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New York Times kills its ‘Green’ blog

by sreg2 Posted on March 2, 2013

New York Times kills its ‘Green’ blog

By Lisa Hymas

Less than two months ago, The New York Times dissolved its environment desk, eliminating its two environment editor positions and reassigning those editors and seven reporters.

Now the paper is swinging the hatchet again, shutting down the Green blog that had been home to original environmental reporting every weekday. The news was announced in a brief post on the blog today:

The Times is discontinuing the Green blog, which was created to track environmental and energy news and to foster lively discussion of developments in both areas. This change will allow us to direct production resources to other online projects. But we will forge ahead with our aggressive reporting on environmental and energy topics, including climate change, land use, threatened ecosystems, government policy, the fossil fuel industries, the growing renewables sector and consumer choices.

The paper says environmental policy news will move to the Caucus blog and energy technology news will move to the Bits blog.

But a Times insider tells Grist that the decision probably means an end to the significant amount of freelance reporting that appeared in the Green blog.

The insider, who’s not authorized to speak on the record about the blog’s closure, says, “I’m not 100 percent sure that we’re going to spend as much time on the environment as in the past. To a large extent that depends on the news. The paper is plastic — it reorganizes itself to meet the requirements of the world around us.”

With that world getting warmer and weirder by the day, there shouldn’t be any shortage of climate and environmental news to report. If the Gray Lady is serious about keeping her green tint, that is.

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Organic tomatoes are healthier for you, researchers find

by donnajansen Posted on February 25, 2013

Organic tomatoes are healthier for you, researchers find

By Susie Cagle

They may be smaller but they’re also mightier. Organic tomatoes pack in more cancer-fighting phenols and vitamin C than conventionally grown tomatoes, according to research published in the journal PLOS One. But the organic tomatoes do tend to be about 40 percent tinier, so make sure your next tomato fight features the conventional kind.

waltarrrrr

From Mother Jones:

The authors hypothesize that the additional stress experienced by organic plants — having to fend off pests, scrounge harder for nutrients like nitrogen in soil, etc. — “resulted in oxidative stress and the accumulation of higher concentrations of soluble solids as sugars and other compounds contributing to fruit nutritional quality such as vitamin C and phenolic compounds.” In other words, when the plants suffer a bit, they generate more of these vital nutrients. And the same could be true for other phenol-rich fruits and vegetables.

If you’re excited about this news, that’s great! But don’t get too excited. Tomato season is summer and early fall, so even though our globalized industrial food system brings organic tomatoes to stores year-round, they won’t taste really good until several months from now, when they’re also more likely to be locally grown.

Susie Cagle writes and draws news for Grist. She also writes and draws tweets for

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Transit advocates stop cuts using civil rights legislation

by nension Posted on February 21, 2013

Transit advocates stop cuts using civil rights legislation

By Susie Cagle

No justice, no ride to work! The vast majority of transit systems in the U.S. have cut service, raised fares, or both over the last two years, affecting those who rely on public transportation especially hard.

An article in the current issue of the Boston Review outlines the struggle for more justice and more buses:

For millions of American families, the commute to work is more than stressful: it can also be cripplingly costly. While the average family spends around 19 percent of its budget getting around, very low-income families (defined as families who make less than half of an area’s median income) can see as much as 55 percent of their earnings eaten up by transportation costs, according to a report by the Center for Transit-Oriented Development. …

Nationwide about 80 cents out of every federal transportation dollar goes toward highways—used disproportionately by more affluent drivers — and only 20 cents goes toward mass transit systems, which are heavily used by people of color and by lower-income workers. When it’s time to distribute that 20 percent, regional authorities often favor light-rail systems for suburban commuters over bus lines for city riders.

Some hope, though: A few cities have managed to wrest money away from the ‘burbs and back to the urbs by filing lawsuits claiming civil rights violations.

That tactic may not work for New Yorkers, though, who are about to see yet another fare hike, their fourth in five years — and it’s not because transit workers are getting a raise. Here, New Yorkers campaigning against fare hikes explain how debt service has increased train costs.

If there’s one thing the status quo has no answer for, it’s digging out of debt. Sorry, New York.

Susie Cagle writes and draws news for Grist. She also writes and draws tweets for

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New-old disaster aid may be coming for troubled farmers

by 7GrittonMaine146 Posted on February 6, 2013

New-old disaster aid may be coming for troubled farmers

By Susie Cagle

Last year, American farmers saw the worst drought in more than half a century. At the same time, some disaster aid programs went unfunded. Why? Blame the expired Farm Bill, of course.

Crop insurance and emergency disaster loans are still available to farmers and ranchers, but other relief programs designed to help during times of drought and other disasters saw their funding end more than a year ago.

