Archive
Blogging the Rio+20 Earth Summit for the Rest of Us: What’s at Stake with the Green Economy
President Barack Obama may be steering clear of the Rio+20 summit, but thousands of government delegates, civil society activists, and business lobbyists are already streaming into Brazil.
The Lineup: Week of June 11-17, 2012
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Mining Gold, Undermining Democracy
A tribunal in Washington, D.C. that nobody elected recently issued a verdict that will potentially constrain the democratic rights of millions of people. Its three members ruled that a foreign company may continue to sue El Salvador for not letting the company mine gold there. The impoverished Central American country could potentially be forced to pay a Canadian mining company called Pacific Rim $77 million or more in damages
Wisconsin Wakeup Call
We’re nice people out here in Dairyland. Just ask anyone — that’s our reputation. But the purple state of Wisconsin is a political microcosm of today’s divided America.
Clearing the Air
Here’s some good news: the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a new rule that would make coal-fired power plant operators clean up their act. It would block up to 123 billion pounds of carbon pollution annually from entering our skies by limiting emissions from next-generation power plants.
Blowing a Chance to Save American Jobs
The Production Tax Credit helps level the playing field for clean-energy entrepreneurs competing with subsidized fossil-fuel companies. It backs the innovative wind energy companies here in America that helped build a manufacturing base that didn’t exist only five years ago. This tax credit supports our nation’s transition away from dirty fuels that harm our health and our air.
Recalling the Gilded Age
Organized labor, liberals in general, and President Barack Obama in particular got their heads handed to them by the good people of Wisconsin, with a little help from the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy.
These Steaks May Stick to Your Ribs
If you’re one who enjoys a steak dinner now and again, let me ask this question: do you prefer it with a nice sauce, a side of garlicky spinach — or maybe some transglutaminase?
Solidarity in Reverse
Our Press Freedom is under Fire
Freedom of the press, that inspired rallying cry of our democracy, is becoming a poignant memory. In its latest ranking of how such freedoms stack up worldwide, Reporters Without Borders ranked the United States No. 47. We certainly rate way better than China, which clocked in at No. 174 out of 179 countries, but this truly is a shameful grade.
