Latest Articles
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A big picture statement the world’s big problems
I’m on a listserv, where somebody made the fateful mistake of casually asking me, "from a Gristy environmental point of view, wouldn’t it be a good thing if fossil fuels ran out?" In return, they received … a whole bunch of words. Then I thought, "hey, wait, I just wrote a bunch of words without […]
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Look, Ma, Green’s on TV!
Discovery and Sundance channels plot green programming Good news: soon you can be green without leaving your couch. Next year, Discovery Communications will start up an around-the-clock channel focused on eco-friendly living. The already-existent Discovery Home channel will be rebranded as Discovery PlanetGreen and beamed into 50 million homes, starting off with a series called […]
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Baby Steps
Dare a mom to live a greener life Christine Gardner admits that few things are less environmentally friendly than kids. So go figure — it wasn’t until she had children that she became inspired to attempt a more sustainable existence. Even when it means waiting for the bus in a hailstorm with her kids, she […]
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She Puts the Dud in Dudley
Bush appoints anti-regulation advocate as top regulatory official Mere days ago, we mentioned that President Bush might give Congress the runaround by making recess appointments of industry-tied folk to top environmentally related positions in his administration. Well, that didn’t take long. Meet Susan Dudley, the newly appointed head of the Office of Information and Regulatory […]
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Greenpeace ranks Apple as least eco-friendly electronics firm
Are you reading this on a Mac? D’oh. A new Greenpeace report ranks Apple’s environmental record worst among 14 major electronics firms, based on use of hazardous chemicals in production and efforts to recycle products at the end of their lives. The iPod manufacturer was i-poohed for continuing to use several types of harmful chemicals, […]
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Brooklyn bleg
It’s late to ask, I realize, but: my wife and I will be in Brooklyn for the next three or four days. Without children. Hooray! Our plan is to sleep in, and eat, and read. And maybe shop. And then sleep in some more. Aaah … Any suggestions about sites to see? Places to eat […]
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Not if experience is any guide
A professor of mine once remarked that while the environmental movement is wide, it is also thin. Nowhere is this more evident than in national elections, where candidates focus almost exclusively on national security issues and bread-and-butter economic agendas. (In contrast, local and state elections often produce clear environmental mandates.)
Despite the perception that Democratic candidates place more of an emphasis on environmental issues, in 2000 Gore talked more about putting the social security surplus in a lockbox than he did about global warming, while in 2004 Kerry barely mentioned the environment or energy policy despite numerous opportunities and the obvious link between our addiction to Middle Eastern oil and terrorism.
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Between the sheets in the Abramoff scandel
Italia Federici, the founder of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy (CREA), is the latest target of investigation in the ongoing saga of Jack Abramoff (whose first name might as well be Disgraced Lobbyist), according to recent press reports. Federici, who at the time was dating the coal lobbyist turned Interior Department official J. […]
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Corporatists overestimate environmental response costs every time
A friend sends an article from a legal publication that makes an important point about economists and other naysayers who insist that addressing global climate disruption will be too expensive. (Oddly, the same people always gassing on about boundless human potential when it comes to imagining new substitutes for depleting resources always forget to incorporate that creativity in their projections of the cost of fixing environmental problems.)
A key excerpt (my emphasis):
