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Two Green Builders Take Trains Leaving From Different Stations…

U.S. schools betting on benefits of going green When we were kids, the only thing green about our schools was the vomit-hued paint on the bathroom walls. But times change, and these days, schools across the U.S. are incorporating green features that save money, improve student performance, and help protect the planet. The trend is […]

The Skinny on Fair-Trade Fashion

Find out which companies are going beyond green As a model who’s devoting her career to the eco cause, Summer Rayne Oakes has an up close and personal view of which trends are taking off and which ones are, well, lying in a crumpled pile on the floor. Today she offers her take on “ethical […]

And the Mining Seems So Safe and Clean

Congress considers legislation that would give coal a boost What if there was a liquid fuel with the potential to produce nearly twice as many greenhouse gases as petroleum? And it would cost nearly four times as much to build a processing plant for this fuel as for petroleum? You’d say no thanks. But Congress […]

We’ve Got Frenzy In Low Places

U.S. continues to stonewall climate progress ahead of G8 summit In the diplomatic scramble leading up to next week’s G8 summit, there are two sides: the Bush administration and the rest of the world. The burning issue, of course, is climate change. Following weeks of grumbling from both sides, leaked documents show that U.S. red […]

Which companies are going beyond green

"Eco fashion" has definitely become the buzzword of the moment.

Within the last month alone, my office has received calls from over a half-dozen trade shows and runway organizers seeking to green their events. Apparel companies and clients feverishly searching for organic clothing sources are also becoming quite common. The press seems to be foaming at the mouth for new material too, which is always a good sign; but, in the U.S. at least, we have yet to graduate beyond the "green" theme. This week I'll be speaking to a U.K.-based women's glossy on "ethical fashion," a term I hear used far more frequently in Europe.

"Ethical" brings a more social-cultural perspective to the mix, one you don't always get when talking straight up "eco" speak. The term has its roots in the fair-trade movement. Fair trade got its start 50 years ago, well before the idea of "eco fashion" was ever embraced by popular culture. It started with international aid groups working with small-scale African farmers. It wasn't until the late 1980s that an international system of Fair Trade certification and labeling was introduced, but heck -- that was about 20 years ago!

Still, "fair trade" and "ethical" fashion have yet to find their footing in America's popular culture. They are terms that still remain too esoteric for the general public, particularly because fair trade is more often associated with foodstuffs and artsy-crafty products. There are a couple of reasons for this.

There’s a connection between energy waste and our military adventurousness, so let’s stop the draft

This is what every utility in America should be required to provide in return for that monthly service charge that makes people who conserve energy pay more per unit of juice than people who waste it.

An hour-long discussion

Here’s Al Gore appearing on Charlie Rose. It’s about an hour long:

Taking on the belief that technotoys will allow the status quo to continue

James Howard Kunstler, dyspeptic critic and peak oil Paul Revere, nails the people whose approach to the twin calamities of global heating and peak oil is to spend all their time trying to cobble together the McGyver solution that saves the day, rather than trying to adapt to the new, low-energy imperative.

Not so perma, not so frosty

Thanks to global warming, the permafrost is no longer very perma, nor very frosty. I've noted before about how the ultimate release of huge amounts of greenhouse gases formerly trapped in the tundra could create a "self-perpetuating climate time bomb." But we shouldn't ignore the severe local impacts.

By Mark Twain

The war prayer: For background, see Kevin Drum and the war prayer site.