Blog

We left the UN with a sense of wonder at the realization that we had been part of something truly special. We left with the idea that maybe we could do something to start changing the world. But we...
POSTED Thursday, October 8, 2009

We, all of us, have the responsibility to buy the extra time, which will maybe ensure our survival as a civilization. And I have been wondering what we can do about it. The human species with its genius and...
POSTED Thursday, October 1, 2009

At the World Science Festival in June, Mary McDonnell said, with visible emotion, “I no longer suffer from the illusion that we have a lot of time. On a spiritual and political plane, I’d like to be of better...
POSTED Thursday, September 24, 2009

It’s Green Week here at NBC Universal, and How You Can Save The World is always thinking about the environment. That’s because our planet plays a big role in how we are — and should be — shaping the...
POSTED Wednesday, November 19, 2008

When the world seems to be falling down all around us, can we afford to spend our time thinking about the future? In the midst of ongoing wars, accelerating economic collapse, and cascading environmental ruin, it’s easy to dismiss...
POSTED Friday, September 26, 2008

I spent Wednesday and Thursday of last week at Zeitgeist, the annual meeting that Google hosts for its partners and a few invited guests. On Wednesday afternoon, during the “Serious Sustainability” session, the award-winning author and journalism professor Michael...
POSTED Tuesday, September 23, 2008

One of my proudest moments as an environmentalist came when the Santa Monica Main Public Library answered my plea to install more bike racks. The racks were hard won: I photo-documented then blogged about the over-crowded racks at the...
POSTED Thursday, September 18, 2008

Little things can have a surprising impact. Take global warming. Increasingly, we’re being asked to think about our “carbon footprint,” the amount of greenhouse gas produced to do the things we do: emissions from our cars, emissions from the...
POSTED Wednesday, September 10, 2008

I think saving the world is important, but so far the world — at least as represented by the wealthy and the powerful in the less wealthy countries — seems to show no need to be saved. The wealthy...
POSTED Wednesday, August 27, 2008

“Think globally, act locally” is a well-known approach to enabling change in the deep structure of our society. Perhaps the ultimate local action is what food we choose to place into our bodies. While deciding on a personal diet...
POSTED Wednesday, August 20, 2008

The grand myth of environmentalism is that it’s all about saving the Earth. It’s not. The Earth will be just fine. Environmentalism is all about saving ourselves. That may seem a bit counter-intuitive; after all, the Earth is certainly...
POSTED Monday, August 18, 2008

On May 2, 2008, Cyclone Nargis touched down on Burma’s western coast, and – according to top U.S. diplomats – may have claimed the lives of 100,000 people. As Chris Mooney, author of The Republican War on Science has...
POSTED Wednesday, August 6, 2008

I wrote the following as part of an oped directed at the media industry. My profound belief is that we need to give people sense of vision and possibility. They no longer can imagine what a better future might...
POSTED Monday, July 28, 2008

In this year’s Presidential campaign, we have seen little debate between candidates about science, even with an unprecedented movement to encourage them to debate. The science community is not of one mind about the wisdom of such a debate...
POSTED Monday, July 28, 2008

Recently, MIT announced the launch of an interdisciplinary, faculty-led study of the future of solar energy. The study will focus on four key solar technologies: photovoltaics, solar heating and cooling, solar thermal power, and production of fuels from the...
POSTED Monday, July 28, 2008

In the vast figurative plain of self-imposed reprehensibility, I am guilty of the inexcusable folly of being a practicing Albuquerque-ian prairie dog watcher. How is it that I have in such short time managed to implicate myself in this...
POSTED Monday, July 28, 2008