Supreme Court Guts Protections for Consumers, Environment

...ruling on the ability of states, watchdog groups and private citizens to protect individuals and seek legal recourse against corporations.

American Electric Power Company v. Connecticut (the “greenhouse gasses” case) has been widely reported as an affirmation of the powers of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). And it is—but not in the way most Americans would assume when hearing that phrase. It’s a bit surprising that the “liberal media”, presumably in favor of environmental protections, isn’t telling it like it is on this one.

The case doesn’t... (more)

Tags: supreme court, state's rights, consumer protection, environmental protection

The Presidio Golf Course Has Love Fore the Environment

The Presidio golf course is one of the Presidio’s greatest attractions, with amazing panoramic views and a rich history. But, now the world is honoring the course for being a leader in environmentally sensitive golf course management. By capturing the highly-regarded Turfgrass Excellence Award in the public category of the Golf Superintendents Association of Northern California, course superintendent Brian Nettz can say with confidence that the greens at the Presidio course are truly greener.

The Presidio was built in 1895, making it the second oldest in Northern California. But by using... (more)

Tags: san francisco, golf, presidio golf course, green course

Pope Talks Environment, Not Overpopulation

Pope Benedict XVI has called for urgent action to protect the environment, saying that climate change and natural catastrophes threaten the rights to life, food, health — and ultimately peace. Yet, in keeping with the Vatican’s conservative nature as the last vestige of the ancient Roman Empire, he didn’t mention world overpopulation as another aspect of the environmental catastrophe facing the earth.

He instead called on advanced societies to adopt "more sober lifestyles," reducing energy consumption and favoring energy-efficient policies. He encouraged research into ways to... (more)

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Toxic Tours by Communities for a Better Environment

Taking the Toxic Tour is definitely not a touristy thing to do, but it's a certainly a tour that is quite eye-opening. Led by the Communities for a Better Environment organization, the Toxic Tour is designed to show the effects of pollution on marginalized communities in the county. The tour starts inside the CBE office where we get information showing the relation of people of color to Toxic Release Facilities in Los Angeles County and let me tell you, I was shocked to find out the percentage of homes, schools, places of business next to facilities they had no business being next to, specifically... (more)

Tags: los angeles, environment

Decision-making step by step

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To make sure that you are making an honest decision and that your mind is not set, answer these three questions: First, do you know what you want to achieve? Second, what criteria are important for your decision? Third, what are your options?

What do you want?

In an environment in which action is considered a virtue and contemplation a waste of time, we can often backtrack bad situations to decisions that were made before anyone had spent the time to think what the decision was all about. This holds for both personal life and the corporate world.

During my... (more)

Tags: business, self-improvement

Out of the Classroom Lessons in Success

...that will enable any individual who truly wants to succeed to launch their career on solid footing.

As the world’s economies become more interconnected and globalization continues, our children and young adults will need to function in an increasing hyper competitive business environment. They need to go beyond what’s taught in their formal school setting to find their path to success.

Cynthia Kocialski is the author of Out of the Classroom Lessons in Success and Startup From The Ground Up. In the past 15 years, she has been involved in dozens of start-ups and has ... (more)

Tags: parenting, business, books, personal growth, non-fiction, entrepreneurship, teen, self-improvement, personal development, mentoring

2012: How to Prepare for the Apocalypse

... is the time to make your intentions and feelings known to the world; help build a new meme, paradigm. Remember, you don’t want to be against something; that just adds more power to what you are against. What are you for? If you are reading this, you are on the internet. Are you for a better environment? Do you want clean and natural food for you and your children? Do you support clean energy, an end to pollution, peace, helping the poor, homeless, the hungry? Now is the time to promote and share your feelings. By being public about how you really feel, you are telling the Universe that you ... (more)

Tags: 2012, apocalypse, how to

Argos: Outbound, Chapter 12

...of hundreds of thousands of citizens. The displacements had increased the pressure upon the plantations to build more communities, which in turn decreased the available land for expansion of the plantations, impacting yields. But within a decade of these changes, additional impacts upon the environment caused sharp drops in crop yields, and the wealth his family had enjoyed could only be sustained through further land sales. James’ family steadily left the land and relocated to cities within El Salvadore, and eventually, the United States and Europe. James had moved with his small... (more)

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It Does Pay To Take A Stand

... the impact was very real, swift and made many U.S. Senators in Congress blink. It's really nice when this happens. The Internet is supposed to be the final frontier (let's face it, we'll never get on board The Enterprise), and a free space, whereby we Earthlings can do a walkabout without big government sticking their noses into our freedoms. They certainly have been trying to take some of our rights away for the last ten years, and we really need to continue to be vigilant watchdogs of this cyber environment. It's green here ... no noxious fumes or corrosion. We want to keep it that way.

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Saving the planet one soul at a time

Recently there’s a lot of doomsday talk in the media; the environment and the economy especially seem to be deteriorating, at an increasingly rapid rate. There are many reasons offered for these two great concerns: the Occupy movement blames systemic income inequality, and David Suzuki blames environmental degradation on lackadaisical regulation by governments and large, insufficiently regulated corporations. What’s interesting is how closely tied these two Great Problems facing our world actually are. And the source of these has little to do with us as individuals and much more to do with... (more)

Tags: environment, consumerism, personal growth, extinction, spirituality, population, ecology, carrying capacity, resource depletion