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Papal infallibility comes to climate science

By January 16, 2013
Science Pope website header

A year ago, I had a good job as a producer at a digital marketing firm.  Like many people I was aware of climate change, but it was just another issue in a long list of troubling issues facing the world.  Then I saw this TED talk, by Paul Gilding. With most TED talks, the audience is awed by the depth of human ingenuity and filled with positive visions of the future.  Gilding's talk wasn't like that.  His audience clearly felt overwhelmed and hollowed out by his depiction of a world … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Tagged With: , , ,

Double, double, toil and trouble

By October 30, 2012
Devil on Wall Street

Hey anons, goblins, ghouls, ghosts and hallowed party-goers, Looks like on the eve of the election there’s going to be one hell of a party on Wall Street, one on Capitol Hill and hundreds more in front of banks and other prime locations all over the land. “We all just need a good night off, to relax and have fun.” Invite your friends, invite your enemies and bring back the spirit of all Hallows’ Eve by honoring the dead and giving those on Wall Street, Capitol Hill and our … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: , ,

Clean power for all (Offer not available in some areas)

By October 2, 2012
electric storm

A year ago I would've loved the optimistic and can-do tone of Power from the People: How to Organize, Finance, and Launch Local Energy Projects. The book is not only inspiring. It's also realistic. While all too many solar panel and wind turbine buffs are Polyannas who promise that America can enjoy decades of economic growth in the future if only we'd dump dirty energy for solar and wind, author Greg Pahl offers a more realistic assessment of the real but limited potential of clean energy. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Transition Tagged With: , , , ,

The rain on our parade: a letter to my dismal allies

By October 1, 2012
Photo: Krug6/flickr.

Dear Allies, Forgive me if I briefly take my eyes off the prize to brush away some flies, but the buzzing has gone on for some time. I have a grand goal, and that is to counter the Republican right with its deep desire to annihilate everything I love, and to move toward far more radical goals than the Democrats ever truly support. In the course of pursuing that, however, I’ve come up against the habits of my presumed allies again and again. O rancid sector of the far left, please stop … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: , , ,

Not even a spoonful of sugar could help

By August 10, 2012
kill your tv

Television anchor Edward R. Murrow is credited with this expression: "Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn't mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar." Murrow understood the power of television to misinform the masses. This strategy has worked brilliantly on every front, but none more pronounced than the all-important issue of global climate change. Seeking "balance" on the idiot box has meant presenting two sides to a one-sided issue until … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Tagged With: , , , , ,

Junk food for Jesus

By August 6, 2012
Jesus at Chick-fil-A

I'm a Christian. But I wouldn't eat at Chick-fil-A even if the company's CEO were St. Francis of Assisi, Mother Theresa or Dietrich Bonhoeffer. And it's not really because I disagree with the views of the company's actual CEO about gay marriage. It's because I think that Chick-fil-A's whole business model is itself basically un-Christian, despoiling God's creation in all too many ways. All that Constitution stuff But first, let me go on the record that I support the U.S. Constitution. As to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Spirit Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The story of change

By July 24, 2012
Story of Change

Can shopping save the world? Put down your credit card and start exercising your citizen muscles with Annie Leonard’s new film. I used to think the truth would set us free. Like many who care about the environment, I spent years thinking that information would lead to change. If only people realize the mess our planet is in, I thought, things will change. So I wrote reports, gave speeches, even testified before Congress. Some things changed. Sadly, the big picture didn’t. For a long … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Films Tagged With: , , , ,

Stop the frack attack

By July 23, 2012
frack attack

A rush to drill is sweeping the United States.  Across the country, the oil and gas industry is surging into new areas as quickly and cheaply as possible. And they have been using techniques like hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) long before we fully understand the extent of the negative impacts on the health of the local people, communities, water, air, climate, and other critical resources. Landowners and communities are struggling to cope: Existing laws are outdated and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Politics Tagged With: , , , ,

How the UVA community rallied together

By June 29, 2012
Suzie McCarthy

There are a number of compelling Internet memes circulating Facebook right now that speak to those pivotal moments when we either do, or do not, take action against a perceived wrong. A particularly urgent one is a photo from the civil rights era showing a group being assaulted by gushing water from a fire hose. It's accompanied by a quote from Desmond Tutu saying, If you are neutral on situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. While issues on the scale of America's … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Education, Politics Tagged With: , , , ,

La vie en verte (a life in green)

By June 18, 2012
Marion Cotillard

At the 80th Academy Award ceremony in 2008, the nominations for Best Actress included Cate Blanchett, Julie Christie, Laura Linney, and Ellen Page; all actresses that American audiences were relatively familiar with. But when Forest Whitaker tore open the famous white envelope and called out “And the Oscar goes to...Marion Cotillard!” many viewers at home likely hesitated with their applause. She had come out of nowhere. Her film, La Vie en Rose, had not been widely released in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Arts, Small World Tagged With: , , , , , ,