When NGOs can’t be trusted
I’ve spent the last couple of weeks reporting a story for the Guardian on NGOs and GMOs–specifically, the ways that some nonprofit groups have stirred up fears about genetically-modified organisms, by...
View ArticlePaul Greenberg’s fish stories
Much of what I know about seafood I’ve learned from Paul Greenberg. Paul is an acquaintance and a gifted writer whose new book, called American Catch: The Fight for Our Local Seafood, looks at three...
View ArticleTax avoidance, and corporate responsibility
Would you consider Apple, Coca-Cola, General Electric, Google, Microsoft, Nike and PepsiCo good corporate citizens? Certainly they position themselves that way, and they deserve credit for their...
View ArticleGeneral Mills, Walmart, Target and compassion
The other day, I went to a daylong meditation retreat about lovingkindness. One of the themes: how to find ways to bring an attitude of loving kindness not just to friends, but to strangers and even to...
View ArticleWhy animal welfare is a “green” issue
Where bacon begins Environmentalists love animals, the more exotic, the better. You can find environmental organizations dedicated to the protection of pandas, polar bears, sea turtles and birds....
View ArticleIs the sharing economy really green?
So many assumptions underly conventional wisdom about all things green. That biofuels are better for the planet than burning fossil fuels. That bans on plastic bags help the environment. That electric...
View ArticleFeeding my grandson
Meet my grandson, Hudson Scott, who is six months old and just started eating solid foods. This means that my daughter Rebecca and son-in-law Eric have to decide what to feed him–the baby food in...
View ArticleA smarter approach to biofuels
A field of sorghum–it grows tall and fast! The US biofuels industry has not covered itself in glory. It has consumed billions of dollars in taxpayer dollars, as much if not more from investors and in...
View ArticleThe end of garbage
In nature, nothing goes to waste. The excrement of one species (forgive me if you are reading over breakfast) becomes food for another. Why can’t we design the industrial economy to be like nature?...
View ArticlePR firm Edelman has more than a PR problem
I’m an admirer of Edelman, one of the world’s biggest and most respected PR firms, and I’m friendly with a number of people who work there. The firm has been ahead of the curve on...
View ArticleDuck duck goose: How to stop their abuse
I’ve worn down jackets over the years, but never given much thought to where the down came from, or how it was harvested, if that’s the right word. Down, it turns out, is a byproduct of the meat...
View ArticleShould bike sharing be subsidized? Or privatized?
I’m a fan of bike sharing, as regular readers of this blog know (see this and this), and a satisfied, albeit irregular, customer of Capital Bikeshare, the convenient and well-managed public...
View ArticlePatagonia’s CEO, marching for climate action
Recently, I had lunch with Mary Wenzel, a senior vice president at Wells Fargo who directs the bank’s environmental projects. The bank’s efforts are laudable–it intends to provide $30 billion of...
View ArticleWas Climate Week a good week?
A reporter’s job is sometimes fun and glamorous, often not. My trip to New York for “Climate Week” was not. It was, in fact, a bit of a fiasco. I had hoped to cover a Climate Group event on Monday but...
View ArticleGame changer: Walmart’s focus on food and ag
Lately, I’ve come to believe that the food industry is moving to become more sustainable with a seriousness that few other industries, particularly energy, can match. Since Labor Day, I’ve had the...
View ArticleOld clothes
Last month was one of the busiest I’ve had in a long while, with trips to Boston, Singapore, New York and Berlin over a four-week span. All for the good, but I’ve fallen behind on this blog, so I’m...
View ArticleThe circular economy at Disney World
Alas, you won’t be able to take a tour of this new “attraction” next time you visit Disney World. But inside those giants vats, through a process called anaerobic digestion, something cool is...
View ArticlePaul Hawken’s next big idea
I’ve learned a lot over the years from Paul Hawken, and when our paths have crossed, I’ve always enjoyed the time we’ve spent together. He was an early supporter of FORTUNE’s Brainstorm Green, and I...
View ArticleAluminum, and the circular economy
Aluminum is an amazing material, as I’ve written before (here and here). It’s infinitely recyclable, lightweight and strong. Ford is making more of America’s best-selling vehicle, the F-150 pickup,...
View ArticleA burger grows in Brooklyn, and musings about meat
The other day, at Net Impact’s annual conference in Minneapolis, I moderated a panel called the “Carnivore’s Dilemma,” about eating meat in a carbon constrained world. It’s becoming a familiar...
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