Tag Archives: Environment

Shepherd Bliss :
Glass half full? Sour Grapes in ‘Wine Country’

Overexpansion of vineyards in California’s Sonoma County threatens the environment and rural residents’ quality of life. By Shepherd Bliss | The Rag Blog | March 25, 2015 SEBASTOPOL, California — Sonoma County’s premium wine industry in the San Francisco North … Continue reading

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James Retherford :
LITERATURE | Wild things

Jonah Raskin’s ‘A Terrible Beauty: The Wilderness of American Literature’ is a fresh look at American letters from the bottom up. By James Retherford | The Rag Blog | February 4, 2015 Like a true nature’s child We were born … Continue reading

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Tom Hayden :
Marching for a green economy ‘built to last’

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio commits to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2030, calling it ‘a moral imperative.’ By Tom Hayden | The Rag Blog | September 24, 2014 NEW YORK — With hundreds of thousands … Continue reading

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Shepherd Bliss :
‘Village Building Convergence’ rocks
small-town Sebastopol

The two-day event was designed to ‘improve our experience of community… by transforming public spaces and making them into special places.’ By Shepherd Bliss | The Rag Blog | September 23, 2014 SEBASTOPOL, California — Participants in the ambitious 10-day … Continue reading

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Shepherd Bliss :
Neighbors come together to build the village

Small-town Sebastopol, California, sets 10-day festival to ‘shape common spaces in a way that promotes beauty and community.’ By Shepherd Bliss  | The Rag Blog | September 3, 2014 SEBASTOPOL, California — Village Building Convergence (VBC) activists and their supporters … Continue reading

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METRO | Bruce Melton : Is Austin Energy now against alternative energy?

The future is bright and breezy, not black and dirty. Whatever is going on with Austin Energy misses some very important and fundamental news. By Bruce Melton | The Rag Blog | August 5, 2014 AUSTIN — Really? Austin Energy … Continue reading

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METRO REPORT | Bruce Melton : Critical sea level rise on Padre Island

Sea level rise is accelerating. At some point, our barrier islands will cross a disintegration threshold and begin to disappear. Because every mile of every beach is created differently, we will see some beaches begin to suffer sooner than others. … Continue reading

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Roger Baker :
Can Austin survive the current Texas drought? / 3

We look at  the climate science that warns that Austin faces serious water supply problems, and at the roles played by transportation planning and suburban sprawl in that crisis. By Roger Baker | The Rag Blog | February 19, 2014 … Continue reading

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Anne Lewis :
Bridging the chasm between environmental and economic justice

A conversation with activists Bill Fletcher, Jr., and Bill Gallegos. By Anne Lewis | The Rag Blog | February 11, 2014 Steelworkers President Leo Gerard said about the choice between a clean environment and good jobs, “You can have both, … Continue reading

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Roger Baker :
Can Austin survive the current Texas drought? / 1

There is sound science that says there is likely to be big trouble, even in supplying Austin’s current population with enough water. By Roger Baker | The Rag Blog | February 6, 2014 First of three. I met a traveller … Continue reading

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Jack A. Smith :
Climate Change Confab Brings Too Little Too Late

Climate change activists in Warsaw, Friday, November 22, 2013, portray, from right, French President Francois Hollande, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, President Obama, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Photo by Czarek Sokolowski, / AP. Climate Change meeting in Warsaw brings … Continue reading

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Steve Horn :
Keystone XL’s Houston ‘Fork in the Road’

Houston’s refinery row. Image from Gulf Restoration Network / DaSmogBlog. Keystone XL fork in the road: TransCanada’s Houston Lateral Pipeline Houston’s LyondellBasell refinery is retooling itself for the looming feast of tar sands crude and fracked oil bounty that awaits … Continue reading

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