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Cool design competition

West Coast Green and the Building Materials Reuse Assoc., along with the EPA and AIA, are sponsoring a design competition called the LifeCycle Building Challenge:

But why?

Peter Madden, chief executive of Forum for the Future, writes a monthly column for Gristmill on sustainability in the U.K. and Europe.

British supermarkets are now competing to go green. Two big retailers have just launched initiatives to tackle climate change.

Marks & Spencer, which sells food and clothing to Britain's middle classes, promised this month to cut waste, sell fair-trade products, and make the company carbon neutral within five years. Environmentalists praised its 100-point "eco-plan." Greenpeace U.K. said, "If every retailer in Britain followed Marks & Spencer's lead, it would be a major step forward in meeting the challenge of creating a sustainable society."

Later the same week, Tesco, one of the top five retailers in the world, set out its own stall on climate change. As the giant of British supermarkets -- one in every eight dollars spent in British shops goes into its tills -- Tesco is in a similar position to Wal-Mart in the U.S., and faces many of the same criticisms.

VP snickers at Bush energy proposals

Want to know how seriously Oilman Cheney took Bush’s ambitious goals for reducing gasoline use? Have a look: At least he gets the joke.

A sham

It always feels somewhat pointless being a green blogger after a Bush speech. Other than the repeated references to Iran — which might actually mean something, and not something good — little Bush said in the SOTU has any policy implications, especially when it comes to energy and environmental issues. The promises are inevitably forgotten, […]

Happy Feet is a travesty

While we're on the topic of Oscar travesties, how about that Best Animated Feature nod for Happy Feet?

Don't get me wrong, I'm psyched that two movies with obvious environmental themes are up for big awards (can't wait for Ellen's climate-change jokes), but it would be nice if they were both good movies.

Oh jeez. Just had a horrible thought. Are they going to make poor Ellen dance with an animated penguin on national TV?

It’s the enemy of the human race

If you care about global warming, you've got to care about coal. Unlike oil and gas -- for which North American production is in decline -- there's plenty of coal left on American soil. And while some energy companies and promoters of "energy independence" see this as an unqualified good, those of us who see most issues through the lens of climate change see the "wall of coal" as one of the scariest things out there.

That's why California's latest foray into climate policy is so heartening:

Umbra on burning yard waste

Dear Umbra, Your recent column seemed to be discussing mostly the burning of trash. What about yard waste? Each year I pull out tons of non-native and invasive honeysuckle. There is far too much to take to a landfill, and it would take years to rot down if left in some kind of compost pile. […]

SOTU hangover

I’m all burned out from blogging last night. What do y’all want to talk about?

Tesco will offer carbon labels

The folks over at Terrapass blogged this story today:

Tesco, the largest supermarket chain in Britain, has announced that it will begin labeling all 70,000 products on its shelves with the amount of carbon generated from the production, transport, and consumption of those items.

Lifts moratorium on Gore movie, still doesn’t get it

Good news: the Federal Way School Board just lifted its moratorium on An Inconvenient Truth.

Unfortunately, coverage in the Seattle Times, the largest paper in the region, was disappointing. It mostly treats the decision as a simple controversy without ever explaining that there is, in fact, only one right answer about the reality of human-induced climate change.

To paraphrase my earlier rantings: this is not a matter of personal opinion for lay people; it's a matter of scientific consensus. And when an article fails to acknowledge that overwhelming consensus, it misleads readers.