Climate Culture

When journalists go too far

I could have been sitting across from a writer of US Weekly or OK Magazine, but I wasn't. I was sharing an hour of my morning with a journalist from Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), one of the oldest and most respected newspapers in Switzerland. Granted, my interview was for their "softer" weekend edition, NZZ am Sonntag, but even that paper carries the weight of its weekday counterpart's esteemed name. That's why I was shocked to read a spuriously devised, albeit glamorous, story of my life when the article appeared.

Let's get one thing straight: The "journalist" did not slander my name. It was quite the opposite: He had me sharing a photo shoot with Mayor Bloomberg; saving sharks in Miami; buttering up old-school Sierra Club veterans; and convincing motorheads to shut off their cars in exchange for bikini-clad pictures. Ooh, how naughty of me!

He even quoted me in conversations -- on topics ranging from recycling batteries to rainforest preservation -- that never took place, built off of scenarios that never happened. Even the water I was drinking during the interview wasn't "glamorous" enough for him. He had me sucking back a Starbucks coffee after a whirlwind tour around the country. Note to future interviewers: I've never drunk coffee in my life.

Now you have that song in your head, don’t you?

As the Olympics kick off in Beijing next year, the infamous torch will travel 85,000 miles, the longest relay in Olympic history. Its ascension to the top of Mount Everest will be aided by a brand-new 67-mile highway. Um … China? Methinks this is not the best way to support your claim that you’re trying, […]

He takes on global warming

Funny? (via Hugg)

Reps to discuss dropping the tax break on massive SUVs

For the “wow, about time” files: the tax write-off for Hummers might be a thing of yesteryear, if one legislator gets his way. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) has introduced legislation to remove the $25,000-or-so tax break that people who drive massive SUVs and Hummers have been getting for years. The break was intended to help […]

An annual conference for perennial inspiration

Westerners are known for their pluck and willingness to solve problems with grit and imagination. Combating climate change, developing renewable energy, promoting rural economies and local agriculture, strengthening communities, and ensuring equitable access to transit ... these are all pieces of a Western manifesto put forward by the Sopris Foundation's great annual conference, this year in Missoula from July 13-15.

Elected officials, planners, ranchers and farmers, grantmakers, citizens, activists, and entrepreneurs are there for this indispensable conversation every year. How about you?

Umbra on peeing at the beach

Dear Umbra, When at a beach with no bathrooms, is it better, environmentally speaking, to urinate in the ocean or behind a sand dune? Tom Greenville, N.C. Dearest Tom, A good, silly summer question to consider as regards our impact on the natural environment. There are non-environmental concerns with beach urination as well, such as […]

More rockin’ for the planet

Seattleites, take note:

For anyone not willing to stand on an ice floe in subzero temperatures or pony up the cash to make it out to one of the other Live Earth concerts, you have another option. Local public-radio darling KEXP is hosting a benefit concert on July 7, 2007, to raise funds for the Shoreline Solar Project. The project promotes the use of solar energy and has installed solar photovoltaic systems in a couple of local schools. Part of the show will be streamed live on the KEXP website.

What about other cities? Anybody know of other enviro-shows happening on July 7?

From Sexy to Sexier

Who doesn’t appreciate a good asset? G-Money is trying to get ScarJo on board for Live Earth. And why not? She’s got great assets — which is, alas, more than can be said for the rockers in Antarctica. We heart geeks and all, but they ain’t no Kelly. Photo: John Sciulli/ WireImage.com Cue violin music […]

Noah Scape

Big-budget, zero-carbon comedy Evan Almighty opens today Today marks the debut of a movie that is, depending whom you ask, either a shining star in the eco-entertainment pantheon or a crass manifestation of green gone bad. Evan Almighty, with Steve Carell as a latter-day Noah, bills itself as “the first major motion picture comedy to […]

Communities taking action for clean water

Communities around the country are getting wise to the threat posed by the common practice of flushing old drugs, which inevitably end up in rivers after passing straight through sewage treatment facilities, feminizing fish, mutating frogs, and worse, probably.

One recent effort in coastal Maine collected hundreds of pounds of drugs for proper disposal, but this impressive total was crushed by another grassroots "clean sweep" that collected over a ton of pharmaceuticals plus an estimated $500,000 in narcotics in Michigan's Upper Peninsula in April.

These initiatives make the point very well that there is no "away" when it comes to society's waste. More resources and collection program info for Berkeley, Calif. and the states of Missouri, Maine, and Washington are listed by the Green Pharmacy Campaign here.