It should give you some idea of how my other New Years’ resolutions are working out when I tell you that I resolved to blog much more frequently in 2013. Like most things, it’s been tough to get out of the existing routine. On the other hand, even though it took me a few weeks to get started, it’s still a start, right? We’ve already left 2012 in the dust and it’s not even February.
So, after a much-too-long hiatus, which I’ll tell you all about in bits and pieces as the days and weeks go by, I’m finally at a point where I’ll have enough free time and fodder to make this blog hum again. I’m looking forward to it. Although I stopped posting for the usual reasons – equal parts busy and lazy – I am resurrecting A Cleaner Green because I’ve spent the better part of the last year doing and seeing some amazing stuff in the environmental community. In particular, I got to see firsthand how grassroots greens are making change happen in Europe.
Yep, I’ve been M.I.A. because I’ve been too busy hanging out on the Continent (with a home base in Germany), talking to members of local communities, pro-environment groups, green/ecological parties, and other stakeholders to see how they are changing the way we think about the world we live in. And now that I’m back in the States, I’m going to do whatever I can to follow their example – highlighting both the good and the bad, and casting a critical eye on some putative allies who are far more likely to be an impediment to the green cause than a force for good.
It’s good to be back, and I’ve got a suitcase full of Haribo to keep me going. Happy Friday to all – have a great weekend!
Autoblog: Detroit CEOs speak up on efficiency and electrification
In 2006, with the Ford Motor Co. losing boatloads of money, little cash on hand and little of interest in its product pipeline, then-CEO Bill Ford, Jr. announced a major restructuring and brought in Boeing executive vice president Alan Mulally as its new president and CEO. One of Mulally's first moves was to mortgage virtually all of the company's assets, including its buildings and the logos on them, to raise $23.4 billion for much-need product development.
This was seen by nearly all observers as extremely risky, and many wondered whether the company would survive. But that move – borrowing billions when corporate credit was still available – would ultimately enable Ford, unlike its Detroit rivals, to avoid the embarrassment of bankruptcy and government loans when the economic tsunami struck two years later.
Read More At Autoblog...
This was seen by nearly all observers as extremely risky, and many wondered whether the company would survive. But that move – borrowing billions when corporate credit was still available – would ultimately enable Ford, unlike its Detroit rivals, to avoid the embarrassment of bankruptcy and government loans when the economic tsunami struck two years later.
Read More At Autoblog...
The Best Writing on the BP Oil Spill
A year ago today, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers and setting off a chain of events that would eventually become the worst oil spill in the history of the United States. In order to better remember this terrible disaster and remind us of the lessons we should have learned in the aftermath, we're building a list of the best writing about the BP oil spill. Below is a start to that list, but I hope you will help us expand it by suggesting your own additions... Read More at Treehugger
How Small Is Too Small?
The Tiny House Blog is an amazing site for anyone wanting to truly live a minimalist lifestyle Also it is a great site for anyone looking for good and creative ideas for small places within the home. Check it out.
The Tiny House Blog
The Tiny House Blog
Sir Richard Branson's Deep-Sea Submarine to Explore Ocean's Unknown Depths
Treehugger
Our ocean, particularly deep ocean, is one of the least explored places on earth. We know just a fraction of what plants and animals live under the waves, and barely understand the complexity of ocean ecosystems. One part of this is because we haven't spent as much time designing and building the sophisticated tools required for diving into the deepest parts of the sea as we have building space ships. That needs to change, and Sir Richard Branson wants to be a leading figure in that change. He has unveiled the Virgin Oceanic submarine, capable of diving into even the Mariana Trench. But this will be just one of five incredible trenches the submarine is set to explore.
Read More At Treehuger
Read More At Treehuger
Minimalism
Having moved several times in my life and having helped more numerous friends, I am fully on board with minimalist light furniture:
Living Room Furniture Set, Made of Bulletproof Fiber, Weighs Just 16.5 Pounds
Treehugger
If your living room went on a crash diet, it'd look 'round about like what you see here. The Light-room, by the staggeringly talented Dutch designer Studio Bram Geenen, is an exercise in exploiting sexy new technology to reduce furniture to mere skin and bones. It includes two chairs, a stool, a table, and a set of shelves that, altogether, clock in at just 16.5 pounds -- that's the average weight of one single chair...Read More
Living Room Furniture Set, Made of Bulletproof Fiber, Weighs Just 16.5 Pounds
Treehugger
If your living room went on a crash diet, it'd look 'round about like what you see here. The Light-room, by the staggeringly talented Dutch designer Studio Bram Geenen, is an exercise in exploiting sexy new technology to reduce furniture to mere skin and bones. It includes two chairs, a stool, a table, and a set of shelves that, altogether, clock in at just 16.5 pounds -- that's the average weight of one single chair...Read More
Please Donate To Japan
Please DONATE to the relief effort in Japan. US organizations accepting donations include but are not limited to:
Why World Food Prices Are Poised to Keep Climbing
Treehugger
In February, world food prices reached the highest level on record. Soaring food prices are already a source of spreading hunger and political unrest, and it appears likely that they will climb further in the months ahead.
As a result of an extraordinarily tight grain situation, this year's harvest will be one of the most closely watched in years. Last year, the world produced 2,180 million tons of grain. It consumed 2,240 million tons, a consumption excess that was made possible by drawing down stocks by 60 million tons. (See data at www.earth-policy.org.) To avoid repeating last year's shortfall and to cover this year's estimated 40-million-ton growth in demand, this year's world grain harvest needs to increase by at least 100 million tons. Yet that would only maintain the current precarious balance between supply and demand.
Read More...
In February, world food prices reached the highest level on record. Soaring food prices are already a source of spreading hunger and political unrest, and it appears likely that they will climb further in the months ahead.
As a result of an extraordinarily tight grain situation, this year's harvest will be one of the most closely watched in years. Last year, the world produced 2,180 million tons of grain. It consumed 2,240 million tons, a consumption excess that was made possible by drawing down stocks by 60 million tons. (See data at www.earth-policy.org.) To avoid repeating last year's shortfall and to cover this year's estimated 40-million-ton growth in demand, this year's world grain harvest needs to increase by at least 100 million tons. Yet that would only maintain the current precarious balance between supply and demand.
Read More...
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