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US Social Forum in Atlanta, late June

So the 7th annual World Social Forum just wrapped up in Kenya, and the news is that the U.S. will finally get around to having its own version of this event in late June. It's a huge opportunity for the whole spectrum of grassroots movements for progress in the U.S. (social justice, environment, immigration, indigenous rights, etc.) to come together and make common cause.

Here's the website.

Though past social forums have been criticized for their lack of concrete results, we shouldn't ignore this opportunity to strategize about creating a coherent movement for progress that's not splintered into so many separate camps. Hope to meet you there ...

Animated Bush

This is funny: (via Hugg)

Introducing the ‘How Many Legislators Does it Take to Change a Lightbulb Act’

Really.

Carbon taxes and carbon trading: same deal

Every now and then I see a comment on the carbon-trading wars along the lines of: "Can't we just have everything -- rule-based regulations, carbon trading, carbon taxes, and public initiatives?"

The problem with this is that carbon trading and carbon taxes accomplish the same thing -- they put a price on carbon. If carbon trading works, you don't need carbon taxes. A call for carbon taxes is an admission that carbon trading doesn't work well in putting a price on carbon.

It’s bad

BioD will be pleased to see the press doing its job: Rising demand for palm oil in Europe brought about the clearing of huge tracts of Southeast Asian rainforest and the overuse of chemical fertilizer there. Worse still, the scientists said, space for the expanding palm plantations was often created by draining and burning peatland, […]

Me on NewsCloud

I forgot to mention that I’m the "spotlight blogger" for the week over at NewsCloud, a new(ish) open-source, collaborative news aggregation and discussion site. It’s a cool site — check it out. Perhaps Jeff, the founder and brains behind the project, will stop by to say more about its many features and capabilities.

Where farm subsidies came from, and why they’re still here

Note: This is the second of a three-column series on the 2007 farm bill. The first article is available here; the third here. Last week, I argued that it makes sense for society to support farming. Everybody needs to eat, and most would prefer to do so without devastating the environment or exploiting labor. Well, […]

Why are you, too, subsidizing corn ethanol?

The Globe and Mail, Canada's largest-circulation newspaper, ran an interview yesterday with Ken Field, chairman and majority owner of GreenField Ethanol, Canada's leading (corn-based) ethanol manufacturer. I will bite my tongue and refrain from comment. Let's just say that the interview says it all. And, as Dave Barry would no doubt feel compelled to add, "I swear I'm not making this up!"

Here's a selection:

Other people’s coverage

I didn’t get to watch the Waxman hearings on politicization of climate science today, and the whole rest of my day is jam-packed with meetings (urgh), so I probably won’t be able to go back and watch the video (is it even online?). Thus, I shall farm out coverage: Here’s the hearing web page, with […]

The heat is still on

Perhaps the most rewarding moment I witnessed at Sundance last week, after watching several post-screening Q&A’s with Everything’s Cool directors and stars, came on my last night in Utah. They’d just finished the film’s only screening in Salt Lake City, and the packed house had nearly all stayed for the rap session, armed with questions […]