ENVIRONMENTAL LEGAL BLOGS

HEARST COMMUNICATIONS SEES ITS GREEN OPENING--AND TAKES IT

     A long ways from the newspaper era of William Randolph Hearst, Hearst Communications strives to keep up with changing times by launching a new website/weblog, The Daily Green.  Still in its Beta phase, the website's "advertising" seems to be limited to/oriented to "eco-friendly" groups like the Sierra Club and Earth Share.

     It's difficult to believe, that Hearst is not going somehow to try to produce spendable green from The Daily Green. However, the website's mission statement merely states:

We’re spending the summer creating what we hope will be a one-stop Web destination where the fast-growing community of green consumers can find each other and everything they need to know to embrace a more energy-conscious, natural foods-oriented and environment-friendly lifestyle.

The Daily Green.com is published by the Digital Media unit of Hearst Magazines. Hearst Corporation, the parent company of Hearst Magazines, has been at the forefront of raising awareness for and addressing environmental concerns.

...

Let us know what you’d like to see on this site!

     For the complete mission statement, go to http://www.thedailygreen.com/whoweare.

     The website initially seems to promote a blend of green in a strong shade of blue (left-leaning politics), promoting as the site does The Huffington Post, a blog from John Edwards and the Sundance Channel.  You can check out the site at the above-referenced links.

BUT, BUT-I THOUGHT THE DEBATE WAS OVER

From today's Standard-Freeholder (Canadian):

The current debate about global warming is "completely irrational," and people need to start taking a different approach, say two Ottawa scientists.

Carleton University science professor Tim Patterson said global warming will not bring about the downfall of life on the planet.

Patterson said much of the up-to-date research indicates that "changes in the brightness of the sun" are almost certainly the primary cause of the warming trend since the end of the "Little Ice Age" in the late 19th century. Human emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the gas of concern in most plans to curb climate change, appear to have little effect on global climate, he said.

"I think the proof in the pudding, based on what (media and governments) are saying, (is) we're about three quarters of the way (to disaster) with the doubling of CO2 in the atmosphere," said Patterson. "The world should be heating up like crazy by now, and it's not. The temperatures match very closely with the solar cycles."

CARBON OFFSET MARKET-PROBLEMS

     From yesterday's Financial Times:

Companies and individuals rushing to go green have been spending millions on "carbon credit" projects that yield few if any environmental benefits.

A Financial Times investigation has uncovered widespread failings in the new markets for greenhouse gases, suggesting some organisations are paying for emissions reductions that do not take place.

Others are meanwhile making big profits from carbon trading for very small expenditure and in some cases for clean-ups that they would have made anyway.

     Al Gore, phone home.