Climate Culture

Unfortunate

NASA administrator Michael Griffin offered a lame apology for his denier remarks on climate change. The Associated Press reports that Griffin "regrets airing his personal views about global warming during a recent radio interview." That is, he apologized for speaking his mind. Sad.

In a related story, the media revealed a recent report on how NASA and the Bush administration are gutting earth observation work crucial to tracking climate change:

That’s It, We’re Not Washing Our Undies Anymore

Groups ask U.S. EPA to ban chemical in detergent that feminizes fish Your detergent gets your clothes clean, sure — but does it feminize your trout? Five green groups and a labor union are petitioning the U.S. EPA to ban a family of chemicals used in cleaning products that have been linked to gender changes […]

We had to destroy the village to make it a global village

The job of the PR industry: comforting the comfortable, afflicting the afflicted. Now on to protecting the feelings of the poor maligned air travel industry:

As part of the makeover, there's a short in-flight video, titled "Flying's a Wonderful Thing," that has been produced to ease consumer guilt over plane travel, and brochures have been printed. "Air transport made the global village a reality," one pamphlet says.

Susan Griffin-Black, purveyor of organic bath and body care products, answers Grist’s questions

Susan Griffin-Black. What work do you do? I am the co-CEO and co-founder of EO. I am also affiliated with Youth for Environmental Sanity, Pachamama Alliance, Marin Organic, the Organic Trade Association’s Personal Care Task Force, and Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. How does it relate to the environment? EO is a certified organic, family-owned and […]

Visit exotic travel spots before we obliterate them!

How’s this for backwards messaging? A Forbes article posted late last week on MSNBC urges tourists to “See these travel spots – before it’s too late!“, referring to the world’s most endangered tourist destinations. These are exotic spots threatened by over-tourism, deforestation, and global warming, and as the article says, if they’re on your destination […]

Trying to let go of the weekend

It’s been sunny, clear, and hot in Seattle. My shoulders are sunburnt! My weekend was capped by two great experiences yesterday. First, I got to test drive BioD’s new rig. Wow. You really can’t imagine all the new horizons an electric bike opens up until you’re on one — especially an electric bike with enough […]

Ultimate Seattle hybrid plug-in

Well, I spent last weekend building the ultimate electric hybrid bicycle for Seattle riding. My first bike was more or less a prototype that taught me all I needed to know to put this one together.

15 Green Actors

Photo: Steve Granitz / WireImage Leonardo DiCaprio Once “king of the world,” this star often flies commercially and drives himself around in a hybrid Toyota Prius. In 1998, he started the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation to promote environmental causes. More recently, he’s been working on 11th Hour, an environmental documentary featuring interviews with global green leaders. […]

15 Green Sports Stars

Check out our roster of green sports stars, then pitch your own suggestions in the comments section at the bottom of the page. Photo: Imaginechina / WireImage Yao Ming At seven and a half feet tall, NBA star Ming isn’t afraid to stand up for endangered species. He’s spoken out against the hunting of sharks […]

Start with CFLs, and let the lightbulb go on

Today's post on how gloom and doom messaging backfires -- on Katya Andresen's excellent nonprofit marketing blog -- backs up David Roberts' posts on fear-based messaging being bad for green issues here and here. It's more important to empower people than scare them, Andresen says. Grist keeps a good balance in this regard. I think she's right on the money:

Go negative with caution. You must give people the feeling that they have the power to help, not the feeling they are helpless or that your issue is intractable .... If you scare with scale, you'll lose. If you empower with feasible steps, you'll make social change ... I feel the same way about apocalyptic messages about global warming. I feel powerless to stop the flooding of the world. Ask me to buy different light bulbs, however, or take some other action that is feasible, and I will.

We can't stop climate change with just CFLs, but encouraging folks to do so opens a window into a deeper conversation about what else we must do.