Blast Climate Deniers Into Space?
Blast climate deniers into space? That’s what Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the IPCC, jokingly suggested during a discussion with California Gov. Jerry Brown and Virgin Group chairman Richard Branson yesterday in San Francisco. Gov. Brown called deniers “cult-like lemmings who would take us over the cliff” and vowed to “fight them every step of the way” as he prepares to protect his state from the “huge problems” posed by climate change. See my story in Grist for details:… Read more
Tags: Blog, Journalism
Climate Deniers-in-Chief Run the Show in Durban
The disastrous Durban climate agreement shows once again that we can’t wait for “world leaders” to save us from catastrophe, I write in this week’s Nation. Solutions will come from the ground up–from citizen activists and visionary local governments–in defiance of the Climate Deniers-in-Chief who dominated Durban. See: http://www.thenation.com/article/165155/durban-where-climate-deniers-chief-run-show/. Durban: Where the Climate Deniers-in-Chief Run the Show Mark Hertsgaard December 14, 2011 | This article appeared in the January 2, 2012 edition of The Nation. Share 4 ||| Recommended by 0 | Text Size A | A | A Email|Print|Share|Single Page|Web Letter (0)|Write a Letter|Take Action|Subscribe Now A different and more dangerous breed of climate denier commanded the stage at… Read more
Tags: Blog, Journalism
Why the Keystone Victory Matters
Don’t be fooled by the nay-sayers at the Council on Foreign Relations and even among some environmentalists: the Obama administration’s backtracking on the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada is a major victory against climate change. And HOW it was won is as important as WHAT was won, as I explain in this week’s lead editorial in The Nation:… Read more
Tags: Blog, Journalism
Occupy, Climate and Obama
Al Jazeera English has just published my commentary on the Occupy movement, climate change and president Obama, which argues that the movement could still redeem the failed promise of Obama’s presidency by pushing him to champion more progressive policies–as has in fact just occurred with his administration’s announcement that it will delay a decision on the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline from Canada. ‘Occupy Wall Street’ and Obama If ‘Occupy’ keeps up the pressure, Obama could be compelled to adopt more progressive policies. By Mark Hertsgaard Last Modified: 10 Nov 2011 14:03 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – The bursting to life of the Occupy Wall Street movement is the most hopeful development in American politics since Barack Obama was elected president three years ago this… Read more
Tags: Journalism
“A Great Green Wall for Africa” in Le Monde Diplo
Le Monde Diplomatique, the monthly foreign affairs publication of the venerable French newspaper Le Monde, has published my article, “A Great Green Wall for Africa,” in its French, German and Spanish editions of November 2011. An excerpt from the French edition follows below; to read the entirety, you need to subscribe online. An English language version of the article has been published by The Nation but for the moment is behind a pay wall. I’ll post an electronic version when it’s available, though of course you can always buy a hard copy on the newsstand or, better yet, subscribe! This article will also be published soon by the two leading newspapers in The Netherlands and Italy, the NRC Handelsblad and La Repubblica, respectively. Le Monde Diplomatique, November… Read more
Tags: Journalism
Memo to Congress: No Secret Farm Bill
The Nation, November 2, 2011, by Mark Hertsgaard: Providing yet another reason for its 9 percent approval rating, Congress is attempting to write the nation’s next farm bill in secrecy—sneaking it into law as part of the deficit reduction package to be produced by the “supercommittee.” This anti-democratic maneuvering could determine the shape of one of the most important—and controversial—pieces of legislation Congress considers, sometimes called the food bill because of its enormous influence over what Americans (especially children) eat, what food costs (here and overseas), whether our food is safe to eat and whether 45 million impoverished Americans (again, about half of them children) continue to receive food stamps. The bill also helps determine whether agriculture… Read more
Tags: Journalism


