The Green Skeptic's Personal Best

Top 5 Green Skeptic Posts 

According to The Skeptic Himself (Feel Free to Vote for Others!)

Roberto Clemente: A Howitzer for an Arm, An Ocean for a Heart

I am part Portuguese on my mother's side, and in southern New England at the time, probably still, this came with a certain sense of insecurity. "Pork'n'cheese," my Scotch-Irish father used to joke; I had the dark olive skin, black hair and dark eyes of a "Portagee" kid. The ribbing and insults caused me to be ashamed of my Portuguese heritage for a long time. Yet the more I learned about Roberto Clemente's difficulties on and off the field dealing with prejudices against Hispanics and Blacks, the more I felt a kinship with the right fielder. (December 2005)

Imagine: John Lennon, The Man Who Cared

It was 25 years ago next week that John Lennon was shot to death outside his home on West 72nd Street and Central Park West in New York. I was hundreds of miles away and heard about it from Howard Cosell, while watching the New England Patriots play on Monday Night Football and reading John's "comeback" interview in Playboy, which had just come out. My stepmother Sandi called me as soon as she heard the news and we both cried into the phone. His death struck home for a couple of reasons...(December 2005)

Caring, or A New Conservation Ethic

Over the past several weeks, in the conference centers of Monterey, the wilderness of Yosemite, and the halls of my company's offices in suburban Washington, our talk has been about drawing a closer connection between conservation and people. We've come a long way, but still have miles to go before we can say we've expanded the boundaries of our own conservation ethic. (October 2005)

Conservationist, Nature Poet...Rock Star?

I used to be a rock star. Well, okay, a small-time rock star. Under the name Dash Beatcomber, I sang lead and played bass in a band for about five or six years in the late seventies-early eighties. The band had various incarnations, among them Deadpants and Active Driveway; we even had our own label "Sorry Kitten Records" and our own magazine Rockstop!. We went through a punk phase, a post-punk phase, even a Europop phase and were, at the end of our lifespan, among the original grunge and alt-country outfits. (August 2005)

The Evangelical Environmental Awakening, Part One

The diversity of human experience of the earth can be as diverse as the fabric of life itself; we must take heed of this still, small voice in the wilderness and nurture it, welcome it into the good fight. (And I kinda like Part 2, as well: http://greenskeptic.blogspot.com/2005/03/evangelical-environmental-awakening_19.html)
(March 2005)

Climate Change 

An Unfortunate Messenger: Al Gore's Film Debut

I just saw the Al Gore global warming film An Inconvenient Truth. Gore makes some compelling points...[but]...I came away from the film, even more than Gore's slideshow, which forms the film's core, thinking that Al Gore is the wrong messenger for the message... (from June 2006)

Climate Change May Spread Diseases to New Areas

The jury may be out on whether there are direct links between climate change and the spread of disease or how lasting these will be. Meanwhile, however, we may all be wise to increase our protection against mosquitoes as we head into the summer months. (from May 2006)

Climate Change: Beach Reading - Al Gore's Fallacy of "Crisis"

In his essay, "The Moment of Truth," the former vice president and champion of climate crisis action makes a common mistake echoed by business consultants, environmentalists, and others when he writes, "The Chinese expression for 'crisis' consists of two characters....The first is a symbol for 'danger'; the second is a symbol for 'opportunity'." (from April 2006)

Climate Change: Kevin Sweeney's "Climate of Hope"

Readers of this blog know that I'm in favor of taking immediate action to address the impacts climate change, regardless of dissenting opinion about the science. We know enough now to suspect the changes will be dramatic, so we should take action to do what we can to prevent the most extreme effects. Moreover, the potential for investments in new technologies associated with alternative energies and climate mitigation could be just the shot in the arm our economy needs. (from April 2006)

Climate Change: Must Read - The Weather Makers by Tim Flannery

just finished reading Tim Flannery's new book, The Weather Makers. It's the most cogent take on the issue of climate change I've yet read. Flannery mixes history, science, and activism to make the case that now is the time to act if we want to have a reasonable shot at stemming its most potent impacts. (from March 2006)

Climate Change: Seth Godin on the trouble with "Global Warming"

Marketing guru Seth Godin offers a marketers' perspective on why there's little concern about the climate crisis. His observation? The language is wrong. "Global" is good and so is "warming," so what's to get excited about?
(from March 2006)

It's Too Late to Turn Back Now: Climate Crisis at Tipping Point

Environmental impacts are linked to health and the economy. And, if they are at grave risk from climate change, should we not, as free-market capitalists, be preparing for these impacts? (from February 2006)

Climate Change: Bhagwati's Climate Bargain

The point behind Bhagwati's notion is "to indicate that efficient design and distributional fairness are important." He's not calling for a wholesale renegotiation of Kyoto, but essentially a new approach that may be more palatable to the US and other developed countries. (from February 2006)

The Montreal Verdict: More Hot Air

Montreal may be a tipping point, as some attendees suggest, but what concerns me is tipping toward what? Are we just tilting at windmills that are catching more hot air?
(from December 2005)

A Party in Montreal: Hot Air or Fresh Air?

