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PBS’s NOW chats with Laurie David, Majora Carter

“The Heat Over Global Warming” is the topic of discussion on tonight’s episode of the PBS show NOW. They’ll be chatting with high-profile activist Laurie David as well as Majora Carter of Sustainable South Bronx. From the show’s website: Ahead of a major scientific report on global warming to be released next week, David Brancaccio […]

Two yoot-based eco-vids

For those of you who haven’t read Grist List yet today (and why not, hm?), we called attention to two yoot-based eco-vids. But Grist List isn’t exactly G-rated, so I wanted to call attention to them here, too. The first is a charming series of videos created by fourth-graders at The Park School in Massachusetts. […]

From Handbags to Hooligans

We wish we were an Oscar maybe winner Dreamy Al‘s got this Oscar nod in the bag … an Ecoist bag made from movie billboards, that is. (Yeah, we did!) We give the eco-totes two thumbs up, though we could think of a few other things to do with a larger-than-life McConaughey. Photo: Ecoist Baby, […]

Nice Perc if You Can Get It

California to phase out toxic dry-cleaning chemical Continuing its quest to show the rest of the country up, California has notched another first: the state’s Air Resources Board has voted unanimously to phase out perchloroethylene, or perc, a toxic chemical commonly used in dry cleaning. Some 3,400 California cleaners who use the solvent — a […]

But I’m a Cheerleader

Renewable energy could power half the world by 2050, says new report Renewables could satisfy half the world’s energy demand by 2050, says a new report by Greenpeace and the European Renewable Energy Council. But — and there’s always a but — only if world governments encourage efficiency and crack down on fossil-fuel use. Well, […]

The Best Defense is a Good … Defense

Two-year exemption allows U.S. Navy to continue sonar trainings In a saga lasting longer than Moby Dick, the U.S. Navy will be allowed to train with sonar for two more years, despite evidence that the technology’s use has injured and killed whales and other creatures of the deep. The Defense Department has provided an exemption […]

Osama bin Warming

Climate change could lead to terrorism, security experts warn Irony alert: as President Bush dwells on terrorism while barely acknowledging climate change, it turns out that climate change may lead to terrorism. The consequences of global warming could aggravate the already-ridiculous divide between the haves and have-nots, put 30 million people at risk of famine […]

Once subsidies and tariffs are removed, watch out

So, Bush wants massive new ethanol subsidies. He wants 35 billion gallons of "renewable and alternative fuels" — the vast bulk of which will be corn ethanol — online by 2017. Right now, there’s basically no opposition to this push. It’s got support from industry (mainly Big Corn and Big Auto), legislators from both parties, […]

Yes

A few years ago, Nordhaus and Shellenberger made the case that because the environmental community hadn't been able to make progress on climate change -- which to them defined almost all of environmentalism -- the environmental movement was a failure (and should die). I argued then that given the scale of climate change, the uncertainties, and how deep it cuts across all sectors of the economy, it was unrealistic and silly to expect immediate action. I also argued that traditional forms of environmental activism were alive and well and there was no need for a new paradigm.

Well, I think with this past election cycle we should lay the "death of environmentalism" to rest once and for all.

Mmm … oranges

David Roberts strongly objected to a critique of offsets and especially of credits for tree planting. The critique was originally made in the comments section of a post on a "carbon neutral" Super Bowl.

Bruce Sterling chimed in, noting that nobody can compete for purity with the dead. This is first rate irony, but unless the intention is that no one should ever criticize false solutions, no matter how wrongheaded, it only has bite if the solutions critiqued actually work. Tree planting may do all sorts of good things, but outside the tropics, it is not a significant way to fight global warming.