Articles by David Roberts

Sign it and … well, not sure what will happen.

Like Jeff, I'm in full agreeance with CleanPeace.org's just-published "Declaration of World Energy Independence, Energy Security and Sustainability." Here are the four principles:

Principle One: Make Transitioning to Renewable Energy a Strategic Objective of all Energy Policies.
Principle Two: Require Equal Funding, Fair Play and Competition in Energy Markets.
Principle Three: Accelerate Construction of Sustainable Energy Infrastructures.
Principle Four: Provide for Peace and Prosperity in Times of Oil Shortages.

CleanPeace wants you to sign it.

Also like Jeff, I'm not exactly sure what they intend to do with the declaration once people have signed it.

Consumer Reports on organic

One of my beefs with Consumer Reports has always been its refusal to present sustainability as a standard measure of quality. They did launch Greener Choices, but so far that's been pretty underwhelming, and anyway, it will never reach as large an audience as the mothership.

So imagine my delight when reading this week's CR, which has a short piece about the impact of global warming on insurance premiums (not online), and then later on a long, detailed, and fair look at when it is and isn't worthwhile to buy organic. Worth a read. I hope it's a sign of things to come.

People buy hybrids to express their identities

UC-Davis researchers are looking into why people buy hybrids. Instead of having them fill out checklist forms, they're sitting down and interviewing buyers for up to two hours.

They have discovered, shockingly, that people are not rational maximizing machines who put together spreadsheets on the relative merits of auto choices along various axes -- fuel economy, size, quality, etc. -- over a lifetime.

No, turns out purchasing a car in America is largely an emotional decision, one bound up with issues of identity and values.

This is a bit of a head-slapper, but for some bizarre reason the mainstream press doesn't seem to get it.

To those of us who do get it, perhaps the more interesting question is: What values are people expressing when they purchase a hybrid?

This (via Treehugger) is from an interview with the researchers on HybridCars.com:

There are common meanings that run through our interviews. And there are often some individual meanings as well. Preserving the natural environment is the obvious meaning of the hybrid, but it's a lot deeper than that. What we hear from people is that when they buy a hybrid vehicle, it expresses their vision of a better world, and their desire for a society and a world where people work together for common goals.

That's powerful stuff, the kind of stuff politicians wish they could bottle.

Visions of a better world sell. Apocalyptic doomsaying doesn't. Environmentalists, take note.

One-click activism

This is kinda nifty: Go to The Rainforest Site, click on the big green button, and voila, thanks to their sponsors you've "funded the preservation of 11.4 square feet of endangered rainforest."

Might as well drop by a click once a day, no?

(via Digg)