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Media Shower: Fair trade, and not so fair trade

Last weekend I attended the Hazel Wolf Environmental Film festival in Leavenworth, WA, where 50 films were screened. As a board member and workshop presenter, I didn't get to see all the films I would have liked, but I was fortunate enough to see two of the headliners.

From Pam to Pitt

We particularly look forward to the melons appetizer Everyone from brawny Texas firefighters to glitzy Hollywood celebs is going veggie, which just goes to show tofu’s power to bring not only indigestion, but peace to the world. Maybe the fellows from Engine 2 should stop by the latest chichi bistro and eat from Pam’s menu. […]

What Fresh Eliot Is This?

Spitzer claims green mantle in race for governor of New York As attorney general of New York, Eliot Spitzer (D) has garnered a reputation for many things, but subtlety is not one of them. So it’s fitting that he kicked off the first big environmental speech of his gubernatorial campaign with this: “George Bush is, […]

Space Inveighers

New NASA policy emphasizes open communication with media Stung by recent press reports of political interference with scientists — the dictum that “Big Bang” be accompanied by “theory” was amusing; the suppression of global-warming findings less so — NASA has scrambled to repair the PR damage. Yesterday, administrator Michael Griffin released a new policy making […]

Slippery When Wet

Bush admin declares that wet lands are wetlands, says acreage is way up Yesterday, betraying no hint of irony, the Bush administration announced that even though the U.S. lost a net total of 523,500 acres of natural swamps and tidal marshes between 1998 and 2004, the country actually gained 715,300 acres of wetlands — if […]

For single-family homes, small equals green

Building "green" is a great idea, but you have to watch out for marketing hype everywhere you go. This article mentioned earlier by Dave gives an example of a 5,500 square-foot dream home (over four times the size of the one that houses my family of four). Dave hits the nail on the head when he suggests, "What's missing, of course, is a commensurate rise in eco-friendly community building ..."

In that article you will find a picture of a large house sitting all alone in the middle of what appears to be a semi-desert ecosystem. The article tries to deflect criticism of the very house they chose to highlight with the excuse that it was built large so that "... people would get mad and ask questions." I'm calling bullshit. In part, because they failed to qualify the remark by stating that the most eco-friendly house is a small one (which also minimizes profit potential for the builder).

More solar, less Hoffa

I asked David Roberts, Gristmill editor, how he would feel if I used this site to pimp for issues I'm working on at Vote Solar. Would this be viewed as:

A) Helping Grist readers effectively engage in breaking developments in the environmental world; or

B) crass opportunism?

He said both. I can live with that.

So here goes. If you live in New Jersey, you have an opportunity to help jumpstart solar on the Meadowlands. It seems the Meadowlands Commissioners, tired of being known primarily for Jimmy Hoffa-related issues, are thinking about overshadowing that legacy by installing one of the country's largest solar-energy systems. Vote is April 10. Read more about it and send them a note of encouragement here.

If you live in Arizona, you might want to know that the state senate is considering a bill that would provide a tax credit for solar systems. Hmm. Solar and Arizona. Sounds like a no-brainer to me. If you agree, read more and share the sentiment here.

On his book, Last Child in the Woods

This is the second part of my interview with Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. The first part is here.

Louv is not just interested in healthier kids and families, though that's obviously his abiding passion. He also realizes in a way few other environmental leaders seem to that connecting kids with nature is vital for the future of the environmental movement and, well, the environment. As he says below, kids learn about environmental problems earlier and earlier these days, slowly coming to associate the environment with doom and hopelessness.

But this next generation has perhaps the greatest challenge ever faced by humanity: to remake society in a sustainable way. They need hope, and they need that sense of wonder and visceral connection that comes only from getting out into nature.

Dead ringers

Check out this BBC photo collage from the "Dead Ringers?" exhibit that opened yesterday at the British Science Museum. The exhibit explores the waste created by the oft-replaced mobile (Britspeak for cellphone!) and the impact of the coming WEEE legislation on industry and consumers. Displays on the latest mobile technology include biodegradable phone covers, the "first lasagne-based circuit board in the world" (!), and phones that will be able to take themselves apart for recycling (!!).

Bush admin unveils meek new fuel-economy standards for light trucks

The Bush administration yesterday raised fuel-economy standards for SUVs, minivans, and many pickup trucks — the most significant boost to efficiency requirements for the big vehicles in three decades. Exempt no more. Photo: iStockphoto. Of course, as enviros have been quick to point out, that’s not saying much. These final CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) […]