Climate Culture

Plush toys recalled due to fire hazard

Polar bears soon to be extinct due to risk of overheating!

Washington Nationals will play in first U.S. green-built stadium

The Washington Nationals will play their baseball season opener Sunday in the first green-built professional stadium in the U.S. The LEED Silver certified ballpark was built on a restored brownfield, and many building materials were produced locally. The stadium boasts efficient lighting and plumbing, drought-resistant plants, a concession area with a green roof, filters to […]

From Comeback to Cocktails

How I met your popster This week, Britney stripped for charity after a TV appearance, Jon Bon Jovi offset his world tour, and Amy Wino agreed to “say no, no, no” at a new human-powered club. It’s official: Green is the new comeback. Photo: Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage.com Bad to the bone saw We’re all about the […]

Shara chats about animals, organics, and recycling

Check out this video of indie artist Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond at South by Southwest as she chats about her love for animals, organic foods, and recycling: My Brightest Diamond at SXSWUploaded by NRDC

Catching up with our favorite European eco-porn activists

Nearly four years ago, Lissa Harris wrote a titillating Grist profile of two European activists who were, as she put it, “raising cash to save the rainforest, one money shot at a time.” That story, “Norwegian Wood,” became one of Grist’s all-time greatest hits. Recently, while researching another story, I discovered that the dynamic duo […]

Vegan strip club closes after one month

Ah, Casa Diablo, we hardly knew ye … Two things that you can find a lot of in Portland, Ore., are vegans and strip clubs. Johnny Diablo decided to open a business to combine both. At his Casa Diablo Gentlemen’s Club, soy protein replaces beef in the tacos and chimichangas; the dancers wear pleather, not […]

Thinkers and doers exchange grand visions in the scenic Rockies

The first full day of the first-ever Aspen Environment Forum kicked off Thursday morning with a handful of the impressive invitees taking a couple minutes each to share a “big idea.” Throughout the day, others tossed their sizeable thoughts into the ring. A sampling: Majora Carter. Majora Carter, founder and head of Sustainable South Bronx: […]

Washington governor may veto bill restricting toxins in toys

Washington State Gov. Christine Gregoire may veto legislation that would be the toughest in the nation at making sure toys are free of (or low in) lead, cadmium, phthalates, and other toxins. Even though a slew of amendments exempt certain playthings, from tricycles to pellet guns to sleds, Big Toy officials have warned Gregoire that […]

How the Monterey Bay Aquarium makes its safe-seafood list

When it comes to safe seafood, the list-makers don’t horse around. Photo: SqueakyMarmot Back in the late 1990s, I happened to attend an exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California called “Fishing for Solutions.” The experience profoundly changed my attitude toward seafood and the supposedly limitless abundance of the sea. The exhibit focused not […]

Prius ‘proven’ to get worse gas mileage than BMW 520d

This story in the U.K.'s Times Online is racing around the interwebs. Google "BMW 520d" and note how many pages deep it goes. Two goofballs journalists took a road trip, one in a Prius and the other in a BMW 520d. The BMW purportedly got about 4 percent better gas mileage than the "gas guzzling" Prius, which amazingly only managed a dismal 40 mpg. Coincidentally, that is exactly what our Prius got on a road trip last summer, which was not only jammed with people and camping gear but also had a giant cargo carrier strapped to the roof! Odd how the Prius always manages to lose these contests ... unless they're performed by independent third parties like Consumer Reports (Prius: 44 mpg, TDI Jetta: 34).

The Prius has set the bar and competitors are finally going after it. This is how homo sapiens are. This is what motivates them to build skyscrapers and airliners. For the first time in human history, they are finally competing over green issues, which is all good. The following story carefully orchestrated farce is, in reality, a tribute to the Prius engineering that kicked this whole show off. Somebody has a serious case of mileage envy.