events
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Slow foodies unveil declaration of sustainability
Copies of the Slow Food Declaration at San Francisco City Hall. Some of the leading voices in the movement for a sustainable agriculture system stood together Thursday to unveil the “Declaration for Healthy Food and Agriculture,” a 12-point set of principles for reorienting American food away from corporate farms and long-haul delivery to local producers […]
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Sandwiched between the two political conventions, a slice of food politics from San Francisco
Starting Friday, I’ll be reporting from Slow Food Nation, a big, multifaceted food confab in San Francisco. What exactly is it? I’ll let you know when I figure it out. The event features both Slow Food royalty (Alice Waters, Michael Pollan, Carlo Petrini) and Slow Food critics (like Brahm Ahmadi of Oakland’s People’s Grocery, who […]
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Make it stop
A note to conference organizers everywhere: it’s been documented by science that extended periods of exposure to light jazz leads to terminal dyspepsia and even brain tumors. So perhaps you should find something else to play in the lulls between speakers.
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National Clean Energy Summit: Clinton miscellanea
A few more bits from Clinton’s Q&A were of interest. First, he was asked how he would respond to ordinary people’s pocketbook concerns on energy, and that’s when he really shined. (Responding to average folk was always Clinton’s strength.) He said that of course some of these reforms will raise the unit cost of energy […]
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Robert Rubin laments climate change, is forced to answer for Citi’s contribution to it
Robert Rubin — Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board of Citigroup Inc. and former Clinton administration Treasury Secretary, among many, many other things — gave the afternoon keynote speech at the National Clean Energy Summit, focusing on the macroeconomic woes facing the economy and the possibility for good energy policy to ameliorate them. […]
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Jones brings them to their feet
Van Jones just got a standing ovation — totally spontaneous and, to me at least, totally unexpected. It’s the first sign of genuine enthusiasm I’ve seen at this conference. Speaks again to Van’s incredible charisma and the power of his message.
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The First Law of Conferences
As a conference Q&A session goes on, the chances of a crotchety, long-winded, eccentric old guy standing up and asking a quasi-question that runs on for over five minutes and confuses everyone approaches one.
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T. Boone Pickens lays out his plan to a progressive crowd
Famed oilman T. Boone Pickens gave the morning keynote at the National Clean Energy Summit, in what might have seemed hostile territory. "I don’t see anyone here from my party," said the longtime Republican and funder of the Swift Boat attacks on John Kerry. "I’m making new friends. That’s good." And make friends he did […]
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Reid and Dems’ Stockholm Syndrome
Ugh. Harry Reid is onstage saying, in a single breath, that new drilling won’t do any good, and that the Gang of 10 energy compromise — which contains new drilling — is a wonderful thing. And he’s praising his “friend” T. Boone Pickens to the sky. When, I wonder, was the last time anyone paid […]
