Latest Articles

Why agribusiness giants are facing off over corn ethanol

As recently as 2005, a buck fifty could get you a bushel of corn — about three days’ rations for a confined dairy cow. Today, that same bushel would run you nearly $4. Trouble in Big Ag paradise. Photo: iStockphoto That rapid price increase, inspired by a slew of federal policies that encourage transforming corn […]

They went down because of random factors, not Bush

U.S. carbon dioxide emissions dropped 1.3% in 2006, as the Energy Information Administration reported yesterday.

President Bush immediately took credit:

"We are effectively confronting the important challenge of global climate change through regulations, public-private partnerships, incentives, and strong economic investment."

[Please, no laughing.]

In spite of the fact that Bush has actually gutted programs aimed at the promoting clean energy technologies, last year's emissions dropped because of:

Oregon blazes a trail again, mostly

The Oregon House passed an aggressive renewable electricity supply standard that requires the biggest utilities in the state to get 25 percent of their capacity from renewables (not including existing hydro) by 2025. The state Senate already passed the companion bill, and the Oregon governor, Ted Kulongoski, has been pushing these all year, so they are widely expected to pass after the two bills are reconciled into one.

But ...

The carpet company and its visionary CEO in the NYT

They’re a little old now, but I wanted to call attention to two great NYT articles on the environmental initiatives at carpet company Interface and its visionary CEO Ray Anderson: He challenged his colleagues to set a deadline for Interface to become a “restorative enterprise,” a sustainable operation that takes nothing out of the earth […]

A columnist thinks so

Over at Politico, Glenn Hurowitz argues that at key moments, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have sold out the public interest in favor of polluting industries in their states. He says they could stand to learn something from Bill Richardson and John Edwards, whose energy/climate plans are ambitious and powerful. I suspect that if you […]

My bike and kids

The Bike-To-Work-Week gods had plans for me ... even though I don't actually work.

On Mother's Day, May 13, a wheel fell off my stroller.

Walking is my main mode of transportation, and I love it. Even with its distance limitations, pushing a stroller felt like a safe alternative to driving and less annoying than taking the bus.

My daughters, 18 months and 3, are too old for us to justify buying another stroller and too young to walk the two-mile roundtrip to downtown, the playground, or the library.

Since I gave up driving almost a year ago, I've ignored the advice of cycling advocates, both on the web and in real life, because I thought walking served my family just fine.

Now, without a stroller, it was time to buy a bike. And a trailer that hooks onto the back. And helmets. And test drive it to the downtown vegetarian coffee shop for a breakfast sandwich.

And finally this week, I strapped in the girls for a ride to the playground -- and they loved it. Why, I think, did I wait so long?

Democracy in jeopardy

In a recent post about the timing of the Farm Bill, I talked about when things related to farm and food policy are likely to move in Congress. There is new information available now, and it's becoming increasingly clear that we all could be in serious trouble if we don't act now to voice our opinion about the state of our food system. Though pressure to consider major reforms in the bill is as strong as ever, events of this week are leaving me with much less hope that new leadership will lead to any positive change without a fierce shove in the right direction.

I shall speak now and then forever hold my peace

So, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) planned to introduce a bill to honor Rachel Carson — author of the seminal Silent Spring — on the 100th anniversary of her birth. Carson is, as non-psychotics know, a hero who did about as much as any human being in history to raise awareness, not only of toxic chemicals […]

LinkedIn, a social network for professionals, is introduced today

From Mashable.com:

Nonprofit organizations will be able to use LinkedIn as a platform for involving the LinkedIn community with their causes, leveraging the 11 million users that are present within the online community. Provided with this new feature are free badges to be placed on profiles, and registered nonprofits free job listings in order to find new members to join their teams. British rockstar James Blunt is already using LinkedIn to raise over $23,000 for Doctors Without Borders. Other featured LinkedIn for Good organizations include American Red Cross, the World Wildlife Fund and Unitis and Kiva, microfiance organizations.

The full story is here.

The Coal Shebang

California says yes to stricter vehicle emissions, no to dirty coal California keeps pushing to be the Greenest State Ever, No Seriously, Like Ever. At an EPA hearing Tuesday, state officials demanded permission to enact vehicle emissions rules that would be stricter than federal guidelines. Under the Clean Air Act, states can follow either federal […]