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The Super Bowl is Green - Here are 5 Ways to Celebrate Accordingly
Tweet Share on Facebook January 30, 2009 Comment (2)The NFL has been on a crusade for the past 14 years to reduce football's impact on the environment, and has quietly taken a lot of ecofriendly steps. Sunday's game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals will be powered by renewable energy and offset by tree planting. The venues will also recycle, donate leftover food to Tampa area food banks, and donate office supplies, decor, and construction materials to area nonprofits. So how do you celebrate a sustainable Super Bowl? Here are five ways.
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No Delay for Digital TV: Here's How to Prepare
Tweet Share on Facebook January 29, 2009 Comment (3)Congress voted yesterday against delaying the transition to digital TV, despite the fact that many people have not received coupons to purchase equipment for the switch and will be left without a signal come Feb. 17. More than three million people are still on a waiting list to receive a coupon for a digital converter box after the program that subsidized the funds has come up short.
This news may inspire may people to throw away their old analog TV set in favor of a newer model, which presents environmental problems - old TVs that will still work, with the proper modifications, will be disposed of irresponsibly, while newer, energy-sucking TV sets will be purchased in their place. Here's how to manage the digital transition in an eco-friendly way.
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Mercury Found in High Fructose Corn Syrup
Tweet Share on Facebook January 28, 2009 Comment (151)Quantities of mercury have been found in high fructose corn syrup, the ingredient that has replaced sugar in many of our processed foods. Reports have also come out that the FDA knew about traces of the toxic substance in food, and sat on the information. This news comes out just as we've learned that the peanut butter factory responsible for the salmonella outbreak has a storied history of health violations. What a week for food safety.
Mercury in high fructose corn syrup affects many of the most popular foods in America, including yogurt, soda, candy, juice and jelly. Even a small amount of it can be seriously unhealthy.
"Mercury is toxic in all its forms,” said IATP’s David Wallinga, M.D., and a co-author in both studies. “Given how much high fructose corn syrup is consumed by children, it could be a significant additional source of mercury never before considered. We are calling for immediate changes by industry and the FDA to help stop this avoidable mercury contamination of the food supply."
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Hot PETA Ad Banned From Super Bowl: Sex Doesn't Sell
Tweet Share on Facebook January 27, 2009 Comment (200)A PETA commercial promoting vegetarianism has been deemed too explicit for the Super Bowl by NBC, which banned the ad. The spot shows a bevy of models who really like their vegetables, if you catch my drift, and ends with the phrase "Studies show vegetarians have better sex" (the study they're referring to is unclear).
"Sex sells" has always been PETA's modus operandi ever since the famous "I'd rather go naked than wear fur" ads. The organization is also adept at creating controversy - I wouldn't be surprised if the creators of the spot deliberately exceeded network decency rules, wisely knowing that the ban of the ad would create more news. Among NBC's complaints: "Rubbing pelvic region with pumpkin," "licking eggplant," and several other, more graphic acts (you can see the full list here). I've embedded the video of the ad below -it may not be the best idea to watch it at work!
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The Printed Blog Newspaper: Really?
Tweet Share on Facebook January 27, 2009 Comment (85)This story could have run in the Onion, but instead it's in the New York Times: An enterprising publisher is trying to resurrect the newspaper industry by printing blogs on newspaper, to hand out for free in Chicago and San Francisco. The Printed Blog is receiving its content for free from blogger volunteers, and is edited by volunteers as well. It will earn revenue from ads.
I don't think I even need to go over why this is not good for the environment. A blog has a small carbon footprint, using energy to host the site and power the computer it's written on. Take that blog and add ink, reams of paper, energy consumed in the printing process and emissions from transporting the finished product, and it's pretty obvious that it won't be a publication where any die-hard eco-bloggers will deign to submit their work (though the first issue features content from EcoGeek).
But let's get to the Printed Blog's mission: changing the way we consume media, and saving journalism (a goal that I, along with every other journalist with an interest in self-preservation, obviously support). "We hope to play a pivotal role in reversing the fortunes of the sinking newspaper industry with this new-media project," says the company's site. The Printed Blog will be hard-pressed to meet those goals for several reasons.
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The Recycling Bin: Obama's Green Orders
Tweet Share on Facebook January 27, 2009 Comment (1)Yesterday, Obama took action on a request by 14 states to waive national emissions rules in favor of stricter standards. The move was considered the president's first step towards fulfilling green campaign promises. Here's what people across the Internet are saying about the decision:
- The New York Times' editorial board calls the move "a wonderful start." "Mr. Bush began his tenure by breaking a campaign promise to regulate carbon dioxide and by withdrawing the United States from the Kyoto agreement on climate change. Mr. Obama begins his with a clear signal that he will not hesitate to use the regulatory levers provided by the Clean Air Act and other federal statutes to fight global warming."
- Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) called the move "environmental thuggery."
