I made him, and you can too (PDF). Printed on one-side-used paper, of course.

(via Jacket Copy)

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The Bush administration’s so often pitted economic concerns against environmental ones, namely claiming that the former will suffer if the latter are addressed. But today, a new book’s come out that argues the two concerns can, in fact, be resolved simultaneously. In The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems, socio-environmental justice leader Van Jones asserts that “The best answer to our ecological crisis also responds to our socioeconomic crisis.”

That answer’s what Van — founder of Green for All and an organizer for Green Jobs Now — describes as the Green Collar Economy that could be created via a “Green New Deal.” Such a green deal would create a whole bunch of green-collar jobs: middle-skill, family-supporting, career-track jobs that contribute “to preserving or enhancing environmental quality” and mostly “require more education than a high-school diploma, but less than a four-year degree.”

Van kicks off his book with the story of a family that survived Hurricane Katrina. “The Katrina story illustrates clearly the two crises we face in the United States: radical socioeconomic inequality and rampant environmental destruction,” Van says. He points out that today, environmentalism and social justice issues are divided into separate camps — then goes on to show that both environmental and social justice issues can be resolved simultaneously by pursuing a green economy.

“The solution for the economy is simple,” Van says. “Deliberately cut demand for energy and intelligently increase its supply. Those two steps will bring supply and demand back into balance, stabilizing energy costs and eventually lowering them. When energy prices settle and come down, all prices settle and come down—and we can begin to grow the economy again.”

Of course, achieving that solution’s not all that simple. Van concedes that “the transition to a green-collar economy is not only a matter of economics and entrepreneurship; it is also a matter of policies and politics.” Van calls for a new coalition — of enviro-nonprofits, labor justice movements, and many other groups and individuals — to battle against the “industrial - petroleum complex.”

To illustrate his point, Van points to many existing programs all over the nation that are already achieving the goals he’s outlining — albeit on a smaller scale. Van’s hope’s to draw from these programs, scaling up with the next administration to achieve both environmental and social justice goals.

For me, Van’s book helps bring together two of my passions — fair trade and environmental activism — to examine them under a single lens. The Green Collar Economy’s an inspiring read that’ll make many activists think about new alliances with other groups pursuing seemingly different yet convergent goals.

[crossposted on BlogHer]

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>> The Green Bible for god-fearing environmentalists is printed with soy-based inks on FSC-certified paper — with eco-ish verses highlighted by a forest-green font. Writes Evangelical eco-activist J. Matthew Sleeth in the intro: “creation care is at the very core of our Christian walk.

>> Green, Inc. slams big enviro orgs as corruptions within the green movement. However, Mark Pawlosky points out in his review of the book in Grist: “MacDonald’s accusations are many and sweeping, but, for the most part, neither original nor revealing” — nor supported by specific examples, for that matter. “MacDonald wants the reader to accept her premise that the environmental movement has been irreparably corrupted merely because of corporate partnerships — i.e., guilt by association.”

>> The Cali bill to put a 25 cent fee on disposable plastic bags dies, thanks to strange, personal power plays between Cali assembly members. I guess for now, anti-plastic-bag enviros will have to look to local governments.

>> IKEA’s officially bagged the disposable bag, as it promised back in April. Your options now: BYOB, buy YO reusable B, or go bagless altogether.

Image via greenletterbible.com

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>> I got the Tree of Happiness award, and so here are six things that make me happy: good sushi, quiet solo bike rides home, nice SoCal weather, Netflix for the most part, warm showers, and clean sheets. I pass the award on to the Worsted Witch, Open the Future, Bike Girl, the Beer Activist, sew green, and Best of LA.

