environmental justice

We need some qualified public leaders

It strikes me that many of the problems we run into on a daily basis are caused by people doing a job for which they are not fully qualified. At the top of the list, I’m afraid we must place those we elect to office and those they appoint to government service positions. We have […]

Natural foods giant agrees to penny-per-pound raise for farmworkers

I reported a few days ago that a deal was imminent; now it’s official: Whole Foods has signed an agreement with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to pay an extra penny-per-pound for Florida tomatoes. The raise will go directly into the pockets of some of the lowest-paid workers in the United States. In addition, the […]

Slow Food Nation was magnificent in many ways, but overshot its mandate

Photo: karmacamilleeon Slow Food Nation — that grand, sprawling culinary event that seemed to permeate San Francisco over Labor Day weekend — has passed. Now we can ask: What was it? A brazen display of foodie elitism, as some critics charge? A transformative moment in an ongoing effort to overthrow the industrial food system, as […]

Benitez of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers says deal imminent with Whole Foods

I’m a lame blogger when it comes to breaking news at conferences, when my brain typically reaches explosion point with all the information zooming in. I should have live-blogged this Saturday, while I was taking in Slow Food Nation’s “Toward a new, fair food system” panel: Coalition of Immokalee Workers leader Lucas Benitez revealed that […]

Grist talks to Niger Innis about the ‘war on the poor’

After the “War on the Poor” event David and I attended Tuesday morning, we caught Niger Innis of the Congress of Racial Equality for a quick interview about their campaign. The presentation this morning focused on politicians whom Innis accuses of being engaged in a “war on the poor” — all of which, at this […]

Groups urge action as report finds black Americans are more likely to suffer in changing climate

A new report finds that African-Americans in the United States will suffer the effects of climate change more severely than white Americans. They are twice as likely to live in cities where the heat-island effect makes already-high temperatures more severe. They’re also likely to be “fuel poor.” Increases in energy demand due to greater use […]

Aftermath of Supreme Court’s Exxon decision

Estimated time for full ecological recovery by affected species from the Exxon Valdez oil tanker spill: 15 - 30 years.

Estimated time for full financial recovery by Exxon Mobil Corp. from yesterday's Supreme Court decision: 4.5 days.

As written in yesterday's opinion:

The real problem, it seems, is the stark unpredictability of punitive awards.

Reflecting on his daughter’s future, a father says the green movement must diversify

The face of America is changing — is the environmental movement ready to face change too? “Kyra, do you know this is yours?” I ask, looking down at the skinny little girl with big, curly, dark brown locks. Her hair to body proportion resembles Thing One and Thing Two from Dr. Seuss’ Cat in the […]

Focusing population growth in the right places will make us both

The New York Times looks at the impact of high gas prices in communities across the nation today and concludes that increases are most painful in rural areas. Part of this analysis involves an examination of money spent on gas as a share of total income. The big middle of the country does badly, and […]