Latest Articles

Aspen, Colo., taxes its way to a healthier climate

Randy Udall charges more for a ton of carbon dioxide than anybody else in the world. Udall runs a unique, two-and-a-half-year-old program in Aspen and surrounding Pitkin County, Colo., that charges new homeowners up to $100,000 if they exceed the “energy budget” allotted to their property by the local building code. The money collected under […]

Beltway green groups need to turn up the heat

Inside the Beltway, the climate movement is comatose. During the Clinton-Gore years, while the U.S. dragged its feet in international climate negotiations, the major national environmental groups allowed themselves to be used by the administration. Seduced by the former vice president’s rhetoric, the groups watched their issue disappear from the political arena when Al Gore […]

Cutting emissions to raise profits

As the epidemic of accounting scandals continues to spread and the term Corporate Responsibility rings with the oppressive severity of an 11th Commandment, it’s nice to catch a little glimpse of the brighter side: A growing number of U.S. companies have been making voluntary pledges to reform their internal operations in order to cut the […]

Universities combat climate change

“Do it in the dark!” That’s the rallying cry at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., where an ambitious campaign is under way to cut greenhouse gases. Sure, climate change activism — conserving energy, using renewable fuels, and constructing eco-friendly buildings — isn’t as sexy as marching against Vietnam or burning bras. But in an increasingly […]

Tackling climate change at the local level

Sister Evelyn Mattern had two goals in mind as she stood vigil recently with a Protestant colleague in a gas mask, singing, “This Air is My Air!” at the North Carolina statehouse. Her short-term aim was to lend support to stricter regulations for the state’s coal-fired power plants. Yet she also had a loftier, long-range […]

Looking for leadership on climate change

Two hundred-odd years ago, on his way out of office, George Washington famously advised his successors to avoid entangling alliances with foreign nations. That was in 1796 — pre-NAFTA, pre-International Monetary Fund, and pre-globalization, not to mention pre-Darwin, pre-internal combustion engine, and pre-Republican Party. Hell, back then, all of Texas was still ruled by Spain. […]

Umbra on weeding

Dear Umbra, We moved into a suburban neighborhood in Ft. Collins, Colo., last year and I began my usual organic gardening practices. I created a beautiful flower garden in our front yard, but I still receive complaints from my neighbors because I refuse to apply herbicides to kill the dandelions and other weeds in the […]

Umbra on lawn and garden pesticides

Dearest Umbra, Goddess of Green Knowledge, A few years ago, a farmer friend of mine argued that more pesticides and chemical fertilizers are applied to suburban lawns and gardens than are used in commercial agriculture. I can see how this might be the case, given the massive size of the lawn and garden chemical industry, […]

Umbra on clothing

Dear Umbra, My nephew says that new clothes and other apparel that come from foreign countries are treated with toxic chemicals to avoid various types of fungal or insect contamination, and upon arriving at the loading dock of your favorite wanker-mart, they are ripe to toxify the air, your skin, your eyes. He worked on […]

Wheezy Riders

Motorcycles and gas-powered recreational boats could become substantially cleaner if emissions cuts proposed by the Bush administration late last week are enacted. The proposals call for halving emissions from motorcycles (which are, on average, 20 times more polluting per mile than a new car) and reducing boat emissions by 80 percent. The new standards would […]