There is a love poem by Pablo Neruda, the late Chilean activist, poet and Nobel laureate. It’s called “I do not love you except because I love you.” Maybe it’s not a love poem. Maybe it’s a truth poem. It’s a poem about the truth of human nature. It’s a poem written by a […]
environmentalism
Can we save ourselves without a connection to the natural world?
In a 2005 paper published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, authors F. Stephan Mayer and Cynthia MacPherson Franz of Oberlin College argue that the more connection a person (or presumably a culture) feels to nature, the more likely they are to live sustainably and to support political policy that sustains our planetary habitat. They […]
We can really make a difference. TODAY. But I need your help. Plus I have some free Reverend Billy DVDs to give away.
I really, really need support from all of you today (and I’m unashamedly bribing you with the offer of free Reverend Billy DVDs). But first I have to give you some background. Just read the bits in bold if you’re in hurry. Next Friday, May 30, Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York’s Eight Congressional District […]
Environmentalism and social justice
The environmental advocate should strive to be the social justice advocate’s identical twin. That is not to say that they should be the same entity, but that environmentalism should proceed as though they come from the same egg. Social justice and environmentalism are born together. They have the same DNA. At best, the environmentalist shares […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
Steering the difficult course of running an ethical business (namely mine)
Recently a friend of mine, who writes a popular blog of an environmental bent, told me he had decided to close his blog down. The reason is that he is actually a journalist and author and he found that the blog was taking a fair amount of his work day but contributed nothing to his […]