Monday, 25 Oct 2004

Stormy Whether

Celebs and pols take the environmental message to Florida voters

With the presidential race neck and neck in the Sunshine State, Floridians, recently battered by storms, are now having to endure a hurricane of campaigning -- much of it with a green tinge. While Florida governor and presidential sibling Jeb Bush (R) is announcing newfound (or at least newly borrowed) money to save the Everglades, Environment2004 is sending in a squadron of celebs, from Leonardo DiCaprio to Meg Ryan to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to stump for Kerry. Enviro groups are spending big because polling shows -- gasp -- that the environment actually matters to Florida voters. Read about the state that may yet again tip the race -- in Muckraker, today on the Grist Magazine website.

Tennessee Faults

Conservationists use market to save Cumberland Plateau hardwood forests

The 19.4 million acres that comprise the Cumberland Plateau and surrounding mountains in the southeastern U.S. contain more threatened and endangered species than any ecosystem in the country outside California's Central Valley. But the hardwood forests that cover the area are rapidly being clearcut and replaced with swaths of faster-growing pine trees -- monocultural systems that support considerably less biodiversity. Rather than relying on lawsuits and regulations, enviro activists are trying to marshal market forces to save the forests, lobbying businesses and other organizations to scrutinize their purchasing choices and opt for recycled paper and sustainably harvested wood products whenever possible. "It's a way for our clients to be good citizens, to distinguish themselves as citizen brands," says consultant Tim Sexton, who is working with the Natural Resources Defense Council in the region.

Iron Orr

David Orr, environmental educator and writer, answers Grist's questions

David Orr of Oberlin College has made a name for himself in the environmental community as a teacher, thinker, and writer, most recently of a book that explores the connections between the environment, the political realm, and the threat of terrorism -- The Last Refuge: Patriotism, Politics, and the Environment in an Age of Terror. In answering our questions, he shares thoughts on Dubya as literary inspiration, the Red Sox as metaphor, the challenge of reaching out to the guys at the truck stop, and the allure of country-and-western music -- in InterActivist, only on the Grist Magazine website. Send Orr a question of your own by noon PDT on Wednesday, Oct. 27.

It's All About the Benjamins

Neglect of clean energy hurts economy as well as environment

The lack of aggressive clean-energy policies at the federal level is taking its toll on the U.S. economy. As recently as a decade ago, U.S. companies claimed 50 percent of the market for solar photovoltaic panels, but now that number is down to 10 percent, with Japan and Europe dominating the world market. Likewise, Germany passed the U.S. as the primary source of wind-power technology a few years ago. Tax breaks and subsidies for wind and solar in the U.S. are extended a year at a time, leading some companies seeking predictability and stability to head overseas. Meantime, the Bush administration has funneled money to futuristic hydrogen technology without seriously upping spending on currently viable renewables, leaving the burgeoning wind and solar markets to other countries. The Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that if Kerry's goal of getting 20 percent of U.S. electricity from renewables by 2020 were met, 355,000 new jobs would be created. And importing less oil would mean more favorable trade balances.

What the Deck?

Umbra on treating your deck the green way

When the boss forwards a question from his curious buddy, Grist's advice guru Umbra Fisk asks "how high?" But she doesn't think you'll mind this dispensation of preferential treatment -- especially if you have a deck and you've been wondering about an eco-friendly way to treat it. Playing with a green deck -- in Ask Umbra, today on the Grist Magazine website.