Latest Articles
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Jeans-maker Diesel is
Jeans-maker Diesel is. Their new “Global Warming Ready” ad campaign (image: CNW Group) depicts life in a climate-changed world (yes, that’s Mount Rushmore in the background). And PS, y’all, if global warming is going to make people that hot, I’m all for it. Check out those … um … jeans. Below the fold, a short […]
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Cleaner by the Dozen
Green group produces list of top 12 eco-friendly vehicles American autos are drowning their sorrows in foreign oil after not making the 2007 Green Book list of the top 12 eco-friendly vehicles, released yesterday by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. Honda’s natural-gas-powered Civic GX (available only in California and New York) regained its […]
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The Lobby Lobby
Protesters shut down public energy hearing at Thailand hotel How many protesters does it take to stop a public hearing? About 200, if a fracas at Bangkok’s Siam City hotel is any indication. Thailand expects its power needs to more than double by 2021, and officials are scrambling to approve a plan for feeding the […]
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School of Rocky
An interview with Salt Lake City mayor and green innovator Rocky Anderson In a decidedly red state, Rocky Anderson is a decidedly green mayor — and a popular one at that. His innovations have turned Salt Lake City into a sustainable hub with thriving public transportation, businesses clamoring for energy efficiency, and one of the […]
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D, None of the Above
Nations squabble over who’s responsible for solving climate change Last week, more than 100 countries approved a report saying humans are causing climate change and it’s time to find solutions. Remember that show of harmony? Well, cherish the memory, because now some of those countries are rushing to explain why they can’t be the ones […]
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Former vice president. Newly minted rock star.
By now, everyone's heard the news. Al Gore isn't the guy he was in 2000. He's the New Gore -- relaxed, charming, self-effacing, funny. Really funny. Who'd have thunk it?
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The park marries art and nature amidst an urban backdrop
On Monday I had the opportunity to get a personalized tour of Seattle’s new Olympic Sculpture Park. Grist kahuna-at-large Chip Giller and I walked the grounds of the 9-acre green space, located at the north end of the city’s downtown waterfront, with Martha Wyckoff and Chris Rogers, two key players in bringing the park to […]
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Game over? Hardly.
With the new IPCC report finally out in the world, climate activists can again focus on action. What do we do now?
I say, first let's cut through the defeatism that's posing as realism, as in this article in yesterday's L.A. Times, "Game over on global warming?":
Everybody in the United States could switch from cars to bicycles.
The Chinese could close all their factories.
Europe could give up electricity and return to the age of the lantern.
But all those steps together would not come close to stopping global warming.Really? I ran the numbers and came up with a 17-18% reduction in global CO2 emissions (4.3% from zapping U.S. cars, 7.7% for closing Chinese factories, 5.6% for converting European electricity to wind).
Hasn't the Times heard of harm reduction? Every percentage drop in emissions will translate into some mitigation in sea level rises, violent storms, and other harms from global warming.
No less vexing, for this writer, was Robert Reich's blog reaction to the IPCC report. The former Clinton Secretary of Labor hadn't even finished his lead paragraph when he threw in the towel: "You can forget a carbon tax any time soon."
C'mon, Bob. Don't mourn, organize. Surrendering just when a political critical mass is assembling to attack carbon emissions is, well, un-American. A carbon tax is essential, and the work of coaxing the public and pressuring policymakers has to start now. There's just no alternative.
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Committee Clash of 2007 settled semi-amicably
Ending a struggle that easily could have gotten ugly, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell have settled their feud. Looks like Pelosi has agreed to make the special committee all bark, no bite: In a new letter [PDF] to Pelosi, Dingell wrote that the select committee has no legislative […]
