Gristmill

Nobel Peace Prize update

The first Nobel Peace Prize given to an environmental activist, Kenyan Wangari Maathai, was officially awarded Friday night in Oslo. Professor Maathai laid out her case for an integrated understanding of the fights for the environment, democracy, and equitable natural resource management in a New York Times op-ed. Her acceptance speech is available on the Nobel site.

As earlier posts discussed, this particular award was not without its critics.

Four green strategies

Via New Donkey, I see that the Progressive Policy Institute has released a fairly substantial report outlining four strategies the environmental movement can use to move forward in coming years. (The DLC summarizes them here.) It says state-level changes are where the action is, and offers copious case studies. Worthwhile reading.

Climate Wars III: Return of the Scientists

Legitimate climate scientists are at something of a disadvantage. They do careful research and publish peer-reviewed papers in scientific journals. Then a squadron of industry-funded pseudo-scientist hacks descends on the popular media to stir up doubt and confusion. By the time the scientists can defend their work in, say, Science, popular attention has moved on. Thus the false sense in the American public that there is real scientific uncertainty about the basic fact of anthropocentric climate change (when there really isn't).

Enter RealClimate.org, a new blog written by a group of bona fide climate scientists.  "We aim," they say, "to provide a quick response to developing stories and provide the context sometimes missing in mainstream commentary." Already they've got invaluable entries on the recent Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, the "hockey stick" kerfuffle, and the recent study showing that the stratosphere is cooling.

This is an essential resource -- one wishes experts in more areas would start similar blogs -- one that we'll be returning to frequently. Bookmark it.

Lights

Looking for some environmentally friendly -- yet full of holiday cheer -- lights for your tree/house/yard/plastic reindeer this season?  MetaEfficient recommends LED.

Diesel

Green Car Congress compares four Honda Accords -- a hybrid, a clean diesel, and two sedans -- and comes to a rather surprising conclusion: "The outcome: the Accord Diesel (using petroleum diesel) offers the lowest fuel consumption and the lowest CO2 emissions, even surpassing the Accord Hybrid."

UPDATE: Here's a follow-up post comparing different versions of the Honda Civic.

The people on top of our oil

It was published the day before the election, so it didn't get the attention it should have, but it's worth your time to go back and read Daniel Glick's piece in Salon about Bush's renewed push to drill in Alaska's Northeast National Petroleum Reserve and the threat it poses to the Eskimo way of life. NPR-A is the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge's less-celebrated cousin, but at 23.5 million acres, it's the largest chunk of public land in the U.S. It's worth some attention, and so is the life the Eskimos there have lived for hundreds of years.

Seeking dough from the breadbasket of America

Congrats to the newly-greened states of Massachusetts, Colorado, New Hampshire, and Idaho, and the District of Columbia!

To the rest of you out there: Get cracking! Connecticut, Maryland, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, you only need one more vote, so make it happen.

And here's a shout-out to the breadbasket of America: Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Iowa, Missouri, you put the heart in heartland -- now show everyone you heart Grist by donating now!

And if you're donating from outside the U.S., make your provisional donation where it's needed most -- Mississippi and South Carolina still have goose eggs in the Donations column, and Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas still need at least 10 votes to go green. Where is the love?

Our fundraising appeal is half over, and we're at nearly half our goal, but we're trying to raise $50,000 here, people! So, if you're from a state that's already green, keep giving.

We don't want to guilt you into giving us your green -- ok, yes we do -- but all of Grist's award-winning content is delivered to your inbox completely free of charge! That's right; no annoying registration pages, no pop-up ads, and no annual fee. Want to keep it that way? We thought so.

Give to Grist and insure the future of your favorite source of environmental journalism.

Behind the Filipino floods

Want to get smart in a hurry on the environment in the Philippines, where illegal and legal logging are widely blamed for last week's devastating flooding? Population Reference Bureau, a Washington-based NGO, has just published a short primer on environment, demographic, and health conditions there. The brief presents a good overview, and it also provides specific suggestions for integrated population-health-conservation programs.

Stay tuned to the PRB website for further info on these issues in the Philippines. Their population-environment team -- headed by Roger-Mark De Souza -- has just returned from working with the first Filipino national conference on population, health and environment (PHE), attended by more than 250 officials, experts, donors, and media (including a representative from the President's Office) that resulted in a National PHE Declaration signed by congressional staff and mayors.

Green building resources

For those interested or involved in green building, two important websites: Ecospecifier and the Green Matrix, both portals with tons of information on green building techniques, materials, and resources.

(Via Treehugger and EnviroPundit.)