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All the cool kids are using BerkShares
Here in southwest Mass. there's a new local currency issued by a nonprofit that's been making a splash with recent stories in the NY Times and on ABC national news. There are 230 businesses accepting BerkShares already, and there are 140,000 in regular circulation. -
Lessons on getting the numbers straight
What's a percent or two? Or three? Not much, sometimes. But a lot when we're talking about carbon dioxide emissions that are throwing earth's climate out of whack. And quite a lot when effort is going into ranking emission sources to help prioritize our responses to the climate crisis.
These thoughts are occasioned by a scoop in the Guardian (U.K.) reporting that world shipping -- essentially, freighters and tankers moving goods and raw materials -- accounts for "up to 5% of the global total" of carbon emissions. "CO2 output from shipping [is] twice as much as airlines," shouts the Guardian headline, in light of the 2-3 percent share of emissions associated with air travel.
Goodness, a dozen eco-blogs seemed to mutter in unison, have we been barking up the wrong tree? Were we wrong to hammer globe-girdling celebs and fret over cheap air fares, instead of targeting ships carrying shirts from Bangkok to Berlin and plasma screens from Seoul to San Francisco?
Well, not so fast.
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I thought ‘blue’ was the color we were going for …
I'm convinced publications do these things just to drive traffic. So, doing my part for Gristmill, here's a piggypost* of Treehugger's How to Green Your Sex Life.
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A must-read
Let me most enthusiastically recommend this article in American Scientist on plug-in hybrids. It’s by an engineer named Andrew Frank that’s been working on hybrids in various incarnations since the […]
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It’s for more than just leprechauns
No, not the nasty March 17th green beer, nor the greenwashed Budweiser variety: I mean Green Drinks, the green social hour phenomenon now in 197 cities worldwide...
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Come gaze at your navel for a while
Should we focus our efforts on slowing future climate warming (mitigation) or preparing for future climate warming (adaptation), or both? The question is rife with political and practical complexities. I’m […]
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Cloudy, With a Chance of Powers
As Asian economies grow, increased pollution affecting world’s weather Scientists say smog from Asia is drifting east, seeding storm clouds, and intensifying weather in the Pacific. On a typical spring […]
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Creation Careless
Evangelical policy director chastised for speaking out on climate change Rev. Richard Cizik, policy director for the National Association of Evangelicals, says global warming is human-caused and the God-fearing should […]
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The Knights Who Say NIH
Health agency reviews bisphenol A safety as controversy swirls Ignoring the news about bisphenol A? Time to pay attention, cuz the plastic resin is used in everyday products from baby […]
