Latest Articles

Meet the New Boss, Slightly Less Irascible Than the Old Boss

New Exxon chair mouths same old wheeze in a breezier style Watch for new ExxonMobil Chair Rex Tillerson to lighten up the company’s communication style, but don’t expect any substantial changes in how the world’s largest publicly traded petro-corp responds to global warming. “We recognize that climate change is a serious issue,” Tillerson told The […]

Southern Land Do Need You Around, Anyhow

Big conservation deal will protect 218,000 acres of forest in the South Conservationists are celebrating the biggest sale of private land for preservation in the South’s history. The Nature Conservancy and the Conservation Fund have put up a combined $300 million for 218,000 acres of forestland owned by International Paper in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, […]

Does Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods say anything new?

OK, call me a crank, a malcontent, a hypercritical reviewer with a small, crabbed heart. But despite all its earnestness, despite its heartfelt message, which an environmentalist and concerned parent like me should embrace — in brief, that nature is good for children — Richard Louv’s plea to reengage our children with nature left me […]

An interview with Richard Louv about the need to get kids out into nature

Richard Louv is an anecdote machine. As we milled about near the door of a Seattle cafe awaiting lunch-hour seating, he kept up a constant stream of witty, telling stories — about “no running” signs on playgrounds, clueless environmental leaders, suffering outdoor-gear execs. I started fumbling for my recorder. Richard Louv. It’s no wonder Louv’s […]

Chemical plant security

To turn our attention to the kind of terrorism that could actually hurt people: The failure of "strong on terrorism" Republicans to do anything to protect chemical plants and facilities -- some of the most vulnerable and dangerous targets for terrorists -- is a scandal that has gotten nothing like the press it deserves. It would be difficult to find a case where Republican "strength" more cravenly crumbled before the demands of a (heavily contributing) industry. There's no defense for it; nobody even tries to defend it. They just don't talk about it.

An explosion at a chemical plant would be a human and ecological disaster that would dwarf 9/11. (It would even dwarf a whole dealer lot full of graffiti'd SUVs!) And it's just a matter of time.

Anyway, the latest and greatest on this is Jonathan Chait's latest column in the L.A. Times. Read it and weep.

See also this NYT editorial, Carl Pope here and here, Greenpeace here, and from a couple years back, John B. Judis in The New Republic.

‘Eco-terrorism’: A subtle chill

A few bits and pieces on the "eco-terrorism" front:

This L.A. Times piece makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside:

Plug-in hybrids go viral

I'm not a big fan of flash animation. I am, however, a huge fan of plug-in hybrids. Love trumps hate in this instance, so I urge you to check out Calcar.org's efforts to spread the word on the benefits of plug-in hybrids with this piece of viral marketing.

If you make it to the end of the animation, there's a chance to sign a petition to automakers urging them to manufacture plug-ins.

Make your own Chevy Tahoe commercial

Check this out: Chevrolet has a site up where you can design your own commercial for the Chevy Tahoe. As Kevin Drum says, this one is probably not long for this world, so watch it while you can.

Here's my commercial:

Hey, 2,325 U.S. kids have died, 16,653 have been injured, and up to $2 trillion will be spent to keep our oil supply safe. If you support the troops you'll get out there and use some of it! Chevy Tahoe: Don't let all that blood go to waste.^™

Two leaders — one mainstream, one radical — debate over green movement

When Eric Mann first encountered environmentalists, he saw them as a bunch of "arrogant, racist airheads." When Frances Beinecke first encountered environmentalists, she felt she'd found her cause. Now, both are tireless proponents of environmental sanity, but they work in very different ways. Mann is director of the L.A.-based Labor/Community Strategy Center, where he fights for environmental justice, immigrant and labor rights, and economic equity. Beinecke is president of Natural Resources Defense Council, one of the nation's biggest green groups. We got the two of them talking about poverty, the environment, and building a stronger movement; find out what they had to say.

Two eco-leaders — one mainstream, one radical — debate the movement’s past and future

Eric Mann. When Eric Mann first encountered environmentalists, he saw them as a bunch of “arrogant, racist airheads.” When Frances Beinecke first encountered environmentalists, she felt she’d found her cause. Frances Beinecke. Nearly four decades later, both are tireless proponents of environmental sanity, but they work in very different ways. Mann is director of the […]