The UN Climate Change Conference got underway today in Montreal with many people talking and praising each other's participation, statements, and proposals. Those of us on the sidelines hope there is more fresh air than hot air at this conference, but don't count on it. (from December 2005)

Hurricanes & Climate Change

Last year, four successive hurricanes crisscrossed Florida; this year Katrina, Rita, and Stan have pummeled the Gulf of Mexico region. According to CNN, tropical storm Vince "strengthened briefly to a hurricane, making 2005 officially the second-busiest hurricane season on record." Vince made landfall in Spain, the first time a cyclone has struck that country in recorded history.
(from October 2005)

It's Time to Terminate Global Warming...

It's time to take that $1.8 billion annual investment and turn it over to innovative thinkers here and abroad who can help derive solutions to the problem, as well as new technologies that can drive our economy in this century. Americans are bold enough to take on a challenge like this; entire industries can be transformed or created with the right investment. (from June 2005)

Climate of One

It all starts with one of us. My wife recently finished reading Elizabeth Kolbert's three-part "Climate of Man" in the New Yorker and said to me, "Driving an SUV is immoral." She then proceeded to figure out how we could sell one of our cars -- my 1995 Subaru Legacy sedan, to be precise -- and get by with one vehicle, our 2002 Toyota Sienna. (from May 2005)

Climate Change Agent

Post-presidents lead a curious life after leaving office. They can rest on their laurels and collect fat fees for speaking engagements, suck up huge royalties for not-quite-tell-all autobiographies, set up their own presidential libraries or chill out on their ranches while riding into the sunset. (from December 2004)

Social Entrepreneurs 

Original content on one of The Green Skeptic's primary areas of focus.

Moving from Dialogue to Action, Part 2

A friend and colleague said to me the other day, "Transformation is upon us, but what are we transforming into? How do we have more influence over the future direction?"....This can be about our organizations, our communities, or our larger world. Transformation is transformation.

Moving from Dialogue to Action, Part 1

"Don't you ever get tired of just reading about things," Violet Bicks asks George Bailey in the film It's a Wonderful Life. He's on his way to the library to read about the world outside the small town in which he feels stuck. He's at a crossroads in his life. He dreams of breaking out, seeing the world, and creating big things. He dreams of creating lasting, transformational change.

Social Entrepreneurs: What is Base of the Economic Pyramid?

Base of the Economic Pyramid or BOP for cute and short, is a growing movement designed to alleviate poverty while generating sustainable profits for companies both large and small. The concept was popularized by Stu Hart and C.K. Prahalad. It is an idea for where we are right now....For those of us seeking an alternative to "top down" strategies for improving ecosystem health and well-being, this reminder of the base of the pyramid is timely and welcome. (May 2006)

Social Entrepreneurs: Kiva's Peer-to-peer Microfinance Network

My growing interest in microfinance and microcredit models got a boost recently when a friend turned me on to Kiva, a web site that lets people like you and me connect with small businesses in the developing world. Modest loans of $25-100 go a long way in countries like Honduras, Bulgaria, Uganda, and Cambodia....Time to take that $25 per week we spend on getting caffeinated over The Economist and turn it into micro-lending power! (May 2006)

Social Entrepreneurs: A Fool for Markets - The Future of Conservation?

Making a difference in the world, that is why I got involved in the public benefit sector. Yet, in civil society, we are so fearful of failure that we become risk averse at the precipice of innovation. After all, we use "donor dollars" to affect change and, with little financial return for our donor-investors, we may not dream as big as we must to get the job done. We are beholden to those contributions and, if we fail, we risk losing those donors in the future. Perhaps I'm in the wrong sector. (April 2006)

Social Entrepreneurs: Iqbal Quadir, Using Technology to Raise the Poor

What do you get when you cross an enterprising and innovative mind, a business acumen and a desire to address social problems through practical solutions and social value creation? Well, that could very well be the definition of a social entrepreneur. They are a new breed of change agents applying their business and investment skills to the world's critical problems. (This article featured as required reading for LSTU-E-120: Internet & Society, Spring 2006, at the Harvard Extension School; Class 12: An All-IP Future? Technology Infrastructure in the Developing Countries Context.) (March 2006)

Social Entrepreneurs: Good Idea for World Water Day, The WaterCredit Initiative

What's wrong with these numbers:
Estimated number of people without access to clean, safe drinking water: 1.1 billion;
Bottled water industry value: $22 billion per year, 41 billion gallons;
Estimated cost to halve number of people lacking clean water access: $15 billion per year....Doesn't add up? (March 2006)

Social Entrepreneurs: Uday Khemka Podcast on the Climate Crisis

Check out this Podcast-interview with Uday Khemka, managing director of the UK-based SUN Group, and one of the World Economic Forum's young global leaders, on the subject of the climate crisis. (March 2006)