Climate Culture
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Oh noes, driving down!
As of July, U.S. driving declined for nine months straight. Average gas prices have dropped almost 50 cents since then — I’ll be very curious to see the figures for Aug. and Sep. This seems like a good time to revisit the fact that our transportation infrastructure is funded by gas taxes and thus is […]
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Raising a glass to sustainability at New Belgium Brewery
Our visit to New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado, began with a bike ride into town for some lunch at a Mexican café. So too began the New Belgium company itself. But it wasn’t Mexican food that founder Jeff Lebesch was after during his bicycle tour through Belgium. From the seat of that two-wheeler, […]
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CFLs can increase mercury pollution in some areas, study finds
Energy-saving compact fluorescent lightbulbs can lead to an increase in mercury pollution in some regions, according to a new study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. The study looked at mercury emissions in 130 countries and all 50 U.S. states to determine what role CFLs, which contain mercury, may have in upping mercury […]
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Is a 40-mile all-electric range too much?
I have an article in today’s Guardian online, “Is the Chevy Volt just hype?” I argue that the key to the near-term success for plug-ins in this country is government incentives and mandates, which in turn will critically depend on the outcome of the presidential election. But that should not be a surprise, since no […]
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Attention Catholics
1. The pope is infallible. 2. The pope just had solar panels installed on the Vatican roof. 3. You must have solar panels installed on your house or you will go to hell. QED
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Cutting meat and milk consumption cuts CO2 emissions, study says
Happy World Vegetarian Day! Just in time for the festivities, a new study from the Food Climate Research Network finds that cutting down on meat and milk consumption can help cut greenhouse-gas emissions. The four-year study focused mainly on the U.K., concluding that dramatically cutting the average Briton’s weekly meat and milk intake could help […]
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Why I ditched D.C. and moved to rural Nebraska
“You’re moving where?! Why?!” Steph Larsen on the road in North and South Dakota Photo: ruralaffairs. This response was by far the most common among acquaintances when I told them excitedly that I was leaving my Washington, D.C. job directing the policy program at Community Food Security Coalition to be an organizer in rural Nebraska […]
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Living off-grid in a reclaimed gravel pit
As sustainably minded folk, we tend to curse the environmental disruption that occurs when new roads are built through beautiful wilderness areas. But for a number of residents living just north of Taos, New Mexico, it was the creation of a nearby highway that actually helped pave the way for their unique […]
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Bridging architecture and ecology at Arcosanti
To get to Arcosanti, you must drive 70 miles north of Phoenix — one of the fastest growing (read: sprawling) areas of the country, through gorgeous saguaro-covered desert hills to a 2.5 mile dirt road in the middle of the Arizona wilderness. At the end of that road, you’ll find what has been […]
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Living and learning at Arizona State University’s School of Sustainability
This is a guest post by my travel partner, Todd Dwyer, head blogger for Dell’s ReGeneration.org, where this post originally appeared. —– The folks at Arizona State University’s Global Institute of Sustainability really rolled out the red green carpet for Sarah and me when we met them on a hot Friday afternoon. Through […]
