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Mary Anne Hitt, director of Appalachian Voices, answers questions

Mary Anne Hitt. What’s your job title? I’m the executive director of Appalachian Voices. What does your organization do? We bring people together to solve the big environmental problems facing the central and southern Appalachian Mountains — mountaintop-removal coal mining, air pollution, and the loss of our native forests. What are you working on at […]

Still

An extensive Christian Science Monitor analysis reveals that "nations will add enough coal-fired capacity in the next five years to create an extra 1.2 billion tons of CO2 per year." In all, at least 37 nations plan to add coal-fired capacity in the next five years — up from the 26 nations that added capacity […]

What gets measured gets fixed, as they say

The following is a guest post from Deborah Shimberg. Deborah lives in northern Vermont, where she started and continues to run Verve, Inc., which makes all-natural Glee chewing gum. —– We denizens of the earth know we are living beyond our means. But it’s hard to know by how much, and when we may reach […]

Umbra on greening your sex life

Q. Hey Umbra! So I’m finally starting up a relationship with a guy as eco-friendly as I am (I’d say eco-freaky, but since I’m writing about sex, I thought it would be overload). However, since neither of us is into polluting, killing animals, or overpopulation, how do we go green in the bedroom? Just what […]

Great finds in the search for green cosmetics

I smell yummy. Very very yummy. So yummy, in fact, that my roommate's dog just tried to lick all the yumminess off my face. Still, even that salivary interlude couldn't kill my French Rosemary With Sweet Orange buzz.

I'm on a mission to replace all my pharmacy-bought personal care products with non-toxic, petrochemical-free alternatives. Alas, it's been slow going, especially in the skin care department. It took me years, after all, to find cleansers and moisturizers that simultaneously control my oiliness, don't dry me out, and prevent breakouts. (Sigh.) Saying good-bye to those standbys is tough.

See me in Seattle

I'm giving a presentation Wed., Mar 28 to the Green Builders Guild on Solutions to climate chaos for Green builders, homeowners, and citizens. Location below the fold.

I’m Hot, Sticky Sweet

Vermont’s maple-syrup industry braces for climate change Will warmer winters stop the flow of Vermont maple syrup? That’s the question of the day in the Green Mountain State, where folks worry that climate change will make the $200 million industry — which provides 32 percent of U.S. syrup output — dry up. “I’ve always been, […]

Unseamly Behavior

Federal judge blocks West Virginia coal-mining permits Foes of mountaintop-removal mining got a break late Friday when a federal judge blocked four permits for mines in West Virginia. The permits, issued by the Army Corps of Engineers, had said it was A-OK for Massey Energy’s subsidiaries to fill valleys with the dirt and other detritus […]

Turns Out He Does Know Jack

Former Interior deputy pleads guilty to lying in Abramoff investigation The second in command at the U.S. Interior Department in Bush’s first term has pleaded guilty to telling big, fat lies to the Senate during the Jack Abramoff lobbying investigation. That’s what the kids call obstruction of justice, and it could have netted J. Steven […]

How deep is Gore love?

That Al Gore. Such a busy guy. Apparently, in between getting nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, stealing the show at the Oscars, and testifying before Congress, he's found time to heal a former Beatle's tender heart.

This, from TMZ.com:

While Heather Mills dances with the stars, soon-to-be-ex hubby Paul McCartney is getting hot and heavy with a new squeeze. The beleaguered Beatle has been spotted a lot lately with Sabrina Guinness, of, yes, the Guinness Stout beer empire. Guinness, 52, was spotted recently with McCartney, his daughter Stella and her husband Alasdhair Willis. McCartney told Brit rag the Daily Mail that "I realize everyone wants to see me with a new bird right now and that's very flattering. We enjoy each other's company." The politically progressive McCartney then added that he and Guinness woo each other by talking about "stuff like the environment and Al Gore, things like that."

Ah, green love.