News & commentary on sustainability, activism, urban planning, politics, and our world.
What are you going to change about Christmas 2009 to reduce your GHG emissions? Have you thought about the issues that effect your carbon footprint? Now that Christmas has passed and we get back to less festive times, its maybe time to look at things. I was prompted to post on this by an evening [...]
Today as I was cleaning out my closet I was especially struck by the second Kwanzaa principle of Kujichagulia, or self-determination. It encourages us to determine our own path, to define, name and speak for ourselves through creativity. I thought of Muntadhar al-Zaidi, whose passionate shoe throwing spoke such volumes. I looked at my sad worn out shoes and was immediately inspired to create a personal Kwanzaa gift for him; and I will send them both to him, if he is ever released from prison.
A breach in an earthen dike caused toxic ash from the Kingston coal-fired power plant to devastate over 400 acres in Tennessee. The Tennessee Valley Authority estimates that 3.1 million cubic yards of ash and water leaked from the holding pond. The sludge contaminated the surrounding area and is now moving down the Emory River. [...]
Though many of us may be enjoying a yuletide fire this time of year, fires of a different sort made news last week. The Sierra Club and other environmental groups secured a big victory last week when the U.S. Court of Appeals decided to regulate pollution spikes from refineries, called “flares”. The decision will affect [...]
In what he describes as a spontaneous decision, University of Utah student Tim DeChristopher attempted to purchase over 22,000 acres of southern Utah land to protect it from oil companies. [Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. Creative Commons photo by Don Pugh] De Christopher was headed to the Bureau of Land Management auction not to disrupt [...]
