Climate Culture
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Does it make sense for environmentalists to want to limit immigration?
The Sierra Club, most venerable of environmental organizations, is awash in charges, countercharges, suits, countersuits, invective, counter-invective, and double counter-invective bounces-off-me-and-sticks-to-you. At issue, depending on whom you talk to, is whether single-issue racists will take over the organization’s board or whether club democracy will be squelched by blatant interference from the group’s old guard. What’s […]
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Breaking Wind
U.K. Military Accused of Thwarting Wind-Power Development The U.K. Ministry of Defense is blocking efforts to expand wind energy in the country, said a group of top scientists today. The MoD objected to 48 percent of applications to build land-based wind turbine farms in 2003 because it doesn’t want turbines within 46 miles of air […]
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Burn Me Up, Scotty
Super-Hot Trash Zapper May Yield Hydrogen This just in: The future is now. “Plasma torch technology” is gaining acceptance among corporations and governments, and may soon show up at a waste facility near you. Here’s how it works: Trash — anything from municipal garbage to toxic waste to PCBs — is zapped (at least we […]
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Advice on heating tiny urban dwellings
OK, Umbra, I live in a building in Brooklyn where, in typical Brooklyn style, we do not control our own heat. That is, there is no thermostat in our apartment. Thus, our only options for regulating the temperature in the winter are turning off the radiators or opening the windows. Obviously the latter is an […]
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Umbra on packaging peanuts
Dear Umbra, I was wondering whether you could provide me with advice about packaging materials. You see, I was recently married and my wife and I now find ourselves buried under packaging peanuts, Styrofoam, and other such materials, much as we tried to avoid the fate (of receiving loads of store-bought gifts, that is, not […]
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A Green and Pleasant Continent
Europe’s Green Parties Unite Thirty-two national Green parties united on Saturday to become the European Green Party, predicting that a unified voice will gain them influence and votes in the coming elections. The Greens, now the first pan-European political party, will run under a common banner and with a common agenda focused on environmental protection, […]
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Prize and Shine
Prizes Go to Community Programs Doing Environmental Good Competition for the U.N.’s Equator Prize — rewarded for community initiatives that reduce poverty and preserve environmental health — was so intense this year that there were seven winners instead of the normal six. The prize, awarded by the Equator Initiative, amounts to $30,000 — plus a […]
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Jesus Christ’s Supercar?
Hybrid SUVs to Hit U.S. Market This Year While a “green SUV” may sound like an oxymoron, Toyota and Ford plan to roll out new gas-electric hybrid SUVs later this year that warrant the label “greener” — or, at least, less egregiously wasteful. Ford’s hybrid Escape will hit U.S. showrooms this summer, while Toyota will […]
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Umbra on fabric softening
Dear Umbra, With winter upon us, I’m thinking about a serious matter: fabric softener. During the summer, I don’t use any. However, with snow looming, static cling is on my mind. Long story short, which is better: liquid fabric softener or dryer sheets? AllieShippensburg, Penn. Dearest Allie, Your home will be a happier, healthier place […]
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Umbra on diaperless parenting
Dear Umbra, I have a baby on the way. Due to prodding by my wife, I have begun to think about things such as diapers. Babies make a lot of boom-boom, and wrapping it all up in a bundle of plastic diaperness, tossing that in a plastic sack, and then tossing the lot in a […]
