Climate Technology

Foreign corporations spend big to influence U.S. environmental law

Cold, hard, foreign cash. Lobbying has become as much a part of American culture as apple pie, blue jeans, and monster trucks, but it’s not just U.S. companies playing the game. Increasingly, foreign corporations are spending big bucks to push their interests in Washington, D.C., many with the intent of weakening environmental protections — from […]

Are corporations hog-tying conservation groups in CAFTA fight?

Macaws and effect in Central America. A year ago, President Bush signed the Central American Free Trade Agreement. Since then, the controversial plan has inspired protests across the U.S. and in Central America. And while past trade agreements have been ratified by Congress in less than two months, the Bush administration has delayed the vote […]

You Take ’em Both, and There You Have … Um, Stapleton

Denver neighborhood on former airport site exemplifies “new urbanism” A new mixed-use development in Denver, built on the former site of Stapleton International Airport, is being touted as a model of “new urbanism.” Stapleton’s homes are situated close together, with garages in back and porches in front, creating walkable neighborhoods, and plenty of open space […]

Darth Subsidious

Exxon says it won’t dabble in clean energy — too many darn subsidies With oil prices soaring, Exxon is perfectly happy pumping and refining the black stuff, thanks. Despite persistent pressure from shareholder groups and activists, the company says it has no plans to invest in clean energies like solar and wind. You see, solar […]

The environmental movement won’t thrive till it tackles economic development in low-income districts

Growing up in east Los Angeles as the son of Central American immigrants, the everyday challenges faced by the people in my community seemed far removed from the American dream: the lack of good housing and jobs, failing schools, scraping together money for groceries, and all-too-common police brutality. If you had asked us, we would […]

The Blair Pitch Project

Biz leaders urge Blair to act on climate A dozen of Britain’s top business chieftains have sent a letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair urging him to get on the ball in the fight against climate change. The heads of BP, Shell, HSBC Bank, and other major companies say global warming is a massive problem […]

The Left Knows What the Right’s Brands Are Doing

Green campaigners target corporations as way to effect change Environmental activists in the U.S., weary of battling with the largely unsympathetic Bush administration, have increasingly been targeting their efforts at other world power brokers — transnational corporations. Their success to date has been fueled by a sort of guerilla advertising — innocuously dubbed “market campaigns” […]

A Bank Slate

Big banks play growing role in curbing eco-destruction Increasingly, green groups are both protesting against and partnering with major financial institutions that have the power to back — or not — environmentally destructive projects. “The private financial sector more than any other has the ability to begin the ecological U-turn modern society so desperately needs,” […]

You’re Turning Into a Real Ditch

Panama Canal threatened by denuded forest watershed Here’s how the Panama Canal works: Torrential downpours batter the country’s forests during rainy season; the water is absorbed into the watershed and feeds steadily into massive, human-made Gatun Lake; the lake then feeds water into the canal. The shipping route thus provided is responsible for some 40 […]

Beleaguered automaker finally starts touting fuel economy

GM -- stung by declining sales of SUVs and subsequently shamed by having its credit ratings lowered to junk status -- is trying a new marketing approach: touting its more fuel-efficient models (such as they are).

A new full-page newspaper ad cries "Meet the 30 and Up Crowd" and showcases "19 cars that have EPA highway estimates of at least 30 miles per gallon."

Too bad it doesn't have a single consumer hybrid model that it can tout on the page. (Its two hybrid trucks top out at 22 mpg.) Sucks to be GM.