- Detroit Free Press columnist Tom Walsh wonders what the move will mean for struggling Detroit. "Is the new president merely softening up Detroit with silky rhetoric before he shoves crippling new regulations down the auto industry's throat? Or is he serious about the hard work and politically risky decisions inherent in forging a comprehensive energy policy?"
- Arnold Schwarzenegger: "For too long, Washington has been asleep at the wheel when it comes to the environment." Watch his full remarks here.
- The L.A. Times editorial board is "doing cartwheels" over the decision, but regrets that a gas tax is not yet in the picture.
- Representative Mike Rogers (R-Mich.): "We have an absolute crisis in the American auto industry and today's decision to pile on new regulations without any substantive help is a cruel blow to Michigan workers and their families."
- General Motors: "We're ready to engage the Obama administration and the Congress on policies that support meaningful and workable solutions and targets that benefit consumers from coast to coast."
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Anthony Bourdain: "Alice Waters Annoys the Living [Expletive] Out of Me."
Tweet Share on Facebook January 26, 2009 Comment (20)No Reservations host Anthony Bourdain has a bone to pick with Chez Panisse chef Alice Waters. Though Bourdain has stated in the past that he cooks organic food for his family, it seems that Alice Waters' philosophy is, to him, unrealistic in our current economic climate.
In an interview with DCist, Bourdain said:
"Alice Waters annoys the living [expletive] out of me. We're all in the middle of a recession, like we're all going to start buying expensive organic food and running to the green market. There's something very Khmer Rouge about Alice Waters that has become unrealistic. I mean I'm not crazy about our obsession with corn or ethanol and all that, but I'm a little uncomfortable with legislating good eating habits. I'm suspicious of orthodoxy, the kind of orthodoxy when it comes to what you put in your mouth. I'm a little reluctant to admit that maybe Americans are too stupid to figure out that the food we're eating is killing us. But I don't know if it's time to send out special squads to close all the McDonald's. My libertarian side is at odds with my revulsion at what we as a country have done to ourselves physically with what we've chosen to eat and our fast food culture. I'm really divided on that issue."
He later backtracked, saying, "I respect Alice Waters' enormous contribution to changing the way we eat and cook today. No one can take that away from her. No one should try."
Do you agree with Bourdain?
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Obama to Permit States to Tighten Auto Emissions and Fuel Efficiency Standards
Tweet Share on Facebook January 26, 2009 Comment (5)President Obama directed federal regulators to act on a waiver that would allow 14 states including California to regulate their own auto emissions and fuel efficiency standards strictly. The move forces automakers to produce more efficient vehicles, bringing the average miles per gallon of a new car or light truck to be sold in those states from the current average of 27 mpg to 35 mpg. Auto emissions cause more than one-fifth of all greenhouse gases.
The move was a rejection of Bush administration policy, which had denied the application because it would create "an unenforceable patchwork of environmental law," according to the New York Times. The auto industry has also lobbied against the move in the past, stating that the waiver would require them to make two sets of cars with separate standards. Though Obama is mindful of the auto industry's troubles, the move would require fast action on the part of Detroit - more efficient vehicles have to make it to the market by 2011.
The states affected by the waiver are Arizona, California, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and New Jersey, as well as the District of Columbia. Obama also ordered the Department of Transportation to draw up rules for a 2007 law that required a 40 percent improvement in gas mileage for vehicles by 2020, a step the previous administration did not take. Said Obama, his orders would "ensure that the fuel-efficient cars of tomorrow are built right here in America."
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Maroon 5: 'Harder to Breathe' Is a Song About Coal. Just Kidding.
Tweet Share on Facebook January 23, 2009 Comment (4)Lots of musicians have jumped on the green bandwagon this year, but Maroon 5, who performed at Al Gore's Green Ball, has been ahead of the trend for a while. "There was a groundswell of awareness in the early aughts about these issues," said James Valentine, the band's guitarist, on the green carpet. "But Jesse [Carmichael, keyboardist] was always way on it, he was a leader of getting stuff ready for the band."
Jesse told me about the band's transportation: "We offset everything we do. We don't ever take a flight without offsetting it." he added, however, that his transportation to Washington was a jet. "That conflict of interest is big."
Members of Maroon 5 (from left): James Valentine, Adam Levine, Jesse Carmichael, Michael Madden, Matt Flynn. Far right: Paulina Rubio.
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Michael Franti and Family Go Green by Playing Uno
Tweet Share on Facebook January 22, 2009 Comment (7)Michael Franti, who opened Al Gore's Green Ball this past Monday, has been known for his activism as long as his music. An advocate for peace in the Middle East as well as green causes, Franti, who is a vegan, spoke with me about how he and his band Spearhead are green.
"Our band has gone over a greening process over the past 5 or 6 years," said Franti. "We converted our bus to a biodiesel bus, we don't have any plastic bottles in our dressing room or onstage, and we require that the venues we play have recycling and composting. We put on a big festival in San Francisco every year called the Power to the Peaceful festival. We green it more each year."
