Rethinking ‘overpopulation’

"Overpopulation" is one of them. "Gay" is another. You can insist on calling yourself gay out of a stubborn refusal to let language evolve, but unless you are gay, you will be giving a lot of people the wrong impression.

The word "overpopulation" (which remains vague and poorly defined) has fallen out of favor and is rarely used in polite company. We can thank, at least in part, those who called for an increase in death rates and draconian restrictions on childbirth for that. They provided the fuel needed by hatemongers like Ann Coulter to make comments like, "We believe in populating the earth until there's standing room only, and then colonizing Mars."

It has also been interesting to watch, over the last 30 years, organizations like ZPG change their names (Population Connection) and evolve into, basically, women's reproductive-rights organizations, joining ranks with NARAL, NOW, and Planned Parenthood. Having won the struggle for lower fertility rates, these organizations now fight a running battle to protect past gains. Read this article from the Associated Press to see how well that battle is going:

Abortion access in many states is being curtailed, activists are uncertain about the stance of the U.S. Supreme Court, and South Dakotans vote Nov. 7 on a measure that would ban virtually all abortions in their state, even in cases of rape and incest.

Correction: The original post said that NPG [not ZPG] had changed their name.

Wal-Mart is not a person

Your AWOL blogger here, just to make a quick point:

The shining promise of ethanol doesn’t add up for farmers

No one can begrudge corn farmers their share of euphoria over the recent ethanol boom. Until very recently, their plight...

How to be Cary Grant at an enviro party

Want to keep the enviro party going? Tired of being labeled a Gloomy Gus? Need to say something light and charming to keep that blonde giving you sultry looks from walking away?

Here are a couple of charming Cary Grant-ish items to keep the conversation light and frothy:

A Q&A

The best guide I know to the climatological consensus is soft-spoken Kelly Redmond, who helps lead the influential and wide-ranging Western Regional Climate Center. The WRCC has done a great deal of work for the US Global Change Research Program on climate change issues, such as investigating the possibility that global warming could seriously degrade the Sierra snow pack on which much of California depends for water.

But don't let all that brainpower discourage you! Although a scientist, Redmond mostly speaks in commonsense English, has a bit of the poet in him, and has long worked to help ordinary folks (and reporters) understand climate issues.

For a story on fire in Southern California, I emailed some questions to Redmond. His answers were so helpful and illuminating, I expanded the interview to a wider discussion of how climate in the Western U.S. is changing.

How much can we or should we limit our food imports?

Continued from last week ...

Soon, it's hairnet time. We pass through the double doors that separate the break room from the plant itself. The building looks big enough to hold several jumbo jets, and is divided into a tasting area, a storage area that holds the green as-yet-unroasted beans that arrive at Equal Exchange in burlap bags, and a roasting area featuring an enormous red roaster.

The green, unroasted beans are dumped into one of eight hoppers, then mixed at the roaster's discretion so they achieve the right blend of beans for the type of coffee being roasted that day. The entire contraption is controlled by a modest laptop computer, lending the whole endeavor a kind of mad-scientist feeling, like those giant weather-changing machines movie villains use to hold the world hostage.

On the other side of the plant are rows and rows of beans that have been bagged for delivery to stores and other retail customers. The sheer quantity of coffee is overwhelming. Rodney explains how quickly and dramatically Equal Exchange has grown: Over its 20 years, the co-op has grown on average more than 30% annually, and since just 2002 it has doubled to its current size of $23 million.

From Cooling to Cooing

Burn, baby, burn The Nevada desert is hot. So, coincidentally, is the planet. Enter Cooling Man, an online carbon calculator...

Will the latest corporate sustainability reporting guidelines herald a brave new world?

What a swell party it was. The first week of October saw a crowd of 1,150 people from 65 countries...

Brit’s Eye View: Britain’s Conservatives challenge Labour for mantle of greenest party

This is the first installment of a new monthly column on sustainability in the U.K. and Europe, from Peter Madden, chief executive of Forum for the Future, Britain's leading sustainable development charity.

Something strange and wonderful is happening in British politics. American readers, prepare to be envious: both of our main political parties are actively competing to be seen as the greenest. What is perhaps even more interesting is that it's the Conservatives (a traditionally right-wing, pro-business, and tax-cutting party more or less equivalent to your Republicans) who are currently winning.

In a recent opinion poll, people were asked, "From what you have seen or heard, which of these three politicians as prime minister would do most to protect the environment?" Only a quarter opted for Tony Blair, and 18 percent for his likely successor as head of the Labour Party, Gordon Brown, while 33 percent chose David Cameron , the Conservative leader. It is difficult to imagine a comparable result in the United States.

The change is mainly down to the 39-year-old Cameron himself (pictured at right). Dave, as he prefers to be called, is a slick, approachable, and media-friendly politician. Indeed, he has many of the qualities -- of freshness, of being in touch with ordinary people's aspirations -- that made Tony Blair so popular a decade ago.

Cameron has already shown a strong personal commitment to environmental issues. He rides a bicycle to the House of Commons, he grows organic carrots, and he is fitting a wind turbine to his house.