Daily Archives: November 29, 2008

Photos by Brian Merchant

Today, on the coast of the Galapagos Island Espanola, I saw two birds with blue feet puff themselves up, awkwardly cuddle, and then proceed to dance around with all the grace of teenagers at a junior high dance. I had never planned on devoting an article to the mating rituals of rare, weird-looking birds. I was going to make it a point to focus solely on hot-button issues with global resonance

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Image credit: RH Communication Services, Regional Accent Modifications

A US regional interest group is positioning on environmental and energy issues – well before the January 2009 Presidential inauguration. So, the West has been heard from (see below). Now what, the New West? The South? Great Lakes States? The Coasts? The Mid-Atlantic? The Southeast? The Southwest? Red Blue and Green and In-Between States? Ya diddy yah.

Are we not one nation under the sun, in the wind, and above the geothermal, divisible over natural gas, oil and coal?

Th

Image via apolloalliance.org.

Change is definitely in the air these days. President-elect Obama is putting together his plans for some sort of New Deal-like program, which he has said will include massive investments in building public institutions like schools, renewable energy and infrastructure.

Meanwhile, advocates for all sorts of policies are busy putting together their own proposals for the new administration in Washington. And with everyone from Wall Street traders to Detroit car makers bombarding the government w

Septa PCC Trolley 2325
Image credit: Flickr, CSX 4758’s photostream, Septa streetcar rolls westbound along Girard Avenue in sunny Philadelphia on April 3, 2007.

When I was a kid (in the 1950’s), electric trolley cars or “trams” like the still-operating Philadelphia model pictured here, were quite common in US cities. They were quiet, had no exhaust, and followed the same rules of the road as cars, trucks, and rubber-tired buses. One drawback I remember was that crossing the tracks at an acute angle while riding a bicycle was likely to toss the rid

All photos by yours truly

So I’ve been in the Galapagos for 5 days, and it seems like every dispatch I’ve written brims with doom and gloom—I’ve hit on the islands’ huge water management issues, the problems with education, and an illegal ongoing sea lion penis harvest, to name a few. I feel like I haven’t adequately addressed why these islands are worth such extra

Last week I spoke to a small group of investors about renewable energy, and the potential we see for certain renewable energy stocks in 2009. Now I don’t typically do a lot of these types of meetings. Maybe four or five a year. To be honest, I’d rather these folks just read my weekly updates. This way, I don’t have to jack up my carbon footprint by flying all over the country. However, for investors that are new to this sector, certainly it helps when you can ask direct questions and get direct answers.

Now over the years, I’ve come to expect two things from these types of meetings: A genuine interest in <a href=”http://www.greenchipstocks.c

Image from Orin Optiglot

Will San Francisco succeed where New York City and others have failed? The San Francisco Chronicle’s Michael Cabanatuan reports that the City by the Sea is weighing a congestion pricing proposal that would require motorists to pay a $3 fee to enter, leave or pass through certain parts of SF during peak hours. Though the city’s Board of Supervi

Pickens Meets Obama
Image credit:Cleveland, Real-Time News from Around the Nation

By: Jonathan G. Dorn, Staff Researcher at the Earth Policy Institute, where he works on energy issues.

With the dramatic increase in oil prices earlier this year translating into higher prices at the gas pump in the United States, concerns over U.S. dependence on foreign oil are once again part of the national discussion on energy security.

Combined with the growing understanding that carbon emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels are drivi

shoppers lining up at a Staples Store, via Gizmodo

Today is Buy Nothing Day in the world outside the USA that didn’t have a Thanksgiving holiday. Whereas yesterday I expressed some ambivalence about the holiday, concerned for those who worked in shops and those who sell ethical products, today I believe that we need a day of retail silence in memory of Jdimytai Damour, a Wal-Mart temp who was trampled to death in Valley Stream, NY by crazed shoppers.

That “shopping” has come to this:

“He was bum-rushed by 200 people,” co-worker Jimmy Overby, 43, told the Daily News. “They took

photo: Ideal Bite

Ideal Bite serves up free, bite-size daily tips for liven’ green with a side of personality. Now the company is introducing Mama Bite to help new and seasoned moms in their plight to keep it green. Read on to find out how the Web site plans to help everyday moms go green

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