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They exist

In an unsigned editorial, the L.A. Times makes the case against nuclear power. IMHO, the strongest stuff comes at the bottom: The accelerating threat of global warming requires innovation and may demand risk-taking, but there are better options than nuclear power. A combination of energy-efficiency measures, renewable power like wind and solar, and decentralized power […]

Organic cherry tomatoes are amazingly good

Especially the little orange ones.

It’s getting closer

Green Car Congress translated a story that appeared in the Japanese press:

Toyota Motor Co. will obtain permission from Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport by the end of July for the testing of a prototype plug-in Prius on public roads.

Toyota will be the first car maker to obtain permission for a plug-in hybrid test in Japan. After completing the road tests, Toyota will start building a way to market the model by leasing them to public (government and municipal) offices.

According to the report, Toyota is testing a lithium-ion battery pack in the plug-in. Earlier this year, Nikkei Business speculated that Toyota would introduce the plug-in at the Tokyo Motor Show in November.

One of their readers offered a "slightly different" interpretation:

Robert Peoples, carpet recycler, answers Grist’s questions

Robert Peoples. What work do you do? I run a nonprofit called the Carpet America Recovery Effort, or CARE. I serve as the executive director. I am also the director of sustainability for the Carpet and Rug Institute. Finally, I manage an environmental engineering and consulting company in Florida. I am a Ph.D. chemist by […]

Harry Potter greens the publishing biz, Japan nuke plant shut after quake, and more

Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: Deader Than Ever Use the Task Force, Dick Whose Fault Is It, Anyway? Welcome Back, Potter Pretty Please, With Cuomo On Top Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: Whole Market Foods? You Look Radiant Frigi-Dare

Gross

So I’m reading a magazine this weekend, and what should I stumble across but this two-page ad (pardon the hacked together scan — click for a larger version): I mean, I like meat and all, but the enthusiasm on display here, particularly by that black woman on the left, who looks like she just got […]

Necessary

This op-ed from Rick Cole, city manager of Ventura, Calif., will be music to the ears of all you Gristians: The feel-good stage of California’s leadership on global warming is unsustainable. Kudos to the pop stars with their calls to switch lightbulbs and unplug cellphone chargers when not in use. But we can’t pretend that […]

Just stay out of it, won’t you?

In an article about the Bush administration’s halting, grudging baby steps toward maybe, somewhat, possibly considering the eensiest-beensiest mandatory restrictions on carbon emissions, perhaps, some day, if it doesn’t cost any industry any money, we get this beautiful capper of a final paragraph: A number of big businesses, including some oil, chemical and utility companies, […]

In which I rejoice

Count me among those rejoicing: Citigroup analyst John Hill downgraded coal company stocks across the board in a report this week, saying that expected U.S. greenhouse gas regulations on coal, which emits more of the main heat-trapping gas carbon dioxide than any other fuel, paint a bleak outlook for the sector. Downward pressure on stock […]

Individuals support policies they don’t live by voluntarily

Over at the New Yorker, James Surowiecki draws our attention to this oddity: The curious fact is that many people buying three-ton Suburbans for that arduous two-mile trip to the supermarket also want Congress to pass laws making it harder to buy Suburbans at all. This is, he notes, not an isolated phenomenon: individuals often […]