Climate Culture
All Stories
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Are our standards for exposure to toxics all wrong?
An intriguing new study published recently on Environmental Health News challenges the long-held assumption on which all regulatory toxicology testing is based, and poses new questions about what — and how much — of certain toxic substances merit “OK” exposure. Toxicology tests are usually performed by giving subjects (usually rodents) high doses of a substance […]
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Well, actually it’s about sports
The Oregonian brings word of outdoor companies going “carbon neutral” in the near future. They include roof-rack manufacturer Yakima (aiming to be zero-emissions before this fall), outdoor-gear behemoth REI (planning to neutralize its emissions by, um, 2020), Nike (which already powers more than half of its electricity use through wind energy), and shoe company KEEN. […]
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A video you simply must see
Yikes. Everyone must watch this video, which comes to us from DeSmogBlog: And on a related note, this seems like a good time to link to The Denialists’ Deck of Cards: An Illustrated Taxonomy of Rhetoric Used to Frustrate Consumer Protection Efforts. You will see that these perpetual, maddening arguments about global warming are not […]
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Coming to a city near you?
The New York Times ran a story this week on a grassroots effort that aims to demonstrate the potential for growing food in our cities. NY Sun Works' Center for Sustainable Engineering has a sustainable energy and hydroponics project floating on a barge in the Hudson River, and it's causing a minor buzz ...
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From Possums to Paddling
Possum, I f*ckin’ shot that! Sure, Gore’s Truth won a little gold nekkid dude and a cult following. But when it comes to scaring people into action on global warming, which is more effective: a two-hour slideshow presentation or a slasher flick about killer possums? Yeah, thought so. Photo: Atom Films Stellllllaaaa!!!! Call us bag […]
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[Environmental disaster] hits [minority group] harder than whites, study finds
In coming years, expect many, many more headlines like this. Why, if you squint really hard, I bet you’ll even see a pattern emerge!
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All about lighting
The WorldWatch Institute discusses a burst of new efforts from various and sundry governments to ban incandescent bulbs. Wal-Mart is using its considerable monopsony powers for good, forcing its suppliers to substantially reduce the amount of mercury in CFL bulbs. (Cool about the Wal-Mart solar buy too, huh?) CFL schmeeFL. LEDs are coming on strong!
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Orville Redenbacher must be stopped
My latest Victual Reality column looks at how perfectly wonderful foods like corn and butter get twisted up by food-industry marketers and flavor engineers, confusing people and often sending them scurrying in search of dubious, unhealthy, artificial substitutes — which the food industry is only too willing to provide. As if on cue, out comes […]
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What’s true in one area is often true in another
Nicholas Kristof has a great piece in today's NYT (behind the damn paywall) about why it's so hard to galvanize attention onto mass suffering.
It could be quickly converted into a piece explaining why pictures of cute polar bears -- especially cute baby polar bears -- work so much better at getting people to pay attention to environmental problems than anything that actually shows their real scope.
Hmmm, I'm going to have to stop talking about the problems inherent in jet travel as a mass problem ... now I'm thinking pictures of orphaned baby polar bears with small jets visible in the top of the photos, with a caption like:
"Why didn't someone tell us that flying to see our Mom would help drown theirs?"
Excerpts from the Kristof piece after the jump.
