sustainability
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Germany Sets the Bar for a Green Energy Future
Today is a historic day in Germany and for green energy world wide. The German Parliament has made a precedent setting move – not only have they set a plan to phase out all nuclear by 2022, but the Parliament has committed to renewable energy like wind and solar as the replacement. The decision will […]
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Companies like Mattel are still pushing Sumatran tigers to the brink
Mattel’s paper purchasing polices are weaker than Ken’s plastic handshake. Poor Barbie. She’s survived fifty years of bad outfits, sudden beheadings at the hands of younger brothers and the wrath of feminists everywhere. Underneath that fixed smile is a steely determination that has pushed this character to the front of American popular culture and kept […]
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Barbie's fairytale interrupted by the roar of a thousand chainsaws
A long time ago, in a land far, far away, Greenpeace sent Mattel a letter. Our researchers had discovered Barbie’s not so magical secret: her packaging is linked to the destruction of Indonesia’s rainforests. For some reason, it took America’s biggest toy company two months to send any kind of substantial reply. Perhaps they were […]
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Spice up your sustainable pantry: Look for fair trade seasonings
Your award-winning chili recipe calls for grass-fed beef, organic tomatoes, and locally grown carrots. But what about the cumin? The salt? The chili powder? We greens have been well trained by now to look for fair trade everything, but sustainable spices have received less attention than other make-your-life-better products like chocolate and coffee. But many […]
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I have cancer — a personal meditation on technology, sustainabity, and social context
I have cancer, but thanks to modern medicine, in terms of health it may be no big deal. The surgeon will use a scalpel to remove a thin layer of tissue from the floor of the mouth along with a tiny bit of the connection to the tongue. Then a laser will cauterize it, minimizing […]
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Military thinkers: for a bright American future, look to sustainability and liberalism
A while back, somebody, I can’t remember who, sent me a paper by two military officials, Capt. Wayne Porter (Navy) and Col. Mark Mykleby (Marines), called “A National Strategic Narrative” (PDF). It’s not an official military document, just these guys’ thoughts, but they are high-placed advisors to Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint […]
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Discovery of Fukushima contamination in areas identified by Greenpeace
TEPCO, the owners of the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, just announced that they found contamination levels 100 to 1,000 times higher than normal in sediment from the Fukushima coast. TEPCO did the sediment testing late last week — in areas Greenpeace identified for testing in our research plan — after we were […]
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What would a Chernobyl or Fukushima disaster at Indian Point mean?
Twenty-five years ago, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded, sending plumes of radiation around the planet and devastating the area surrounding the plant to this day. The world learned firsthand then about the dangers of nuclear power. Today, the ongoing nuclear disaster at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant is a tragic reminder of the threat that […]
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A global green economy: ‘Let no man say it cannot be done’
America was able to convert from a peacetime to a wartime economy at a stunning speed.We need an economy for the 21st century, one that is in sync with the Earth and its natural support systems, not one that is destroying them. The fossil fuel-based, automobile-centered, throwaway economy that evolved in Western industrial societies is no […]