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Time for the public to reinvest in food-system infrastructure
Want farmers market food to expand beynd niche status? We need to invest in infrastructure. Photo: Natalie Maynor, Flickr Creative CommonsWhen The New York Times invited me to participate in a “Room for Debate” forum on the infrastructure problem in agriculture, I wrote a 1400-word treatise (a Tolstoyan length in online-debate terms), before slashing it […]
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The “people’s climate conference” in Bolivia kicks off with ambitious aims
TIQUIPAYA, Bolivia — This small town outside Cochabamba, Bolivia — where cows roam freely and campesinos grow fruit, vegetables, and flowers to sell at the local market — is a far cry from Copenhagen. But it’s the latest gathering place in the ongoing effort to shape an effective global response to climate change. Here, Bolivian […]
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This Earth Day we need more than a celebration, we need a clean energy revolution
This Earth Day we need more than a celebration. We need a clean energy revolution that creates 2 million jobs, cuts 2 billion tons, and saves 2 trillion dollars. On the 40th anniversary of the first Earth Day there is much to celebrate: Our air is cleaner and our rivers no longer catch on fire. […]
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Tea Party supporters far less informed about climate change than general public
The new CBS/NYT poll of tea party supporters [PDF, H/T Greg Sargent] includes a question on climate change: Do you think global warming is an environmental problem that is causing a serious impact now, or do you think the impact of global warming won’t happen until sometime in the future, or do you think global […]
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Tar Sands Pipeline Environmental Review is Flawed
Since our Beyond Coal Campaign is also committed to fighting dirty fuels such as liquid coal, we’re just as committed to stopping the latest dirty fuel threat: tar sands. Tar sands is a thick, black dirt derived from the soil under the great forests of Canada, which energy companies are turning it into oil – […]
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What I learned at Michelle Obama’s historic obesity summit
FLOTUS with the mostest: Michelle Obama addessses the Obesity Summit.When President Obama established a “Presidential task force on childhood obesity” in February, Grist’s Tom Laskawy wondered whether our nation’s first federal food policy council had quietly sprung into being. In a food policy council, the key stakeholders of a region’s food system come together to […]
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Who loses if California’s climate law is halted?
Co-authored by Manuel Pastor. Cross-posted from The Huffington Post. No doubt you’ve heard the warnings — the melting ice caps and rising sea levels, the extinct polar bears and extreme weather conditions. From pop culture movies like The Day After Tomorrow, to the tireless work of advocates like Al Gore, the discussion around climate change […]
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What the green movement needs from the next Supreme Court justice
Courtesy Kyle Rush via FlickrFederal-court watcher Glenn Sugameli suggests two ways President Obama’s next Supreme Court nominee can help make the court more ecologically intelligent. Nine years ago Sugameli founded Judging the Environment, a clearinghouse for info on how federal judges (who get lifetime appointments) determine environmental policy. He’s also a staff attorney at Defenders […]
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A prominent political reporter digs into the obesity epidemic
Some fries with that? Once you’ve been super-sized, it’s hard to go backPolitical reporter Marc Ambinder of the Atlantic has a new must-read piece on the obesity epidemic. Ambinder comes at the issue from the perspective of a former obese person, though he himself notes that his “cure” of bariatic surgery is risky, expensive, and […]
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Justice Stevens’ pro-environmental legacy embodies a simple approach: follow the law
Following last Friday’s announcement that Justice John Paul Stevens will retire from the Supreme Court at the end of this term, President Obama hailed the Court’s most senior Justice as “an impartial guardian of the law.” This description is certainly accurate, and is perhaps best illustrated by Justice Stevens’ numerous rulings in environmental cases. First, […]
