Climate Culture
All Stories
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Ask Umbra on license plates
Q. Dear Umbra, Today I obtained a Wisconsin driver’s license and plates, after nearly a year of denying my residency in America’s Dairyland due to my pride in my home state (which has produced gems such as Rod Blagojevich, and his hair). But instead of accepting my olive branch, the DMV issued me license plates […]
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Snap, son! Baseballer Ryan Howard gets White House garden tour
Here’s some good stuff, via Obama Foodorama: While a camera rolls, White House chef/gardener Sam Kass shows baseball star Ryan Howard around the White House garden. They have some great dialogue, climaxing with Howard’s reaction to the garden beehive: “Oh snap, son!” Kass hips Howard to the genius of composting–food scraps go from the White […]
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Climate-news poem: plagiarism edition!
Each time I set out to pen one of my climate-news poems, I try really hard not to make it bouncy and rhyming. But terrible bouncy rhymes seem to flow in my veins. It’s a curse, to write such verse! So this week I promised myself I’d experiment with blank verse — and hey, why […]
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Beyond the compost heap: what to do with fruit and veggie seeds?
So many seeds … so many uses? In Checkout Line, Lou Bendrick cooks up answers to reader questions about how to green their food choices and other diet-related quandaries. Lettuce know what food worries keep you up at night. Dear Lou,At Halloween we look forward to the pumpkin seeds as much as anything, but lots […]
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Mercury bill clears major hurdle
Great news – we’re one giant step closer to ending needless mercury pollution from chlorine plants in the United States. On Wednesday, the Mercury Pollution Reduction Act (HR 2190) passed a subcommittee vote that allows it to now be considered by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce committee. The majority of bills die, […]
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How to turn your backyard into the best pizzeria in town
Photo: Whitney BrownWhat is it about the flicker of a flame, the crackle of burning wood, and the wafting clouds of wood smoke that enchant us so? Combine an outdoor fire with a spring breeze dancing on one’s skin and the sound of leaves rustling in the trees, and merriment abounds. The effect is liberating; […]
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Eat real. Eat local. Eat … Hellmann’s Mayo?
The website is abysmal, full of Flash-animated chaos and tabs that bring up one-line slogans. The message is … twisted. For some reason, Hellmann’s Mayonnaise, a U.S.-based subsidiary of European processed-food behemoth Unilever, has seen fit to subject Canada (Canada?) to an eat-local campaign. Analyzing this bizarre development transcends my gifts as a social critic. […]
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Lingerie model nudie by nature, and more
Nudie by natureLingerie model Miranda Kerr says she “decided to go au naturel to raise awareness of the environment, specifically koalas.” Well, we’re not sure what her Aussie Stone cover is doing for the koalas, but it’s sure raising a whole lot of something. (Click below to see the next item in this week’s […]
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The digital TV conversion is here — are you e-ready?
We interrupt your life to bring you this reminder: By June 12, all television signals in the U.S. will be digital. Seriously. So here’s an e-guide to ease your mind. Wait, WTF is happening again? The signals from all TV stations, which were analog for decades, will now be digital. This transition actually began in […]
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George Will hates greens, cartoons … and shopping
Shrewdly waiting until the buzz died down, George Will weighed in today on Mike Judge’s The Goode Family. His verdict: It sorta sucks, but thank god someone’s taking environmentalists down a peg. Let’s take a look at my paragraph-by-paragraph CliffsNotes version of his column: Too many people are asking “us” to save the planet. The […]
