Latest Articles
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Grist vs. The Wall Street Journal
I kicked off the "Daily Grist Headline Battle Royale" on Friday, and now Treehugger gives us the "Slaughterhouse Smackdown," wherein Grist and The Wall Street Journal go head-to-head over differing perspectives on the impacts slaughterhouses have on American life. Grist is currently leading 76 to 10.
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Interviewing Rabbi Michael Lerner
Later today (Monday), I'll be sitting down for a chat with Rabbi Michael Lerner, who -- among his many accomplishments -- is the founder and editor of Tikkun.
What should I ask him?
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Decentralized energy generation
I am increasingly fascinated by the twin subjects of decentralized energy generation and smart grids. On the first, Enviropundit has a handy collection of links.
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Nonprofits and industry
I commend everyone to Joel Makower's clear-eyed assessment of Worldwatch's otherwise great report on the greening of business, which reflects the "relatively myopic perspective that nonprofits typically have of business."
If I may summarize:
- Expecting an industry to do something that confers no business advantage in a sustained, systemic way is silly. (Luckily, there are plenty of sustainable moves they can make that do confer advantage.)
- Criticizing a sustainable move on the part of an industry because industry "only" did it out of self-interest is also silly, for the same reasons.
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Meta-blogging
I try not to do this too much, but here are two quick self-referential notes:
- There have been a lot of really great discussions going on lately in comments (I refer you to the "recent comments" box to your right). Those of you who read blogs or newsgroups regularly will recognize that these discussions are atypically substantive and courteous. I hope and expect that as more people get involved in our community, we can keep them that way. Mainly what I'm trying to say is: Thanks, everybody.
- My interview with Lester Brown was not a James Frey-style fabrication on my part. It really did happen and I hope it will run soon, perhaps this coming week. I mention it because he and I directly addressed lots of subjects that keep coming up in conversations here, like our ability to predict or control social change, "picking winners" in the transportation game, and the merits of biofuels and nuclear power. Watch for it.
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Security and oil
Toward the beginning of a dense and illuminating post on Iraqi oil, Salam Pax says this:
Security needs money,
Money comes from oil,
Oil needs foreign investment,
And foreign investment wants security.Can you say Nigeria?
(via Jim Henley)
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China’s energy situation
A great rundown of China's energy requirements, via the Department of Energy, via WattHead. Like everything about China these days, the more you pay attention, the more you realize what a truly historic fubar is headed down the tracks at us.
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I’m bloggin’ it
Do you know that McDonald's has started a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) blog? Seriously. It's right here.
I just left a comment on it, though comments are moderated and it hasn't been posted yet. We'll see.
Why don't you go leave a comment? They seem honestly in search of feedback. Be respectful, please.
(via TriplePundit)
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Once the global capital of bad food, London shows the way forward.
Since I started writing for Gristmill, I've tried to make the point that our food system amounts to an ongoing environmental disaster, and deserves much more attention from greens.
Over in London, Mayor Ken Livingstone is putting that idea into action. As the Guardian reports, Livingstone recently declared that "The energy and emissions involved in producing food account for 22% of the UK's greenhouse gas emissions."
Ponder that number for a minute. Rather than obsess about hybrids and switchgrass and CAFE standards -- worthy topics, to be sure -- it might make sense to push for policies that make food production more eco-friendly. And Livingstone is doing just that.
"I want London to set a standard for other cities around the world to follow in reducing its own contribution to climate change. How we deal with food will play an important role in this," he told the Guardian.
(Thanks to the Organic Consumers Association for bringing this story, which came out way back on Jan. 7, to my attention.)
