California is close to having a high speed rail (HSR) train between LA and the Bay Area. Unfortunately, NIMBYs in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and Atherton are trying to scuttle this plan to get us off of Southwest planes and into high speed trains when shuttling between these two huge population centers. (more…)
Japan is undergoing a huge shift in politics. For only the second time since 1955, Japan’s dominant Liberal Democratic Party lost its control of the House in the Diet, all but assuring Yuko Hatoyama will become the next Prime Minister. How long this change will last is uncertain: Japan in some ways is like the [...]
When one thinks of China, “green” does not come into mind, unless it’s the 50 yuan note, or the algae that often infests its water: by most accounts, two-thirds of China’s rivers and lakes are contaminated. Most of the nation’s electricity needs come from coal, a scary prospect from a nation of over one billion [...]
I have written a lot this year about the rewards I’ve found in gardening–with much help, of course. Luckily there are great magazines out there, such as Sunset, to which I can refer for advice. Nearby is also a fantastic nursery, also named Sunset, where I can ask my questions and treat myself to another [...]
I’m very disappointed with Van Jones’ decision to resign as White House environmental adviser over the weekend. I just started reading The Green Collar Economy and while I do not agree with all of his ideas, his book is an excellent read that explains how creating jobs and saving the environment are not mutually exclusive. [...]
Having grown up in Silicon Valley, I am proud of how this area has reinvented itself time and time again. Santa Clara County (sorry, San Francisco and San Mateo County, you’re not the valley) survived the defense industry meltdown of the 1990s, the dot-com bust earlier this decade, and now will be the nerve center [...]
Ah, Beverly Hills. 90210 has a mythical quality to it–unless you live in LA. Indeed, BH is a guilty pleasure with its delightful people watching, decadent boutiques, and posh hotels. I usually cringe when I drive there, however. Many classic homes have been demolished in favor of garish McMansions, and stop signs appear to be [...]
If you do not subscribe to Foreign Policy, at least buy the September/October issue. Much of it is dedicated to oil and where it will be in the coming decades. The issue is full of lively debate over the future of this volatile commodity, most of which is disturbing. We love to disparage oil, but [...]
Farmers’ markets have been one of my favorite indulgences for years. I think the first one I found was in Towson, Maryland, when I attended Towson State University for my junior year in college. I remember walking to the Super-Fresh supermarket on York Road a few days after settling into Scarborough Hall. Super-Fresh was anything [...]
One image that sticks in my mind from reading Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring is the wanton spraying of chemicals the US Department of Agriculture imposed all over the nation in the years following World War II. Carson described this mentality as part of our country’s cold war mindset, a society with a blind belief that [...]