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Louella Hill, local-food ambassador, answers questions

Louella Hill. What work do you do? What’s your job title? I am the director of a program called Farm Fresh Rhode Island. For my work with Brown University Dining Services, I call myself the “Local Food Ambassador.” What does your organization do? At Farm Fresh Rhode Island, we connect local eaters with local food […]

Seventh Generation partners with Target

In the summer of its ground-breaking ad buy of an entire issue of the New Yorker, Target has also begun a pilot project to sell Seventh Generation's eco-friendly household products.

This is not your father's mega-retailer.

Where’s the line between scientific accuracy and effective advocacy?

It's hard to know what to say about the ongoing disaster in New Orleans (good coverage here). Good luck to all our readers there.

It sounds like it's not going to be as bad as feared, which is some comfort. For a glimpse at how bad it could have been, read Mooney's prescient AP piece from three months ago. And for a lament about the woeful lack of preparation, read his followup: "prescience sucks."

Katrina is sure to reignite the ongoing debate over hurricanes and global warming. A few thoughts on that debate below the fold.

Gas prices in Parade? What next?

Today's news of Gulf-Coast battering deserves lots of attention. But first, let us return to Sunday. Ahh, Sunday.

Spotted two instances of environmental shtuff creeping into otherwise "fun" parts of the paper. First, as further proof that the Sunday comics really aren't for kids (don't get me started on how my nephews are supposed to understand the Lockhorns ...), one panel showed a guy getting his car towed. Caption: "The car's fine, but with gas prices the way they are, it's cheaper getting towed everywhere." Ba-dump-bump.

Even more revolutionary: in Parade magazine, somewhere between the celebrity Q&As and the medical tips, lay a one-paragraph squib on local food. With gas prices rising, it reported, food prices might also rise. So buy local. This message brought to you by the Earth Policy Institute, which must have a persistent PR person. Well done.

OK, now back to our regularly scheduled weekday.

La Cage aux Hasselhoff

Humans go on display at London Zoo Five women and three men — ranging from a professional dancer to a veterinary student — have put themselves on display as the London Zoo’s resident Homo sapiens for the past three days. The posse of fit and frolicking humans, barely clad in bathing suits pinned with fake […]

Your Love Is Liftin’ Me Hybrider

California dealers jacking up prices for scarce hybrids Californians may find themselves paying up to $4,000 over the manufacturer’s suggested retail price for a gas-electric Toyota Prius — if they can get their hands on one at all. Folks hankering for a Honda Civic or Insight hybrid also face dealer premiums and lean supply. Thanks […]

Athens Never Looked So Good

Beijing struggles with pollution, gridlock as 2008 Olympics approach China has promised to throw a “green” Olympics in Beijing in 2008 — but simple livability may be the megacity’s bigger challenge. Beijing has 15.2 million inhabitants; if current trends hold, that number could grow to 21 million by 2020. Gridlock is endemic, as the number […]

Umbra on garden hoses

Dear Umbra, I’m diligently avoiding PVC plastics, but cannot find a good quality non-PVC garden hose. We have particularly high water pressure, so we need a hose that can withstand the pressure. I only need to water the veggie garden a couple of times a week in summer, but it’s not quite feasible to do […]

Free market forces can save some species, but habitat is still crucial

A success story:

Instead of unboxing box turtles, maybe WildAid should consider setting up a cell tower and some motion sensitive digital cell cameras to keep the wildlife traffickers out of the preserves. It is a lopsided struggle. One side stands to profit while the other relies on donations and volunteers. Find a way to make it more profitable (or fun by harnessing some aspect of human nature) to preserve biodiversity and you will win every time. My youngest daughter owns a New Caledonian Crested Gecko (named Elvis). Like the Ivory Billed woodpecker (coincidentally also code-named Elvis), the lizards were thought to be extinct until their rediscovery a decade ago. At that time, a few legal crested specimens were collected for study and breeding, followed by a totally predictable binge of illegal collecting for profit.

New National Park Service guidelines proposed

Dueling stories in the NY Times and LA Times today on a document that would loosen restrictions on what qualifies as recreation and is allowed in national parks. The changes, which would allow snowmobiles, cell phone towers, and low-flying tour planes, are the "brainchild" of Paul Hoffman, a "high-ranking appointee at the Interior Department" according to the Times.

The change that's getting the most attention is the insertion of "irreversibly" into the language describing what makes a use illegal, to the effect that a use that harms the park's resources but does not do so "irreversibly" would be just fine.

400 Park Service employees have started a campaign to block the plan.

Marketplace has a slightly more humorous title.