Latest Articles

Proposed coal company merger will draw green opposition

This is from a press release that just crossed the transom: The expected March 29, 2007 merger of Dynegy and LS Power will create a combined company with the most pending dirty coal-fired power plants in the United States. This plan contrasts sharply with the recent TXU decision to back away from such heavily polluting […]

Time to quit pretending otherwise

Late last week Chris Mooney had a long and characteristically careful post on HuffPo clarifying the hurricane/climate change connection, exactly what Gore’s said about it, and exactly where Gore can and cannot be legitimately criticized for it. The crucial point in the post, though, is not about hurricanes. It’s this: Nevertheless, when it comes to […]

Is humane meat better for the environment?

According to this NYT article, one of the country's biggest restaurant moguls has decided that he will only sell humanely treated animals in all of his restaurants. This is, in one sense, a great victory.

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, […]