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Mind your (fo)odometer

Check out a new video on food miles from The Nation: You can also check out the accompanying article here.

Why we may one day bitterly regret GM crops

Edible Media takes an occasional look at interesting or deplorable food journalism on the web. I spent the weekend in Atlanta at the first-ever U.S. Social Forum — an extremely interesting event, but not the place to go for someone needing to catch up on rest. Now I’m laid up with a sore throat, which […]

Gathering data in the U.S.’ largest temperate rainforest a heroic and necessary task

Hiking part of the Tongass National Forest in southeastern Alaska a few summers ago, I was utterly wowed, but knowing that it accounts for nearly one-third of the old-growth temperate rain forest left in the world seemed incredibly incongruent with the fact that my government was working so hard to wreck it (thanks to some truly absurd subsidies).

An excellent story in the new National Geographic retells the tale and shines light on new efforts aimed at allowing the Tongass to continue its majestic reign, including a heroic grassroots effort of the Sitka Conservation Society to "ground-truth" those parts of the nearly impenetrable Tongass scheduled for the saw. Without SCS and others, this jewel would look mightily different, and they deserve our support and our thanks.

A glimpse of environmental policies to come from Gordon Brown

Peter Madden, chief executive of Forum for the Future, writes a monthly column for Gristmill on sustainability in the U.K. and Europe.

Britain has a new prime minister. After leading the country for 10 years, Tony Blair has stepped down. Gordon Brown, Blair's number two for the past decade, takes up the reins.

Brown is viewed as solid and dependable, if a little dour. He is slightly to the left of Blair on most issues, though he has also pushed through a lot of business-friendly policies.

Gordon Brown is notoriously difficult to read; he gives very little of himself away. So what can we expect on the environment from a Brown premiership?

Energy 101

The Oil Drum has an excellent post that provides a neat framework, and then a huge series of links to specific stories that fit into the framework. The subject is energy.

Nicely done, TOD.

Music festivals across the country aim to lessen their footprint

Bonnaroo 2006. Photo: Sarah van Schagen. I’m sitting in the middle of a field in rural Tennessee, and it feels like it’s got to be 110 degrees out. Somehow I’ve forgotten about my sweat-lined brow and muddy shoes; instead, I’m focused on listening to Bonnaroo’s head press guy, Ken Weinstein of Big Hassle Media, talk […]

A short video clip introducing CFLs to kids

You can watch Disney and the Department of Energy's co-produced energy-efficiency PSA here. It's half an ad for Ratatouille, half a push for compact fluorescent lightbulbs.

Maybe the marketing theory is, "Hook 'em while they're young." Works for soft drinks and breakfast cereals. Perhaps it will work for Energy Star, too.

Catchy, catchy!

Someone -- possibly Bart A., who frequents these haunts -- came up with a magnificent line that ought to be widely repeated and put on T-shirts, bike stickers, etc:

"The Future Has Pedals."

Love it!

Our Flag Was Still There, Our Daily Grist Not So Much

Grist takes a break for the Fourth of July We hold these truths to be self-evident: that tomorrow is a federal holiday, and that our hardworking headline writers need a break. Therefore, we will not be publishing Daily Grist tomorrow, but we’ll be back on Thursday, refreshed and ready to go. See you then!

Putting the Source Before the Cart

Regional grocery chains seek “organic retailer” certification In some mainstream grocery stores, organic options are shunted to the side, put in a sort of “Food for Freaks” section where only the bravest shoppers dare to tread. But increasingly, regional chains are getting certified as “organic retailers” and even — gasp — shelving organic food next […]