Boom Shocka Locka
The World’s Most Progressive Company? Wal-Mart, by a Mile →
The title may be a little bold, and Wal-Mart’s motivations are purely profit-driven, but you can’t deny they are having an impact. This is the big selling point for those that shun sustainability, it can save you money.
“As I got exposed to the opportunities we had to reduce our impact, it became even more exciting than I had originally thought: It is clearly good for our business…” Scott’s successor, Mike Duke, underscored that commitment last week, at Wal-Mart’s Sustainability Milestone Meeting. “This is not optional,” he said. “It’s not something of the past. This is all about the future.”
Four years on the green bandwagon is, of course a very short time. So what’s been most surprising is the depth and stability of Wal-Mart’s environmental commitment. Already, it has been astonishingly aggressive in using solar and wind power, carbon-neutral building, and carbon-efficiency in shipping. Its stated goal is to operate with 100 percent renewable fuels.
Canada to match U.S. climate change rules →
Making an impact already, now let’s make sure it gets passed.
But he said Canada will bring in regulations to match new U.S. laws governing greenhouse-gas emissions – and vowed to be as tough on Canadian industry as the U.S. government is on its big emitters.
Does Iran’s Green Movement Need U.S. Aid? →
Baaaaad idea. Let’s avoid future Ahmad Chalabis (and thus wars) please.
“It mostly will be abused by expatriate and entirely discredited opposition groups ranging from the monarchist supporters of Reza Pahlavi to the members of the Mojahedin Khalq Organization, and it will in turn strengthen the hand of the regime to denounce the Green Movement as funded by Americans.”
In other words, the United States shouldn’t be shopping around for an Iranian Ahmad Chalabi.
Wal-Mart Says It Backs a Mandate on Insurance →
Huge, huge news
The employer mandate is central to Mr. Obama’s plan for expanding health coverage to the nation’s 46 million uninsured, but many companies, including Wal-Mart, have long resisted the idea. But as health legislation moves through Congress, representatives of industry are becoming increasingly convinced that they must join forces with the administration to have a seat at the negotiating table.
I live a block away from two middle schools and their adjoining atheltic fields. For as long as I can remember, little league soccer and softball nights meant hundreds of cars logjamming every sidewalk in a half mile radius. It was annoying and dangerous (but more annoying) and I never did anything but hate it.
I was surprised upon returning home to find no cars on the street. A new parking law forced the peewee league parents to drive the extra 500 yards and park in the school lots. Apparently a child was hit one day when running between the parked vehicles on the street. He was eventually fine, but the “no parking” signs finally went up.
There’s a saying in Farmington that I’ve heard repeated often during my years of living here. “It’s going to take a death before it gets fixed.” Evoked whenever there is a desired stop sign or other traffic law that is being ignored by the city, the sentiment is that change will not be made until grievous injury is suffered from the negligence. I really can’t count how many times I’ve heard this phrase.
I’ve realized I feel the same way about our government’s approach to climate change. No, we aren’t doing nearly enough to fix the very real and dangerous problem. Yes, bad things are going to happen and we will regret it. But rather than do anything about it, I just wait. I know it’s going to take a death before it gets fixed.
Report: Israeli Drones Killed 29 Civilians in Gaza War →
Pretty disturbing. This is the country that receives the most aid from the US per capita, the poverty-stricken, third-world nation of Israel (ranked 24th in standard of living, right behind Germany):
Not every drone attack was incriminate, of course. At the tail end of the Gaza war, I saw an IDF remote pilot struggle to determine whether targets were suspected Hamas terrorists, or just ordinarily citizens. I watched as he called off missile launches, to prevent civilians nearby from being struck. But other decisions to fire seem harder to justify, Human Rights Watch notes.
In one daytime attack on December 27, the first day of the Israeli offensive, an IDF drone-launched missile hit a group of students who were waiting for a bus in central Gaza City… killing nine students, two of them women, and three other civilians. The IDF has failed to explain why it targeted the group on a crowded central street with no known military activity in the area at the time.
Via GvB’s summer mix. I usually don’t get too into lo-fi stuff, but for some reason I’m feelin’ the summery vibes from this one.
Farming for 9 Billion People →
The future (hopefully) of agriculture:
Farmers, markets and governments will need to look at “a whole host of options” including “the re-emergence of small, self-sufficient organic farms, characterized as local, multi-crop, energy and water efficient, low-carbon, socially just, and self-sustaining,” according the Mark Fulton, the bank’s global head for climate change investment research.
