Climate Culture

New climate campaign aimed at U.S. consumers

A European campaign to raise consumer awareness of climate change has made its U.S. debut. The Together campaign — not to be confused with the similarly named-and-agendaed “we” campaign — was initiated by the nonprofit Climate Group and kicked off in the U.S. by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and […]

A primer on organic wines, and a sweet way to bring them to the table

Psst! Organic wine doesn’t suck. About 15 years ago, a friend brought an organic wine to a dinner party I was giving. He explained to me that in addition to being made from grapes that are grown organically, organic wines don’t contain any added sulfites (some sulfites occur naturally as a result of the fermentation […]

Ian McEwan writing a novel about climate change — with funniness!

Ian McEwan. Photo: Eamon McCabe Booker Prize-winning British novelist Ian McEwan, now best known for Atonement, is at work on a new novel about climate change that will include “extended comic stretches,” The Guardian reports. The unnamed work isn’t due out for another two years, but McEwan read an excerpt to an audience in Wales […]

Umbra on carbon calculators

Dearest Umbra, I recently heard an interesting interview on NPR, and the speaker was talking about how, to stop global warming, all humans would have to limit their carbon emissions to just one ton of carbon per person, per year. I’ve never weighed my carbon emissions, but I’m going to guess that I throw a […]

Discovery’s new green network launches tomorrow

Do not adjust your television set. What you are seeing — the rebranding of Discovery Home Channel as Planet Green — is perfectly normal. Actually, it’s better than normal; it’s making “green” normal. Beginning at 6 p.m. EDT tomorrow, some 50 million homes will be introduced to 250 hours of original green lifestyle programming as […]

Are we medicating and educating our solutions away?

Best talk on education ever, from Sir Ken Robinson:

An Inconvenient Musical plays on

Think the idea of An Inconvenient Opera is a bit off-key? You might be singing a different tune after reading this: Apparently, An Inconvenient Musical opened to sold-out crowds in Toronto last summer. Says Kurt Firla, co-director/writer of the production: It’s a satirical look at the climate crisis, corporate greed, and the general public’s reluctance […]

Your sporting roundup for the month

Apparently, people are still playing sports. Who knew? Beijing Olympics 2008: The Games will be “basically” carbon neutral, according to one official. Technology Minister Wan Gang predicts that the Olympics will emit 1.3 million tons of carbon dioxide — thanks in large part to athletes’ travel — but that keeping cars off the road and […]

Ozone-depleting asthma inhalers being phased out

Asthma inhalers containing ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons will be phased out by the end of 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Friday. The phaseout of CFCs is required under the Montreal Protocol, an international treaty that the United States actually deigned to sign on to. Alternatives to CFC inhalers use hydrofluoroalkanem as a propellant; HFA […]

More hybrid electric bikes hit the streets

I have received hundreds of emails from people wanting to build a hybrid electric bike. I have a standard response that attempts to dissuade them, which seems to work pretty well: You will have to spend about $1,400 on parts, excluding the bicycle. When it breaks -- and it will break -- you will be on your own to fix it. If you are not a reasonably fit cyclist and expect this bike to perform like a scooter, you are going to be disappointed.

This generally takes care of the technically challenged chain smokers looking for a cheap scooter. I don't hear back from most, other than maybe a thank you note. If you have to ask for help, you probably shouldn't be building one.