Climate Technology
All Stories
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ConAgra: No more toxic fake butter
Clearly not responding to my post from yesterday — but rather to steady pressure from the Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy and other groups — ConAgra announced it would stop using diacetyl in its Orville Redenbacher and Act II microwave popcorn brands. Diacetyl, a fake butter flavoring, has been known for years to […]
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A review of Peter Barnes’ Capitalism 3.0: A Guide to Reclaiming the Commons
Peter Barnes' Capitalism 3.0: A Guide to Reclaiming the Commons (also available as a free PDF at Barnes' site) suggests that flaws in capitalism lie at the root of the environmental and social problems we face today; his solution, as a retired corporate CEO, is not to discard capitalism, but fix those flaws. -
Mattel recalls another batch of lead-painted toys
Toy giant Mattel on Tuesday issued its third round of major recalls in recent weeks for a variety of its toys that contained “impermissible levels of lead,” according to the company, including some Barbie play sets and Fisher-Price toys. In all, the most recent round of recalls covers some 840,000 items. “We’ve worked very hard […]
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An eco-emporium for the faithful
Interfaith Power and Light, an organization dedicated to a "religious response to global warming," has just launched an online store, ShopIPL.org, where religious institutions, people of faith, and freeloading atheists can go to buy energy-efficient lighting, solar cookers, and other environmentally friendly gizmos for house and church alike.
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How globalization is smothering U.S. fruit and vegetable farms
Earlier this month, President Bush roiled U.S. vegetable farmers by announcing a crackdown on undocumented workers. Last week, industrial-meat giant Smithfield Foods goosed the hog-futures market by inking a deal to export 60 million pounds of U.S.-grown pork to China. These events, unrelated though they seem, illustrate a common point: that despite all the recent […]
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A new article examines enviro Adam Werbach’s decision to work with Wal-Mart
The cover story in the latest issue of Fast Company is a long chin-scratcher about enviro-wunderkind Adam Werbach’s decision to go to work for Wal-Mart. Is he selling out? Is he part of a new wave of more pragmatic environmentalism? Will he change Wal-Mart or will it change him? The article references (though does not, […]
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Just the Ticket
Paper airline tickets soon to go extinct By the beginning of next summer, paper airline tickets will be a thing of the past for its airlines, the International Air Transport Association announced this week. The relevant stats: The IATA represents more than 240 airlines, which together operate 94 percent of international flights; 84 percent of […]
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Honda fights to regain green car company mantle
Honda entered the hybrid market before Toyota, but over time it made a fateful mistake: it failed to visually distinguish its line of hybrids. The Prius’ distinct shape is like peacock feathers — it signals your identity to the world. Who wants to be virtuous if nobody knows about it? Now Honda’s gotten the message […]
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How to stick it to the ice-cream Man
I’ve written a lot about the consolidation of U.S. food markets, and have become jaded to facts such as: just four firms slaughter 83.5 percent of cows, and so on. But I actually gagged on my ice cream when I read this bit in BusinessWeek: The days of mom-and-pop parlors and local brands are fading […]
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Classy Consciousness
Honda to release unique-looking hybrid for conspicuous greens Honda plans to make its hybrid cars more visible by 2009 by redesigning their exterior to stand out from the rest of its models. One of the reasons Honda has been trailing hybrid-market leader Toyota by such a large margin, according to industry analysts, is the Toyota […]
