commonground

ID vs. The Ego

The vast majority of scientists feel nothing but distress that the teaching of Intelligent Design has been promoted by several faith-based schools.  Apparently,  fundamentalists of Islamic and Christian persuasion have this in common, they both  deplore Darwin and all his works.  ( Telegraph)

 Scopes Trial                                                                                          ID vs. Darwin

Oh Wilderness Where Art Thou?

Environmental historian William Cronon says we’ve got to stop thinking pristine wilderness is the only nature worth saving.  ( Chicago Reader)

Nature's Metropolis                                                                                         Chicago Wilderness

Carbon Trading Junk Economics

While dumping toxic waste in the global South might look like a great idea from the perspective of the market, it ignores the glaringly obvious fact of it being hugely unfair on those getting dumped upon. ( BBC Online)

EU Emissions Trading                                                                                      Stern Report

Gimme' Green Shelter

No longer the domain of the green geek, rising political stars like David Cameron, the UK's charismatic Conservative Party leader, are leading the pack by installing a domestic wind turbine in his home. Turbines are only part of the picture though. A whole range of household green upgrades and systems are becoming popular in UK's metropoles. ( World Changing)

Green Building, UK

The Industrial Food Complex

Wendell Berry once wrote that when we took animals off farms and put them onto feedlots, we had, in effect, taken an old solution — the one where crops feed animals and animals’ waste feeds crops — and neatly divided it into two new problems: a fertility problem on the farm, and a pollution problem on the feedlot. Rather than return to that elegant solution, however, industrial agriculture came up with a technological fix for the first problem — chemical fertilizers on the farm. ( NY Times)

Wendell Berry                                                                                        Michael Pollan

Something's Rotten in the Fields

Federal agents are scurrying across the Salinas Valley -- the nation's "salad bowl" -- in search of the source of the E. coli contaminating the spinach supply. They won't find it without a mirror, because the real culprit in this case is the U.S. government. ( Washington Post)

Factory Farming                                                                                        Food Safety

New Oil Fields Not the Answer

The discovery of new oil fields really isn't cause for celebration. Even as companies ramp up to extract oil from the Gulf of Mexico,  so does the race for fossil fuels escalate as China, India and developing nations chase a finite resource. ( SF Chronicle)

Peak Oil Theory

The Economist: "Green Issue"

The Economist has long been the magazine of choice among the Davo and G-8  Summit crowd, espousing the virtues of globalization and low tariffs. Never-the-less they've haven't shirked from presenting  thought provoking articles  on how to address the pending global climate crisis.  ( The Economist)

Carbon Tax                                                                                                        Sequestration

Workers on Opposite Ends of the Spectrum Feel Squeezed

Millions, often among the economy's most successful professionals, say they feel overworked while millions more, particularly among low-skilled workers, are starved for a paycheck or more work hours. ( CS Monitor)

Workplace Performance

Numbers Reveal A Different America

Many Americans - self-confident and rightfully proud of their nation's economic accomplishments - don't believe that other rich nations beat out the US in a number of areas. But statistics say that's the case. ( CS Monitor)

US Census Bureau                                                                        EPI