Comments Russ Walker has made

  • This essay was also posted at rozsavage.com, where it generated several comments, prompting the following additional thoughts from Roz: Thanks for the comments – and it's always very nice to hear reassuring words from people who are doing the right things. But without wanting to sound too pious, this is NOT about me! I had no particular expectations of yesterday – I wasn't involved in the organization – all I had to do was turn up and say a few words – so it was no skin off my nose whether there were 3 million people there or only 3. It makes no difference to me. In theory. But in practice of course I do care whether the message is getting across. I'm very aware that for the last 20 or 30 years the sustainability movement has largely failed in communicating the urgency of the situation to the general public. So this was a genuine question – how DO we get people to care? But on the other hand, it was also a largely rhetorical question. I've spoken with many, many people on this same topic, and although nobody has any easy answers, I think I'm working towards a promising potential approach. I'll probably say more on this subject in my next book – too early yet to go public, as it’s still very much under development. And John, I know you meant the day when you said "it's over" – but everything is far from over. If anything, yesterday was a start. Copenhagen will be another step. And there will be many more steps to take. This will be a long, but exciting and challenging, journey!On Toward the language of excitement, opportunity, and potential posted 1 month ago 3 Responses
  • Roz Savage is in on the fun too, at http://rozsavage.com/blogOn Bloggers of all stripes grab a piece of the climate pie for Blog Action Day 2009 posted 1 month, 1 week ago 7 Responses

  • Well, The Times of London piece you link to says plastic bags don't kill as many birds and marine species as some enviros have claimed.  Fine. The article doesn't dispute the need to get plastic out of the environment. And the Coastal Cleanup is about getting trash of all sorts out of the ocean, not just plastic bags.


    Two things to note:  Any plastic in the ocean is bad. Turns out that the stuff breaks down and gets into the food chain causing all sorts of problems for wildlife.


    Personally, the most depressing experience I had was 18 months ago on Vieques, P.R., when I toured part of the island restricted from most public access.  The beach was completely covered with plastic garbage -- everything from laundry detergent bottles to plastic bags.  Depressing.

    On Plastic bags are the enemy of the ocean posted 2 months, 1 week ago 2 Responses

  • Hello Start Loving ...

    Kudos to you for engaging in the debate with Norris and Jenkins, but c'mon -- the Hitler reference was uncalled for. The day Teryn and Jesse invade Poland and start a World War, you can pull that analogy out of your rhetorical bag of tricks. Until then, let's keep the debate focused on policy and not on personal attacks.

    Critics of The Breakthrough Institute have many great points to make. Why resort to name calling? It accomplishes nothing.


    Cheers,

    Russ Walker

    Grist.org

    On Joe Romm's strategy to lose the clean energy race posted 3 months, 3 weeks ago 30 Responses

  • Thanks for the comment. At no point do I accuse Palin of stealing from other opinion pieces. In fact, I wonder why she didn't borrow from some of the well-researched critiques assembled by various conservative think tanks in Washington. It would have made for a better essay.

    It's not Palin's view about cap-and-trade that I object to, it's that her objection is offered up without any sort of facts to back up her assertions. Shouldn't we expect that from a woman who is still considered to be a leading candidate for the GOP nomination in 2012?

    On Palin eschews facts and economics in blasting cap-and-trade bill posted 4 months, 2 weeks ago 9 Responses

  • Bad editing at the end of a long day of climate bill action. Thanks for the catch. It's been updated.

    On House passes landmark climate and clean-energy bill posted 5 months ago 10 Responses

  • Good catch.  will fix

    On House passes landmark climate and clean-energy bill posted 5 months ago 10 Responses

  • Audrey -- thanks much for this intel. We've put out word to confirm it.

    On Pelosi cracks the whips to get climate bill passed posted 5 months ago 5 Responses

  • Hilarious!  Good catch guys.  Wire services sometimes type faster than they edit.  I updated the story to fix that poorly worded sentence.  rw

    On Calling Earth from the Air: world release of green movie 'Home' posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago 3 Responses

  • If you haven't seen it yet, Grist has posted a thoughtful critique of Tom's writing about swine flu and industrial pork production. You can find the story here:

    http://www.grist.org/article/2009-04-29-swine-flu-pork-farm-reax/

    On Symptom: swine flu. Diagnosis: industrial agriculture? posted 7 months ago 27 Responses

  • Thanks, Russ, for this excellent critique. We are, in fact, working to make more changes to Grist. Coming very soon are author-specific RSS feeds, and I think we should revisit creating a universal feed for all new Grist content.


    Keep writing. Keep needling. We can't improve the site without this kind of honest feedback.


    Cheers.  RW

    On Not all environmental websites are created equal posted 7 months, 1 week ago 1 Response

  • I keep my copy of my taxes in a digital PDF -- saved online and in a portable hard-drive. So, no printing out for me at all.

    On Green Tea Party posted 7 months, 2 weeks ago 3 Responses