You can now listen to my talk about environmental justice and how it shows up on the landscape, from the Q Conference in Nashville back in April, as it's just been posted as a podcast. The video may be up next week, and I'll update this post with the link. In the talk I referred … Continue reading Mapping environmental injustice…
The Emerging Environmental Majority
Christina Larson at the Washington Monthly has an article that contains one of the best potted histories of American environmental movements (yes, plural) that I've seen lately. (She also explains why some of us reject the label environmentalist.) She traces the contribution of hunters, anglers, and foresters on the first wave of American environmental policies, … Continue reading The Emerging Environmental Majority
What do Haitians think about God and the Earthquake?
I asked Dr. Gerald Murray, an anthropologist and an expert on Haiti, and a Catholic, to write a blog post for Q Ideas about the religious response of people in Haiti to the earthquake a year ago. I know several American Christians who found their faith in the goodness of God rocked by the tragedy … Continue reading What do Haitians think about God and the Earthquake?
Famous Chief Seattle environmental speech is actually a Southern Baptist document
"All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man does not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand of it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself." Some of the most cherished words in the environmental movement were never uttered by the Native … Continue reading Famous Chief Seattle environmental speech is actually a Southern Baptist document
Children, Animals, and the Imago Dei
Two events for children are signs of life and expressions of the imago dei, the image of God, granted to humans. When kids' brains are filled with biodiversity instead of corporate-logo-diversity, they have the chance to think God's thoughts after him. When kids learn to love and train their pit bulldogs, they learn something about wise dominion and stewardship of the Creation.
Climate economics challenges left and right
As with climate science, the likely truth about climate economics is somewhere in the middle.
How front porches encourage loitering (aka “community”)
Public spaces are endangered in modern American landscapes. How can front-porch culture encourage spiritual loitering in a rat-race world?
Toyotas (and Fords) 600 times more dangerous than media reports
You are over 600 times more likely to die in an automobile fatality in ANY make of car than you are to die from Toyota's flawed acceleration system. Getting in a car is inherently dangerous because of the way we build our cities.
Interview: Climatologist weighs in on groundhog science
I asked noted climatologist Katharine Hayhoe to comment on the main atmospheric science question unfolding today. Can we rely on groundhog science when it comes to predicting the weather or the climate?
Walkability, Justice, and Healthy Cities
We have for several generations built our most significant places on the cheap: homes, office buildings, churches, libraries and the infrastructure that connects them, all built on the low bid. faithful communities serving the poor are beginning to ask questions about our responsibility not just to green our lives and our houses, but also to create healthy places that foster community and justice, beachheads of livability and vitality that can begin to spread across the city landscape.
Tilling and Keeping 