S U S T A I N A B L Y

What's is a name - continued

A British construction magazine has come up with a Sustainability Buzzword Generator, which rewards each click with a new phrase chosen at random from three columns. 

It was surprising how few of the phrases that came up for me were nonsensical, proving that the jungle of jargon has far more than one creature to be wary of. (Previously, I wrote about "green fatigue.")


Island claims sustainability milestone

Tourism officials on Bonaire say it will be the first totally sustainable island in the Caribbean. This is dubious, at best, of course. 

The claim, bubblingly reported on Inhabitat, refers only to energy generation, which falls fart short of true sustainability. For starters, we're talking about a Caribbean island — how are people getting there?


Power Past Coal

Taxonomy upgrade extras: 

Powerpastcoal.org is a new-to-me site focusing on organized efforts during the first 100 days of the Obama presidency to move the nation beyond coal dependence.

It is a clearinghouse where advocates can join an action, or start one with support from others engaged similarly. It is affiliated with 350.org.

To join one, you can enter a zip code and see what's happening in your region. 


Turbine raised

Taxonomy upgrade extras: 

I wrote previously about the wind turbine coming to the McGlynn School in Medford, and as the accompanying photo (by Susan Altman of the Mass. Climate Action Network) shows, it is now up.

A ribbon-cutting (must be one l-o-n-g ribbon) is set for Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.

 


Ward Hubbell: "The most important public policy issue that exists"

This is another installment in my series of miniprofiles of sustainability-minded people. The Green Building Initiative is a nonprofit working to hasten the adoption of sustainable-building practices, and administers the Green Globes, a tool for assessing and rating green-building practices, comparable to the more well-known LEED program. To recap, the profiles are "mini" not only because they're short, but because all the questions are 10 words or less, and the answers are requested to match.


A few inauguration thoughts ...

... 'cause no one else seems to be talking about it.

* A friend told me, "I'm going to make a few calls, but come to think of it, everyone I know went down to Washington."

* For the past couple of days, Starbucks has been handing out red, brown, and blue cup sleeves (the brown is supposed to be white, of course, but they don't bleach), and I've heard a couple people this morning comment on how much  they love them.


Alas, it wasn't just campaign claptrap

Taxonomy upgrade extras: 

During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama gave lip service to nuclear power (with provisos that would appear to rule out much support, at least for the foreseeable future); "clean coal," which of course exists only as a slogan of a can't-be-bygone-soon-enough inddustry; offshore drilling; biofuels; and other environmentally questionable choices.

At least, I'd hoped it was lip service, but it appears he meant it. I'll give him points for being truthful, but I'm disappointed nevertheless.


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