Latest Articles
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LEED competition
Speaking of green building, it looks like LEED may be facing some competition: Lake Oswego-based Green Building Initiative, a nonprofit formed in 2004 with money from the timber industry, is bringing a popular Canadian sustainability program to America. … Green Building’s leaders argue that the U.S. edition of Green Globes is Web-based, interactive and inexpensive […]
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So much goodness you could waste a day
Every since my Brooklyn vacation, I’ve been behind and struggling to catch up. You know what that means … a link dump! Enjoy. In the course of joining the wonkosphere’s call for a carbon tax, Fareed Zakaria comes very close to repeating my slogan: Understanding the causes and cures of global warming is actually very […]
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Educate yourself before going vegan
From the Associated Press:
A vegan couple were sentenced Wednesday to life in prison for the death of their malnourished 6-week-old baby boy, who was fed a diet largely consisting of soy milk and apple juice.
I realize this is an extreme example, and these two were way out of the norm in their ignorance about vegan nutrition. I am not posting this to slam vegans. I'm just using it as an opportunity to give some unsolicited advice to any of you with children who are planning to go vegan: educate yourself thoroughly beforehand. Talk and listen to experienced, knowledgeable vegans first. Cross check what you learn against a licensed pediatrician to make sure you get enough non-meat protein in their diets to feed their rapidly growing, protein-hungry brains.
Update [2007-5-11 13:1:32 by biodiversivist]: My apologies all, for not looking into this story in greater depth. I've been too busy to check in on the blog and I see it has a pile of comments already. An infant can die of malnutrition even if fed large quantities of food that does not contain adequate nutrition, such as fruit juice, and that is what I mistakenly thought had happened in this case. I did not realize that the child had actually been fed small quantities in addition to being fed inadequate nutrition.
I overlooked the one short sentence in the entire article that should have clued me in: "The child died because he was not fed. Period." The headline and subtitle, both crafted to sensationalize and maximize readership sucked me in. This was a generic case of child abuse and veganism had little to do with it. I have added more to this article below the fold and I'm sorry I didn't get back to it sooner sparing several rants.
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Feed Your Head
Alice Waters leads 200-chef brigade to protect wild salmon Led by celebri-chef Alice Waters, some 200 chefs in 33 states are calling on Congress to protect river habitats and deprioritize hydroelectric dams that cramp Northwest salmon’s style. “Wild salmon is one of the unique, authentic heritage foods of the Pacific Northwest,” reads a letter that […]
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I Don’t Want a Pickle, I Just Want a Fuel-Efficient Vehicle
Senate committee OKs bill to raise fuel-economy standards A Senate committee has approved legislation that would increase average vehicle fuel efficiency to 35 miles per gallon by 2020, with a 4 percent annual increase from 2021 to 2030. For nearly two decades, U.S. passenger cars have averaged 27.5 mpg, while light trucks and SUVs have […]
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Doin’ What Comes Unnaturally
GM joins climate pact, Citigroup pledges $50 billion to fight warming This week saw big businesses make big strides toward climate action — or at least talking about climate action. The U.S. Climate Action Partnership doubled its ranks, adding 14 businesses and green groups including GM, Dow Chemical, PepsiCo, and Shell. Since forming in January, […]
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Tony, We Hardly Knew Ye
British Prime Minister Tony Blair to resign, climate legacy mixed British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced his resignation today in a short speech whose message amounted to, “Sorry about blindly following Bush. Forgive me?” Blair leaves in late June after 10 years at 10 Downing Street, with Finance Minister Gordon Brown expected to replace him. […]
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Just because it’s awesome
Occasionally I like to revisit one of the greatest magazine feature leads ever written: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. That, more or less, is the short answer to the supposedly incredibly complicated and confusing question of what we humans should eat in order to be maximally healthy. Perfect.
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Canada may raise pesticide levels to match U.S.
Every day there are roughly 1,347 stories I wish we could cover in Daily Grist. Here’s one that didn’t make the cut today, but that I can’t get out of my head: in an effort to bring its rules in line with the U.S., Canada is getting ready to raise allowable levels of pesticides on […]
