Monday, 14 May 2007

Let's Give 'Em Something to Not Talk About

U.S. negotiators edit climate out of G8 climate draft

Here's a comforting thought for a Monday: your future is being played like a poker hand. Next month, the leaders of the G8 nations will meet in Germany along with the heads of China, India, South Africa, Mexico, and Brazil. With hopes of agreeing on climate-change action, Germany has circulated a draft of a declaration that the U.S. is editing all to hell. According to press reports, U.S. negotiators have suggested cutting a pledge to limit global temperature rise; excising a promise to cut greenhouse-gas emissions 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050; axing an acknowledgment that the U.N. is the place to negotiate future climate action; and slashing statements that express concern about the latest IPCC report, say action is urgently needed, and say climate change will cause damage. On a brighter note, they did leave the word "the." Said one anonymous source, "There is a very serious game of poker being played, which is very disappointing at this late stage and given the scale of the problem."


In recent weeks, advice maven Umbra Fisk has advised high-school students about gifts they might give to their schools. But today, she turns her attention to the students themselves. What kind of eco-gifts can one give to graduates who are on the move? Umbra puts on her thinking cap to come up with some grade-A ideas.

Reclaimed Brown Fields

Leading British candidate announces plan to create eco-towns

Gordon Brown, the man widely expected to take Tony Blair's place as prime minister of Britain this summer, has made headlines with a splashy green announcement. Brown, currently the U.K. finance minister, said he intends to create five eco-towns that would meet a demand for affordable housing. The carbon-neutral communities, built on reclaimed brownfields, would contain 10,000 to 20,000 houses each. They'd be powered by locally generated clean-energy sources such as wind and solar, and would feature bus routes and bike lanes. "If we are to meet the aspirations of every young couple to do the best for themselves and their children, then we need to build new homes, and we need to deliver well-planned, green, and prosperous communities where they will want to live," said Brown. Criticized for recycling a policy already laid out by his Labor Party, he retorted, "It's quite new," which made us love him in all his awkward glory. The first town will be built on a former military base in Cambridgeshire.


If there's one product that appeals to the masses, it's T-shirts -- which, too often, are made in sweatshops from pesticide-sprayed cotton. Enter sustainable T-shirt maker Eric Henry, president of green-biz paragon T.S. Designs, which seeks to achieve its triple bottom line through sustainable sourcing and manufacturing of functional, fashionable tees. As InterActivist this week, Henry talks about his love/hate relationship with NAFTA, the lure of fast food, and being a Southern boy who -- gasp! -- doesn't like country music. Send Henry a question by noon PDT on Wednesday; we'll publish his answers to selected questions on Friday.

Consumers Say They'll Stick With Coke

Organic milk to flood U.S. market, Stonyfield yogurt hits Europe

Batten down the hatches: organic milk is about to flood the U.S. A combination of consumer demand and changing practices -- a ruling last year required organic dairy farmers to switch to feeding moo-cows 100 percent organic grain instead of 80 percent organic grain -- means a "wall of milk" will hit during the second half of this year, says Gregg Engles, CEO of mega-processor Dean Foods, which owns Horizon Organic. The industry expects a 40 percent increase in organic milk supply, creating a surplus of about 25 million gallons. So, cheap organic milk for all, right? Wrong-o: a longer-term glut would be required to bring prices down. While you wrap your mind around that one, we take you to Europe, where Stonyfield Farms CEO Gary Hirshberg is peddling his primary product to a new audience. Pulled into the new market by majority owner Danone, Stonyfield is introducing versions of its organic yogurt in Britain and France. "It's more than a product," says Danone CEO Franck Riboud. "It's a way of life."