OK. The title sounds over-grand, I’ll admit. But below you’ll find the last installment in my debate with Break Through author Michael Shellenberger, which I’ve just realized sums up my position on what we need as a culture. As you know, he has been arguing that reducing our cultural carbon footprint is not the way […]
climate change
Too many Big Macs?
As you know, the eating part of the No Impact project required my family to switch to eating only local, seasonal, vegetarian food. We are lucky in that local food is not difficult to get in New York City and swearing off meat has not been too hard on our palates. If you’re wondering what […]
Another installment in the environmental tiff
As you know if you read this blog, I’ve been involved in an email quasi-debate with Michael Shellenberger, co-author of Break Through: The Death of Environmentalism and the Politics of Possibility. Scan below to the non-italicized text, for the latest installment, Michael’s second email to me. You can read the first two installments here and […]
A disagreement about how to save the world–Part II
The other week, I got in a goodhearted little email tiff with Michael Shellenberger, who as you know if you read this blog, is a co-author of Break Through: The Death of Environmentalism and the Politics of Possibility. Our email dialog turned out to be really interesting. In the first part exchange (which you can […]
A good natured tiff with an environmental big wig
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]