The environmental problems the world faces are daunting. One often hears that the economic costs involved in resource conservation, reforestation, transition to a new energy regime, and so forth are so high that solving them is simply too expensive.
But this begs the question: what is the cost of not dealing with the deteriorating global environment? And how does it compare with the projected costs of fixing the mess?
Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute has some answers to these questions. The crux of the matter is that “The health of an economy cannot be separated from that of its natural support systems.” The Guardian UK has just published a summary of the calculations from Brown’s inspiring book “Plan B 2.0″ (also featured in the Natural Patriot’s essential reading list). The cost of ignoring natural degradation is probably incalculable but very high: Read the rest of this entry »
So it’s Friday night and I’m surfing through the channels, and I come on the image of Guvernator Schwarzenegger, standing in the GAS garage with a with a crew of tough-looking dudes. And he’s talking about . . . sustainable transportation. 
It’s official. American cars are no longer king. This past quarter, for the first time in history, a foreign auto maker — Toyota — has surpassed General Motors in sales. The legendary former Chrysler Chairman, Lee Iacocca, brought Chrysler back from the the brink of bankruptcy in the early 1980s and was largely responsible for the rise of the mini-van. In an 
[Editor’s note: This guest post is the speech presented by Reverend Preston Moore at the “Step It Up” event on global warming in Williamsburg, Virginia on 14 April 2007.] 
Today is the 38th Earth Day. It’s hard to escape the conclusion that we haven’t made nearly as much progress as those celebrating the first one in 1970 would have hoped. How will we save nature from the onslaught of our own appetites and fecundity? Nearly every week there is some new round of disturbing news about environmental deterioration. Big swaths of rain forest are going up in smoke every day, the great giants of the sea are being hunted out, the remaining patches of wild nature are giving way to cultivated land and homes and shopping malls at a steady rate. The prospects for conservation seem grimmer than ever. One could be forgiven for feeling, in dark moments, that all hope is lost.
“Step It Up” rallies were held in over 1400 places around the nation. Organizers believe this is the largest environmental demonstration since the first Earth Day in 1970. The mega-event was featured on the 
My colleague 
I’m just returning from a trip to the