shapeless, earth-toned duds, you’ve not yet met the 20-some designers showing their latest creations this week in Seattle. From Heatherette to Diane von Furstenberg to Oscar de la Renta, these eco-minded artisans are whipping up “fashion with a conscience” faster than you can say “green is the new […]

Umbra on live trapping

Dear Umbra, My wife and I live in a small town in Massachusetts, where I recently volunteered to head up an effort to certify our Unitarian Universalist congregation as a Green Sanctuary, an official recognition of our environmental stewardship. In discussing potential remedies for a mouse problem with a fellow congregation member, I recounted how […]

A dispatch from the Congressional Black Caucus conference

The following is a guest essay by Lauren Trevisan, environmental justice program assistant for the Sierra Club.

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Appropriately, the theme of this year's 37th annual Congressional Black Caucus Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C., was "Unleashing Our Power." For the first time in history, the U.S. House of Representatives has four African-Americans serving as chairpersons of major committees. In addition, 17 African-Americans lead major subcommittees, and Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina is the House Majority Whip. Activists and health experts hope that this change in leadership will help enact serious environmental justice legislation to promote safe and healthy communities.

Senator and presidential hopeful Barack Obama drew a large crowd for his session on global warming. More than 1,000 people crowded in to hear Sen. Obama call for a comprehensive study of climate change impacts on low-income communities. He highlighted the job opportunities for young Americans that would stem from investment in retrofitting and renewable energy. Increased investment in public transit, Obama added, would help reduce carbon emissions and help low-income communities.

But the best discussion of the day came from an annual panel called the Environmental Justice Braintrust. Clyburn convened this panel discussion for the ninth consecutive year. Panelists ranged from policy makers to medical professionals to civil rights attorneys, all of whom have been working to fight environmental injustice for decades.

On Oct. 17, Grist is throwing a bash in Seattle — you’re invited

Our reader parties in San Francisco and Washington, D.C., are the stuff of legend, but they’ve caused our hometown peeps to struggle with some rejection issues. Why all this jet-setting across the country and no love for the Emerald City? We heard your cries, hometown peeps. So we’re having a blowout right here in Seattle […]

U.K. judge rules Inconvenient Truth partisan but still OK to show in schools

A judge has ruled on a British citizen’s accusation that the United Kingdom’s distribution of An Inconvenient Truth to secondary schools amounts to political indoctrination. And the strange, strange verdict is: Yes, the documentary can be shown in schools — as long as teachers follow guidelines to not promote Al Gore’s “partisan political views” to […]

Dingell endorses a cap-and-trade climate plan

Just days after releasing his carbon-and-gas tax proposal for public comment, House Energy and Commerce Chair John Dingell (D-Auto) -- along with Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Coal) of Virginia -- has released a report [PDF] endorsing an economy-wide cap-and-trade program.

In an odd but welcome turn, the 22-page white paper reads:

The United States should reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by between 60 and 80 percent by 2050 to contribute to efforts to address climate change. To do so, the United States should adopt an economy-wide, mandatory greenhouse gas reduction program.

Further white papers will be forthcoming, meant to ...

... address a number of other cap-and-trade design elements and additional topics, including: cap levels and timetables, measures for containing costs in a cap-and-trade program, carbon sequestration, offsets and credits, developing countries, distribution of allowances, and additional measures.

The bad news? "Government will distribute allowances equal to the level of allowed greenhouse emissions."

Stay tuned for updates.

Philly Eagles are green not just in uniform, and more

There’s an interesting interview in the NYT with Jeffrey Swartz, CEO of Timberland (not to be confused with Timbaland — he’s his own CEO, bee-yotch). Swartz is frustrated that Big Outdoor Wear worked to address child labor but hasn’t managed a concerted effort to significantly reduce its impact on the earth from making, transporting, and […]

The Solar Power Conference revealed no breakthrough solar tech — and that’s a good thing

The following is a guest essay by Jim Raras, Jr., COO of Inpower Systems. —– Every year the biggest players in the solar industry convene at the Solar Power Conference in Long Beach, Calif., to discuss the latest advancements in solar technology. This year, one of the most notable facets of the meetings was what […]

California A.G. petitions feds to regulate shipping emissions

California Attorney General Jerry Brown will join with environmental groups today to petition the Bush administration to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions from ocean-going vessels. Shipping accounts for up to 5 percent of global GHG emissions, a number expected to grow 75 percent in the next 20 years. Ocean-going vessels make 11,000 calls at California’s ports each […]