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Willing and Label

As carbon labeling gets rolling in the U.K., questions abound Can a bag of potato chips point the way to saving the planet? Some stores in the U.K. are gearing up to “carbon label” their products, aiming to show how much the production, packaging, and transport of consumer goods contribute to climate change. But it’s […]

Testing, Testing … Is This Thing On?

Federal chemical testing program inadequate, scientists say In 1996, Congress mandated that the U.S. EPA launch a chemical testing program within three years. My, how time flies. The Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program is now set to begin in 2008 — and shockingly, critics say it panders to Big Chemical. They point to the EPA’s plans […]

I’ll Be Back, Eh

Schwarzenegger visits Canada to talk tough on emissions It’s hard to believe any country could be worse on climate than the U.S., but Canada seems to be making a run for it. Yesterday, Friends of the Earth Canada and Sierra Legal filed a lawsuit in federal court, alleging that their government is shirking its Kyoto […]

Can a bag of potato chips point the way to saving the planet?

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

Can a bag of potato chips point the way to saving the planet?

In the U.K., we have started down the path of putting "carbon labels" on products. Tesco, our biggest supermarket chain, has said they will label every product they sell. The Carbon Trust, a government agency, has already produced a prototype label and is trying it out on shampoo, a fruit juice, and a bag of potato chips.

Clearly we do need to measure and manage carbon. A lot has been done to calculate and reduce the direct climate impacts of companies. Now attention is shifting to the wider climate-change footprint; businesses are looking up and down the supply chain.

Labeling is a great idea in principle. We have seen labels like fair-trade, organic, energy-rating, and marine stewardship engage consumers, change production, and move markets. And on climate change, consumers tell us they want simple, straightforward choices that are guaranteed to make a difference.

Another good one

Al Gore was on Keith Olbermann’s show today. He took a while to get rolling, but it heats up toward the end of the first segment. Here’s part one: Here’s part two: (thanks LL!)

The Girls of Grist do Sasquatch

A group of Grist hotties ladies just returned from the Sasquatch Music Festival at the Gorge in George, Wash., where we spent two days volunteering at the TRASHed Recycling Store, sponsored by Global Inheritance, a hip nonprofit based in California that combines creativity, youthful enthusiasm, and activism into unique, progressive-minded projects. They travel around and […]

And then I’m done

All right, one more and I’ll let the liquefied coal thing go. For today at least. First, note that Brad Plumer has a great piece on CTL at The New Republic. Second, I once again want to draw attention to two bits from the much-commented NYT piece this morning. First, this bit: Coal executives say […]

And start a green tour

Live Earth organizers announced today that Linkin Park will headline the Tokyo show. They also announced that Japan will be the only country to have two events — one in surburban Tokyo (the mainstage featuring Linkin Park) and one at a Buddhist temple in Kyoto (and I think you get the connection there). The Kyoto […]

California cracks down on coal power, and more

Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: The Bronx Is Up and the Battery’s Under the Hood They Could Teach PBS a Thing or Two The Coal Shebang And the Mining Seems So Safe and Clean Not to Mention It’s Wildly Inhumane This Sounds Like a Job For … Nobody Read the […]

Coal companies try a fast one

There is no better reminder of the perils of the end of the cheap gasoline era than the article in today's New York Times, ""Lawmakers Push for Big Subsidies for Coal Process," i.e., coal-to-liquids. This is the process that converts coal to diesel fuel, and while doing so, according to the NYT, emits 119 percent more greenhouse gases than conventional diesel. (David discussed the article this morning.)

Of course, the coal companies will allegedly "try" to sequester the carbon, a position which will inevitably move to "just too expensive" and "technical difficulties."

Dick Gephardt, of Democratic congressional fame, has even been recruited by the coal companies to lead the charge, complete with multibillion dollar subsidies for plants and floors on the price of the diesel that comes out.