Comments: Ian Wilker

Obama: A New Voice For A New Day

Steven -- thanks much for the compliment!

In turn, thank you for your participation here. And I urge you to become a Greenlight contributor! Your focus on overpopulation and other big-picture problems would be hugely valuable.

I see you've registered for an account here on OnEarth.org -- all you need to do now is go to the MyOnEarth: Citizen Journalism page and click "Create New Post."

Hope you'll soon be a Greenlight writer.

-- Ian @ OnEarth

Searching for Farming's Future in Its Past

Michael,

A good and reasonable question -- here's a download link.

Going forward, I'll make sure to include these.

-- Ian @ OnEarth

The Gathering Storm

Hana -- thanks for that information! Sounds a little like the "blaxploitation" cinema that flourished in the States in the 1970s, like Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song and Shaft. It'd be great to have a look at the genre you mention; love to hear a recommendation or two.

Performance Review: CJR on Journalism and Global Warming

Thanks, Eric -- glad you liked this.

Re the kooks: In his response to the CJR article, Alex Lockwood notes that a television audience who'd viewed the denier film The Great Global Warming Swindle was found to support the film's skeptic viewpoint by a 6–1 margin. That's not good; it looks to me like a good example of the public's vulnerability to misinformation about climate change.

The public opinion research tells us that the obfuscations spread by likes of Inhofe, CEI, and the Heartland Institute -- amplified loudly by partisan blogs -- are too readily given credence by an awful lot of people, at least in the States. So by my lights, if we have just 100 months to turn the global energy system around, then "responsible" coverage of climate change is extremely vigorous about interrogating and contextualizing any claims that run counter to the judgment of the IPCC and other leading scientific bodies.

I think of James Hansen's recent bare-knuckled suggestion that CEOs of oil and coal companies be tried for "high crimes against humanity and nature" -- I so admire Hansen, coming out of a far stronger tradition of objectivity and skepticism, for following his conscience and making an unequivocal choice to become a "campaign scientist.". The world desperately needs "campaign journalists," too.

To the Executive, I Say: Ride On

You can't be in close orbit around NRDC (as I was for six years) without acquiring some hope and faith that the corporate world will play a key role in driving adoption of carbon-conscious practices. There have been many success stories.

So hear me, ye captains of industry: the wisdom of years of trial-and-error experience at greening the workplace is collected here -- avail yourself of it.

And re two-wheeling to work: As Ben suggests, it starts at the top. I made the Brooklyn-to-Chelsea trip hundreds of times while I was an NRDC staffer; piloting my trusty urban-beater bike to and fro over the Brooklyn Bridge was an exhilarating way to start and end the day. But I probably wouldn't have done it nearly as often if NRDC hadn't seen fit to install two blessed conveniences: an indoor bike rack (rendering transport of Fahgettaboudit unnecessary) and an employee shower. Now that's leadership.

Drugs in Our Drinking Water: You Heard It Here First

Elizabeth -- Can't wait to read your next. And congratulations on what I know to be a shrewdly chosen subject for a book. The (de)merits of bottled water have been much discussed in the media over the last six months especially, but I've got specialized insight into the public's interest in this topic: during my six years as managing editor of NRDC's website, a simple page on bottled water was a year-in-year-out staple on our most-visited-pages list.

Ian @ OnEarth

Better to Have Loved and Lost?

Immersion -- you make that pond sound a special place indeed; beautifully observed details. As a small boy, my parents took me on regular camping trips to a spot in New Jersey of all places -- there were crawdads, frog sing-a-longs at dusk, iridescent dragonflies... that place had a lot to do with grounding me in the nature-as-cathedral ethic I've had as adult. Thanks for sharing that and jogging my own memories.

-- Ian @ OnEarth

A Conversation With Poet Eamon Grennan

Thanks Linda! Stay tuned for more -- we too very much enjoy Mr. Sussman's conversations with poets, and hope he'll contribute many more.

Ian @ OnEarth

How to Get Wild in Your Garden

mjvega -- Thanks for reading, and adding depth to the story.

After many years as urban renters, my wife and I are house-hunting right now, and I'm with you -- if I never push another lawnmower, I'll be a happy man. (Plus, as a birder, I know that the wilder your backyard gets, the better your chances of hearing a larger, more varied songbird chorus.)

Ian @ OnEarth