But now Congress is considering a bill to reinstate that aid “until” a new farm bill happens. (Hahaha [weep].) From the Governing blog:

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) is sponsoring legislation that would retroactively restore those disaster relief programs for 2012 fiscal year as well as the rest of the 2013 fiscal year while Congress works on creating another long-term farm bill.

“These livestock disaster programs expired in September 2011, leaving our livestock producers with no safety net,” Baucus said in introducing his bill. “For over a year and a half, through one of the worst droughts in recent memory, our producers have been left to fend for themselves.”

In addition to helping to pay for dead livestock, the legislation also provides disaster relief for things like destroyed orchard trees and vines, and it helps cover losses not covered by crop insurance.

There are five disaster programs — all created in the 2008 farm bill — that are among the 37 programs that are missing out on funding. Because Congress hasn’t re-authorized them, losses due to disasters that occurred after September 2011 aren’t covered

This is good news for troubled U.S. farmers, but not the greatest for the Farm Bill in total, which looks to be going nowhere fast. Could we get some disaster relief for that, too?

Susie Cagle writes and draws news for Grist. She also writes and draws tweets for

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Anti-Agenda 21 bill is back in Arizona, wants to eat your brains

by anjunonstennyao Posted on February 6, 2013

Anti-Agenda 21 bill is back in Arizona, wants to eat your brains

By Susie Cagle

Charles A. Nesci

Which state is valiant and insane enough to lead the fight against the United Nations’ blueprint for a more sustainable world, i.e. those vile and dangerous plans for global social control community gardens and bike paths known as Agenda 21? Yes, it’s wild, libertarian, sprawly, water-importing Arizona!

Last May, less insane heads managed to prevail in the Grand Canyon State, shooting down a bill that would have prohibited state and local governments from adopting anything even a little bit related to sustainability and Agenda 21. But the idea has crawled out of the grave in the form of SB 1403 [PDF], a new bill that would prohibit any local government in Arizona from implementing any “creed, doctrine, principles or any tenet” of Agenda 21.

“Any way you want to describe it, Agenda 21 is a direct attack on the middle class and the working poor,” the bill’s sponsor Sen. Judy Burges said during a hearing on it in 2012. “The primary goal of Agenda 21 is to create social engineering of our citizens and it will impact every aspect of our daily lives.”

Or not at all. In fact, Agenda 21 calls for helping poor people and the environment both. Too bad it’s been sitting around gathering dust for 20ish years!

But speaking of social engineering, Arizona is also looking at a bill that would allow teachers to tell kids that climate change is but a fairy tale! Suddenly I’m not so worried about their bike lanes.

Not even sure what it’s like to live in this crazy place? Here an Arizona community meeting freaks out about both of those things. (Bonus smooth jazz soundtrack. You’re welcome.)

For extra fun, local Sierra Vista, Arizona residents can check out the “Agenda 21 and the Threat to State Sovereignty” presentation next week, presented by the Tea Party and two of the state legislature’s consultants. $5 admission at the door, BYO tin-foil hat.

Susie Cagle writes and draws news for Grist. She also writes and draws tweets for

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Cyclists are the happiest of us all

by gerdi Posted on February 1, 2013

Cyclists are the happiest of us all

By Susie Cagle

Shutterstock

Wheeeeee!

Despite getting run over, doored, harassed, and generally being treated as second-class citizens of the road, bicyclists are the happiest of all commuters. Go figure!

The finding comes via an Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium study released this month. Those who walk to work, the study found, are nearly as happy as cyclists, who are about three times happier than solo car-drivers.

Of course, your commute happiness is improved if you’re on your way to a good job that makes you a lot of money, but income gap aside, even rich workaholic bikers still had safety concerns that chipped away at their smile scores.

New York Daily News columnist Denis Hamill sees your safety concerns, cyclists, and he raises you a head injury, because that’s the only explanation I have for Hamil’s ragey column on New York’s bike lanes that, he says, have “disfigured the city in a logistical and aesthetic way.”

Writes Hamil: “News flash: Life ain’t a smooth sail, kiddos! There’s a big crash just waiting at the end of every bike lane.”

Don’t let this grump get you down, bikers, especially if you live in New York and enjoy those protected bike lanes (jealous!). It’s evening rush hour in the city right now, and something tells me Hamil is road-raging all alone in his car.

Susie Cagle writes and draws news for Grist. She also writes and draws tweets for

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Almost half of all coal burned in the world is burned in China

by gerdi Posted on January 29, 2013

Almost half of all coal burned in the world is burned in China

By Philip Bump

Speaking of air pollution in China, here’s a disconcerting graph from the U.S. Energy Information Agency.

