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ARCHIVE OF PAST COMMENTARIES
E's commentaries are our chance to offer opinionated analysis of the week's news. Look for new commentaries in our weekly Our Planet e-mailed newsletter and on E's homepage.
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Week of January 11th, 2009
COMMENTARY: Blue Is the New Green
President-Elect Obama's initial choices for his environmental team look promising in terms of their commitment to climate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, fund green jobs and develop renewable energy systems.
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Week of January 4th, 2009
COMMENTARY: Building without Carbon
The single most important factor in developing a low-carbon project is the early integration of sustainable strategies into the planning process.
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Week of December 28th, 2008
COMMENTARY: The Everglades’ Critical Turning Point
The Florida Everglades has shrunk to less than half its former size. Wading bird populations have plummeted by over 90 percent. Sixty-eight species of plants and animals are threatened or endangered with extinction. The patient is dying.
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Week of December 21st, 2008
COMMENTARY: Guns, Greens and Obama
The Bush administration’s legacy of eight years of environmental destruction in the name of “energy security” or “economic progress” has left the planet literally gasping. Anyone who truly values conservation cannot support the Republican party and look him or herself in the mirror. And that includes hunters.
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Week of December 14th, 2008
COMMENTARY: A Gift Horse
Looking for a last-minute present for the animal-lover on your holiday gift list? There is a myriad of “adoption” programs that offer a perfect way of both acknowledging your loved one’s fondness for animals and supporting just about any animal imaginable: from turkeys and cows, to chimps, whales and elephants.
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Week of December 7th, 2008
Commentary: Witness to Recovery
It takes a long time to get to know a whale. Moira Brown, a senior scientist with the New England Aquarium’s right whale research team, has been spending more than two months a year studying right whales in the Bay of Fundy off the coast of Maine for the past 24 years.
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Week of November30th, 2008
COMMENTARY: Where the Wild Things Are
As a child, I had a creek in my backyard. My younger brother and I lived at the creek. The minute perfection of a baby crawdad held in my palm elicited one of my earliest moments of wonder.
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Week of November 23rd, 2008
COMMENTARY: Urban Mining
Mining gold used to mean sifting through pans of water and muck to find precious nuggets. That evolved to crawling through dark passages deep within the Earth. The newest gold mine has plastic, a circuit board and the digits of that girl you met at the bar last night.
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Week of November 16th, 2008
COMMENTARY: The Greenie Wars
Groups commonly termed “greenies” include animal rights supporters, conservation groups and animal welfare advocates, as well as environmentalists. But how exactly do these groups differ in terms of their priorities and goals, and how on earth could they ever come into conflict?
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Week of November 9th, 2008
COMMENTARY: From Plow to Plate
The summer before senior year in college is anxiety ridden. Questions like "What am I doing with my life?," or the more common, less dramatic, "Where can I get an internship?" cloud a student's head. I was fortunate to find an unlikely job that I loved: Working at an organic farm.
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Week of November 2nd, 2008
COMMENTARY: The President the Planet Needs
Gene Karpinski, the president of the League of Conservation Voters, e-mailed out a one-line response to Obama’s win that said it all. “America embraced change today. And the planet will be better for it.” Here is what other green groups had to say.
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Week of October 26th, 2008
COMMENTARY: Defending Water
The problem, really, is that we in the land of plenty don’t actually see water.
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Week of October 19th, 2008
COMMENTARY: The Oily Truth about Asbestos
U.S. oil refineries not only pollute our air, but they also contain high levels of asbestos, a naturally occurring, but highly toxic, mineral. And previous exposure to asbestos is the only confirmed cause of pleural mesothelioma, also known as asbestos cancer.
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Week of October 12th, 2008
COMMENTARY: Changing Direction on Lead Rules
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will issue new lead emissions regulations by October 15. But will they sufficiently monitor those cities and poor areas where the most at-risk children live?
