The Green New Deal and Ham
Do you like The Green New Deal and ham?* I do not like them, Sam-I-am. I do not like The Green New Deal and ham…. Would you like them Here or there? … Sam! If you will let me be. I will try them. You will see. Say! I [...]
Can Big Oil and Utilities Help in the Transition from Carbon?
For a while there has been popular speculation that utilities were in a death spiral. They have been hit with pollution regulation, clean energy mandates, higher fuel costs and disruption from clean low cost distributed renewable energy. Their primary purpose has been to “keep-the-lights-on,” and the world is changing [...]
Heroes and Courage for the Climate
On April 1st, 1940 in the small village of Ihithe, Kenya, a young girl was born. Her name was Wangari. Her parents were proud, and this is the way it is for all of us. We are the product of the hopes and dreams of our ancestors. While some [...]
Ancient Fractal Beauty
Walking through the forest, I am at peace. A soft carpet of red pine needles mutes my footfall, while my eyes follow the trail ahead. It turns and twists organically following the Cascade River valley a hundred feet below. I grew up as a feral child. Like Tarzan, I [...]
Sitting Still in the Woods in the Aftermath of Kavanaugh
The feathers of a sparrow drift down like snow out of a sky made bluer by yellow leaves and white clouds. A victim of a Cooper’s hawk. Life seeking and reducing everything to amino acids. The Junko is oblivious. The energy of the sparrow will power the hawk for [...]
A Good Day – Mountain of Brightness
The world is green, cool and humid. The land falls away over a valley, and beyond that, another and another. I ask the driver of the Land Rover to let us off a couple of miles from our camp at 10,000 feet. We are on the slopes of Mount [...]
Environmental Messaging – Creating Pictures from Numbers
Forests are the lungs of the earth. They give us about one third of the oxygen we breath, and they sequester carbon dioxide. Around the world, they absorb almost 40% of human carbon emissions and help slow the rate of global warming. I am walking along the east side [...]
Environmental Messaging – Are You Amplifying These Frames?
Most of us are too busy to think. Yet we are constantly exposed to frames that reshape our thinking. For environmentalists, most of the frames we are exposed to are created by fossil fuel and right wing political think tanks. The result is that public opinion moves toward their [...]
Environmental Messaging – Clarity
Clarity is your most powerful tool in crafting your message. It confers sincerity, and sincerity, along with competence, builds credibility and trust. Our political discourse today is full of smoke. As a result, no one trusts politicians. The same occurs in the environmental movement. We talk too much, we [...]
A Good Day – Counting Stars
The lake is a mirror to the universe. I can not tell where the sky begins and the water ends. There is no boundary. The sun dips below a reef of clouds and the world turns orange. The earth turns and Venus rises as it’s twin reflection sinks. We [...]