A few weeks back I was noodling around the internet and I came across The Breakthrough Institute, started by Michael Shellenberger (pictured here) and Ted Nordhaus, the authors of the controversial book Break Through: The Death of Environmentalism and the Politics of Possibility, which I admire and have discussed before. I zapped off an email, […]
Activism and Social Change
An interview about politics with, well, me
I’ll be recording a spot about the election and the environment on the Montel Williams show on Thursday (and I think it will appear that day but have to double check). In preparation for that spot, I had to answer some email questions. Here are the answers just for you. If you’re a long time […]
A little more on individual action
Whenever the question of whether a person’s individual action or even getting involved in political action is worthwhile, I think of my friend Mayer Vishner. He is a peace activist, and he has been since the 1960s. Once, I asked him why, after all this time, when peace had clearly not been achieved, he carried […]
Communicating environmentalism in another land
I’ve been in Indianapolis giving a talk to the Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts. So interesting, and for so many reasons. The people have been so kind and welcoming. ========== Back in New York we talk about water conservation in terms of run off from storm drains and building roofs and roads, […]
The individual versus collective action debate
Remember that article about morality that I liked yesterday so much from the New York Times Magazine? Well, here is a passage, parts of which I disagree with substantially: And nowhere is moralization more of a hazard than in our greatest global challenge. The threat of human-induced climate change has become the occasion for a […]
Talking effectively about “the planet”
On the road so just a thought: The New York Times Magazine had an interesting article, yesterday, about the science of morality, which offers some excellent insight into talking about climate change and the environment to people who seem more concerned about other things. In the “The Morality Instinct,” writer Steven Pinker says that we […]
Hodgepodge of thoughts on individual choices and air travel
So people get pretty upset, in turns out, when you suggest that to live environmentally might mean fewer air trips to the Bahamas. “What’s the point of saving the world if I can’t see it?” someone commented yesterday. Oh boy. That roused some other people. I get both sides of the argument, so it’s hard […]
How to talk to people about human health, happiness and security (or what some people call “the environment”)
I’m in the business of trying to get people to see that we could be happier, healthier and more secure with some adjustments to how we run our country and our lives. How we live our lives affects how we run our country. How we run our country affects how we live our lives. This […]