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Week of October 5th, 2008
COMMENTARY: Parking the Beast
Last winter, I was driving back and forth to work in my 1990 Cadillac Deville, a.k.a. “the Beast.” One day as the 8 cylinders idled at a stop light, I looked off to the right and noticed two hybrid cars totaling the Beast’s length.
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Week of September 28th, 2008
COMMENTARY: Laying Down the Port Law
Beginning October 1, no trucks built before 1989 will be allowed to drive onto the Port of Long Beach’s terminals thanks to new, strict emissions standards.
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Week of September 21st, 2008
COMMENTARY: The Port of Long Beach Hoists the Green Flag
Do you ever wonder how the TV you watch or computer you work on ended up at the store where you bought them? Recently, I visited Long Beach, California to check out and write about their port, which is the second busiest in the country (just behind their neighboring port, that of Los Angeles) and is a major hub for U.S.-Asian trade.
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Week of September 14th, 2008
COMMENTARY: Green Behind the Scenes
Talk about awkward. Aveda is backstage at New York Fashion week handing out refillable blue Sigg bottles proudly filled with New York tap water, while cases of Evian bottled water sit in little domed coolers throughout the event.
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Week of September 7th, 2008
COMMENTARY: The Business of Water
The links between energy and water have significant strategic implications for many businesses and will affect companies outside the energy and utility sectors.
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Week of August 31st, 2008
COMMENTARY: Pulling Weeds Down Under
Taking off from the northern end of Sydney's gigantic bridge, we sped across the famous harbor, watching sailboats gather beneath the steel structure and the city opening up behind us. We headed to a tiny spit of land to pull weeds with Conservation Volunteers Australia.
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Week of August 24th, 2008
COMMENTARY: Wild Horses
The image of the American west has always been one of scenic grasslands and deserts, complete with wild, free-roaming mustangs. Mustangs were seen as poetry in motion—the embodiment of untamed spirit. Now, they’re considered a costly nuisance.
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Week of August 17th, 2008
COMMENTARY: Wasted Energy
Like any other vampire, “waste to energy” technology, e.g., burning garbage for electricity, needs a good, swift stake to the heart.
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Week of August 10th, 2008
COMMENTARY: T. Boone Pickens’ Energy Crusade
T. Boone Pickens has a lot to say about energy conservation these days. Jay Hakes, former head of the Energy Information Administration, weighs in on the American oil tycoon’s “mighty big solutions to some mighty big problems.”
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Week of August 3rd, 2008
COMMENTARY: Planning a Perfect Park
Before Feb. 16, 2005, Irvine, Calif. was just the first city to curbside recycle. And the first city in the world to ban CFC’s. But with a donated 1,347 acres of open land through the sale of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, Irvine will now have the first great national park of the 21st century.
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Week of July 27th, 2008
COMMENTARY: Path of the Sea Turtle
Rene Pinal was inspired to help sea turtles when he first witnessed baby sea turtles being born on the beach near his ranch in Baja, Mexico.
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Week of July 20th, 2008
COMMENTARY: Green Test Flights
The rising oil prices are hitting the airline industry especially hard.
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Week of July 13th, 2008
COMMENTARY: Left in the Desert
The fiery furnace of the Iraqi desert bears witness to some of the most appalling environmental conditions in the world.
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Week of July 6th, 2008
COMMENTARY: Our Flat Earth
Always there have been hot days, so I can’t vouch for global warming but I’d lay money on the fact the world is getting flat.
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Week of June 29th, 2008
COMMENTARY: New Power Generation
The technology already exists to radically reduce CO2 emissions, without building new power plants, and without asking consumers to make significant changes in their usage behavior. So why does the power system operate largely the same way it did 60 years ago?
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Week of June 22nd, 2008
COMMENTARY: Uncanny Truths
We know we sacrifice freshness when we eat food from a can, but do we also sacrifice safety? Recent disclosures suggest that the plastic lining of our food cans contain hormone mimicking Bisphenol A (BPA), and some of this chemical leaches into our food.
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