Green News for the week 9.22.08

After rumors surfaced last week that Al Gore was interested in buying (or at least becoming involved with) Plenty magazine, the EcoRazzi says that isn’t so. It reports, “Plenty founder Mark Spellun acknowledged there was a deal of some sort in the works but said it was ‘not correct’ to say that Gore was buying the company.” The reason? It’s not Gore interested in the magazine, but his partner for Live Earth, Kevin Wall.  EcoRazzi reports, “’He is looking into a few different opportunities with Plenty,’ confirmed a spokeswoman for Wall speaking to Wired. ‘He’s not in a position to be speaking about what those are just yet.’”

Also:

Chrysler unveils three battery-operated cars on Thursday, making it an industry leader in the space, the Los Angeles Times.

The New York Times launches Green, Inc, a blog about “energy, the environment, and the bottom line.” The authors will discuss the mesh of business, politics, and sustainability. The newspaper also ran a special section called the Business of Green last week.

Jimmy Wales talks about Wikia Green with TreeHugger.

Portland sustains its eco-image, topping the sustainable city list - again.

Daniel Kessler, media officer at Greenpeace, recently answered some questions about Greenpeace’s media strategy via e-mail.

Target Green: As green issues become more mainstream, has Greenpeace seen an influx in media interest? How have you handled this?

Daniel Kessler: There is no doubt that green is in, which has increased interest in Greenpeace’s campaigns. The challenge now is to maintain the public’s interest in environmental issues, which is necessary to create real sustainable change. Without broad public support, it’s almost impossible to get decision-makers to do the right thing.

Target Green:  What are the communications opportunities and challenges for Greenpeace now that more Americans are interested in climate change and other environmental issues?

Kessler: The challenge is to differentiate Greenpeace from other environmental groups. We stand out from others by emphasizing our principled positions on the most important issues facing the world and by being action-orientated. The opportunities during this period of heightened awareness include growing our organization and the movement.

Target Green: Do you think the eco-movement has a bad reputation in America? Is this something that Greenpeace addresses?

Kessler: No, our membership is up and the interest from the news media is also on the rise. People are learning that it’s environmental groups that are looking out for them and the planet- not the politicians or the corporations, broadly speaking.

Target Green: What are your thoughts about the way the media is handling green issues, especially in light of this being an election year?

Kessler: The media has done a poor job of covering environmental issues, which is partly why we’ve reached this precarious place so quickly. A good example is the coverage of global warming during the recent political conventions. A cursory examination shows that reporters are not asking the politicians what their plan is for the biggest environmental problem we’ve ever faced. The media must ask the hard questions, and if they don’t they’ve failed in the jobs. Such negligence is inexcusable.

Target Green: What is the primary message you try to convey about Greenpeace and its initiatives when working with the media?

Kessler: Greenpeace tries to show that we are a principled campaigning organization dedicated to achieving results.  We work around the world and in your community to make sure that politicians and corporations are taking the right steps to make a a cleaner, greener world.

Green News for the week 09.11.08

The Subaru factory in Lafayette, IN is the first auto assembly plant in North America to become completely waste-free. According to Wired :

“Last year, 100 percent of the waste steel, plastic and other materials coming out of the plant were reused or recycled. Paint sludge that used to be thrown away, for example, is now dried to a powder and shipped to a plastics manufacturer, ending up eventually as parking lot bumpers and guardrails. What can’t be reused — about 3 percent of the plant’s trash — is shipped off to Indianapolis and incinerated to generate electricity.”

The Inspired Economist also covered the story.

Also:
Thomas Friedman’s new book Hot, Flat, and Crowded calls on Americans to start a green revolution. Is it possible? Click links for NPR review and New York Times .

Virgin Atlantic gets kudos from TreeHugger for teaming with Worn Again to recycle its seat covers into bags.

Supposedly-leaked photos of GM Volt show the car is more traditional than people expected.

Time takes on what environmentalists have been saying: meat contributes to global warming.

Green News for the week 09.03.08

Time wonders whether the messaging behind the We Campaign has been effective.  First the campaign (which is funded by Al Gore’s nonprofit Alliance For Climate Protection) featured ads with unlikely bedfellows Pat Robertson and Al Sharpton and now shows other Americans coming together to solve climate change.

The piece commends the organization for not using scare tactics or bearing down readers with science.

If Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth was meant to diagnose climate change for a country that at the time was still widely skeptical, the We Campaign is meant to find a cure…Too often greens have relied on shocking the public with the threat of catastrophic climate change. That was necessary until recently — breaking through the barrier of denial built by climate change skeptics required all the subtlety of a hammer.

Even so, Time questions whether the tactic has worked. For example, in a year when climate change was expected to headline the presidential discourse it has taken a backseat to sky-high gas prices and off-shore drilling.  Any thoughts?

Also:

Conservation groups against off-shore drilling advocate for oil companies that want to do just that, the Los Angeles Times.

Bill Nye The Science Guy talks to Ecorazzi about his new show for Planet Green.

The New York Times if we should we be treating nitrogen as being as dangerous as carbon.