Articles

Against the Grain

November 01, 2010
Washington Monthly

On April 28, 2010, the U.S. Coast Guard was mulling a desperate “controlled burn” of a giant oil slick then bearing down on the Louisiana coastline. For nearly a week, 42,000 gallons of oil a day had been gushing uncontrollably from BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico. There was no longer any doubt that the U.S. faced one of the worst environmental disasters in its history.


Slowed Food Revolution

July 06, 2010
American Prospect

Morse Pitts has been cultivating the same land in New York's Hudson Valley for 30 years. His operation, Windfall Farms, is the very picture of local, sustainable agriculture. From early spring to late fall, the farm's 15 acres are luxuriant with snap peas, squash, mint, kale, and Swiss chard. Its greenhouses burst with sun gold tomatoes and an array of baby greens. Pitts, who is in his 50s and is tall with gray hair, doesn't use chemical fertilizers or pesticides or any genetically modified seeds. He cultivates biodiversity, not just vegetables.


Carbon Offset Buyers Beware

May 03, 2010
The Nation

Even though climate legislation is stalled in Congress, the business of voluntary carbon offsets is thriving, thanks to the abundant guilt and concern of the world's most wasteful consumers. Not only does Al Gore pay to counteract his heat-trapping gases; so do Hillary Clinton, Arnold Schwarzenegger and high-profile gatherings including the Oscars. Companies have formed mostly in the United States, Europe and Canada to sell the notional product that is offsets.

Sweet and Lowdown: Would you like some deforestation with your organic sugar? 

May 01, 2010
Mother Jones


application/pdf icon
MoJo_organic_sugar.pdf

Why Biofuels Are the Rainforest's Worst Enemy

March 01, 2009
Mother Jones

Nestled deep in the tropical rainforest on the island of Borneo, Pareh is a collection of about 60 weathered wooden houses perched on stilts and enfolded by coconut palms, banana trees, and the dappled green overhang of the towering forest. Pareh's inhabitants belong to the indigenous tribes of Borneo collectively identified as the Dayak. They have lived here for centuries, raising rubber trees, pumpkin, cassava, and rice, and harvesting wood for fuel and lumber.

Current Thinking

June 03, 2007
New York Times

When Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently announced his vision of development in New York City over the next 25 years, he highlighted a plan to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 30 percent. To anyone who has studied the history of power consumption in the United States, his proposal sounded a curious echo. New York, after all, was home to one of the country’s first central power stations, built by Thomas Edison in 1882.

Titans of Trash

November 30, 2005
The Nation

Katrina, Rita, Stan, Wilma: The hurricanes of 2005 follow last season's onslaught of vicious storms that slammed Florida and the Caribbean. But this year, the toll is much higher. Katrina's raging winds and water killed hundreds, displaced more than a half-million, caused tens of billions of dollars in damage and pulverized the social order of one of the largest cities in the United States. A few weeks later, Rita incited the biggest exodus ever seen in American history, as more than 2 million people fled their homes.