EIA

The EIA explains:

Coal consumption in China grew more than 9% in 2011, continuing its upward trend for the 12th consecutive year, according to newly released international data. China’s coal use grew by 325 million tons in 2011, accounting for 87% of the 374 million ton global increase in coal use.

China now uses 47 percent of the world’s coal. It’s an almost unfathomable figure.

The EIA also created this animation of Asian coal growth between 1980 and 2010.

In 2011, China’s per-person carbon footprint neared Europe’s, but was still far behind that of the U.S. As the country consumes more coal, that figure will rise — meaning an exponential increase in carbon dioxide, soot, and other toxic pollutants in the air and atmosphere.

One last bit of bad news, from Financial Times energy reporter Ed Crooks:

We’ll update with some good news if possible. Someday.

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.

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There’s a hole in my plastic-bag law

by johnsmithwindows Posted on January 19, 2013

There’s a hole in my plastic-bag law

By Susie Cagle

Alameda County, Calif., where I live, has banned stores from giving out plastic bags as of Jan. 1. It’s great news that was a long time coming, considering the county is home to eco-minded cities Berkeley and Oakland.

The county suffers from its fair share of local plastic bag pollution. “Each year, the equivalent of 100,000 kitchen garbage bags worth of litter end up in our local waterways, including an estimated 1 million disposable plastic bags,” says Jim Scanlin, manager of Alameda County’s Clean Water Program. And without a water treatment plant, all that plastic flows directly into local creeks and San Francisco Bay.

Most businesses have switched to paper bags. But because of a loophole in the law, they actually don’t have to — they can simply call a plastic bag “reusable,” like this awesome one I got from my local liquor store the other day.

You can tell it’s a “reusable” plastic bag and not one of those regular garbagey plastic bags because not only does it say “reusable” on it, but it is also green! And it cost me 10 cents, like all bags do now, as an incentive for customers to bring their own to the store.

I’ve already seen three of these in gutters between my house and said liquor store, on their way to a garbage patch. Good job, plastic bag ban, keep up the good work!

Susie Cagle writes and draws news for Grist. She also writes and draws tweets for

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How to get absolutely freaking (almost) everywhere in California without a car

by LeannqOsborn Posted on January 17, 2013

How to get absolutely freaking (almost) everywhere in California without a car

By Susie Cagle

Outside of its cities (and inside a lot of them, too), California is a typical car-happy American state, with about .84 cars for every person. With its miles and miles of looping roadway and ingrained car culture, it can be easy to forget how many other forms of transportation there are in the Golden State, too.

Enter the California Rail Map, one giant badass master map of California’s trains, buses, and ferries, showing routes to 500+ destinations throughout the state.

Click to embiggen.

Hey, look at that, you can take the train all the way from Oakland to Tijuana. Of course, it doesn’t say how long it’ll take to get there … See you guys next week!

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California cold snaps farmers’ crops

by iscciaglewstrone123 Posted on January 14, 2013

California cold snaps farmers’ crops

By Susie Cagle

Time for more predictably weird weather news! Sunny California, while still sunny, has been freezing this week. Temperatures statewide plunged to as much as 20 degrees F below normal, the lowest lows the state has seen in years.

The freezing overnight temps are seriously bad news for California farmers’ crops, especially the state’s $2 billion citrus industry, which accounts for most of the commercially available oranges and lemons in the U.S.

mr. ephotopoet

Strawberry and avocado farmers, too, “are having a lot of sleepless nights,” protecting crops with in-field heaters, coverings, fans, and water.

From the Los Angeles Times:

The cold snap has been a particular concern for citrus farmers across the state, who have been up all night since Thursday. There are $1 billion in oranges, lemons, tangerines and grapefruit still on trees in California, the nation’s largest producer of fresh citrus.

The year had been off to a good start, with a particularly flavorful crop of mandarins and good sugar content across the state …

“We were looking at a very profitable year,” said John Nelsen, president of California Citrus Mutual, an association of the state’s 3,900 citrus growers, the majority of which are family farmers.

But a cold snap can change that in hours. In January 2007, citrus growers lost 60% of the state’s crop to freezes. In 1998 it was 85%. The worst season in memory was the Christmas freeze of December 1990, when a week of temperatures in the teens defoliated the orchards, leading to a total loss for that season and the one after, Nelsen said.

Nothing like some weird weather to remind us how tenuous our centralized food system truly is! The delicious irony here is that a modest touch of cold weather actually regulates citrus sugars well, making better and more stable fruit. So enjoy the California clementines while you can — they may be freezing today, but soon they’ll be rotting on the vine.

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