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  • All-electric version of tiny Smart car unveiled at Paris Auto Show

    Automaker Daimler unveiled an all-electric version of its tiny Smart car at the Paris Auto Show this week, dubbed the Smart ED for its electric drive. Diesel-powered versions of the ultra-cute, ultra-compact Smart Fortwo went on sale in the United States just this January to wide acclaim. Company spokespeople said the all-electric Smart Fortwo will […]

  • NYC eco-mayor will seek third term; mayors foresee green jobs

    New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is seeking to change term-limit rules and win reelection to a third term; if he succeeds, it will be to the benefit of his ambitious plans to address climate change. Bloomberg’s PlaNYC aims to reduce municipal greenhouse-gas emissions 30 percent by 2030 through planting 1 million trees, converting taxis […]

  • Business association lays out recommendations for energy policy

    The Institute for 21st Century Energy is a project of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which bills itself as a bipartisan trade association. In fact, it has effectively become part of the Republican machine, dominated by — and lobbying fiercely for the interests of — Big Oil, Big Auto, Big Pharma, and other such Bigs. […]

  • Bush signs off on $25 billion loan to Big Auto

    President Bush on Tuesday signed a $630 billion spending bill that includes a $25 billion loan to the struggling auto industry. (Bush’s sign-off also marks the expiration of the offshore-drilling ban and keeps the federal government funded through Mar. 6, 2009.) The loan package — the biggest federal subsidy for Big Auto since the feds […]

  • While antibiotic-resistant bugs flourish, a House subcommittee buries its head

    In Meat Wagon, we round up the latest outrages from the meat and livestock industries. As the fruits of three decades of financial-market deregulation and lax oversight ripen on Wall Street, now is a fitting time to mull over our government’s efforts to regulate the food industry. Let’s think specifically about its actions regarding antibiotics […]

  • How to find a green job

    Tune in to greener occupational pastures. You love the idea of making the world a cleaner, greener place. Wouldn’t you also love to get paid for it? You just might be in luck: Green jobs are growing at an impressive clip. In fact, the very definition of a green job has changed dramatically. Once the […]

  • Smithfield, Pilgrim’s Pride, and other meat giants get credit-crunched

    As I’ve written so many times before, a very few companies essentially control U.S. meat production. Their business model is crude, but for years has been effective: You place lots of animals in a tight space (or "contract" with farmers to do so), stuff them with corn and soy (made cheap chronic overproduction mandated by […]

  • Clif Bar’s husband-and-wife CEO team talk about staying independent in a Big Organic world

    Kit Crawford and Gary Erickson. Photo: Bart Nagel Walk into Clif Bar’s Berkeley headquarters, and you might think you’ve entered greenie-nonprofit world: multiple recycling stations, cruiser bikes kept for employees’ lunchtime use, and a fridge that serves as a pickup point for a local farm’s community-supported agriculture program. Vending machines peddle Amy’s Organic frozen meals […]

  • The new corporate threat to our water supplies

    This is a guest essay by authors and filmmakers Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman. Their book Thirst exposed how the corporate drive to control water has become a catalyst for community resistance to globalization. This essay was originally published on TomDispatch and is republished here with Tom’s kind permission. —– In the last few years, […]

  • Galbraith argues against the bailout and in favor of public investement

    I cited James Galbraith last night while arguing that the financial mess should not deter us from making substantial investments in our future. (By the by, you should read Galbraith’s new book, The Predator State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too.) Today, Galbraith has a kick-ass op-ed in the Washington […]