>> Save obscure words from oblivion! Fubsy and skirr may be excised from a dictionary published by Collins unless you start using them. (via ideas)

>> 10 Books Not To Read Before You Die. Is your reading list getting overwhelming? “The best way to fight the massed ranks of recommended books is with an offensively glib and, if possible, ill-informed reason for not bothering with them.” I feel a combo of pride and shame in admitting I’ve read 7 of them. (via ideas)

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>> The latte-sipper as freaky liberal. Why’s “freakiness is associated with froth and whip”? Steve McNutt does a survey to find out. Summary:

Of the nine people I spoke with who identified themselves as liberal, six of them were latte-drinkers…. Everyone I spoke with outside of Potomac Adventist Book & Health Food Store identified as conservative, but four of them like lattes.

Read on for “The correlation coefficient relating the number of Starbucks locations to Obama voting.” (via 3qd)

>> Sex in Crisis: How the Religious Right Is Trying to Ruin Sex for Everyone. “The Religious Right was most effective where it was able to formulate its arguments in secular terms,” i.e. the language of psychological health.

Over and over, young people are told that self-restraint is self-empowerment. Scholastic or athletic achievement is presented as mutually exclusive with sexual activity; the prospects for a strong and happy future marriage are said to be in inverse relationship to premarital experience….

The refurbished focus on psychological damage in sexually conservative arguments manages to lend to the current state of conversation a sense that it is both pro-woman and pro-equality — even when it is neither.

That’s from an excerpt of Dagmar Herzog’s Sex in Crisis: The New Sexual Revolution and the Future of American Politics. (via 3qd)

>> Creative people have paradoxical sexual energy? In a Psychology Today article titled “Ten paradoxical traits of the creative personality”:

They seem to have quite a strong dose of eros, or generalized libidinal energy, which some express directly into sexuality. At the same time, a certain spartan celibacy is also a part of their makeup; continence tends to accompany superior achievement. Without eros, it would be difficult to take life on with vigor; without restraint, the energy could easily dissipate.

That’s an excerpt from Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s Creativity: The Work and Lives of 91 Eminent People. (via kottke)

>> The greenest way to drink your coffee in the office, explained by Slate’s Green Lantern. Step 1: reuse an old mug.

Photo by ChrisB in SEA

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Just discovered Salon’s Literary Guide to the World — a travel guide devoted to the literature of a place. Click on Mexico, and you get a list of books ranging from Calvino to Paz.

Judging from the logo on the top left corner, the guide seems to have some tie in with the Travel Channel. I’m a little disappointed LA isn’t on there — yet — but then I suppose I don’t really need a guide for the city I live in. Anyway — An interesting resource by which to build reading lists in preparation for future trips –

On a completely different note: Diagram’s latest issue’s got a sadly funny map: “Mapping Grief: An Active Approach to Grief Resolution.” See what happens when “grief phenomena” are drawn as triangles to represent mountains, then placed in a three-part timeline.

Screenshot from Salon

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A twice-weekly sharing of eco-shwag.

Today’s giveaway is a copy of Dire Predictions: Understanding Global Warming — The illustrated guide to the findings of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).

Written by science professors Michael E. Mann and Lee R. Kump, Dire Predictions is intended for the layperson who wants to understand the wonky science behind climate change without going back to college for a science degree. Read the rest of my review here for more details.

Comment or email by Friday to get into the drawing, which’ll happen Saturday (more info on freebies here). US addresses only.

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Doom and gloom titles make me avoid the books and films that have them, but I think I must be an exception because green books and films sure do like those fear-inducing names. Do you like scary books? Or at least scary-sounding ones? Then pick up the latest enviro-book with a forbidding title: Dire Predictions: Understanding Global Warming — The illustrated guide to the findings of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).

Written by science professors Michael E. Mann and Lee R. Kump, Dire Predictions is intended for the layperson who wants to understand the wonky science behind climate change without going back to college for a science degree. Basically, the book takes the findings of the IPCC — you know, the United Nations panel that won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize along with Al Gore — about global climate change and puts it in a language the average person has a chance at following.

For those who belatedly wish you listened during high school science classes, Dire Predictions can help you catch up on the basic stuff! The basic principles of atmospheric circulation, the reason for the four seasons, and many other basic scientific stuff’s all covered — and illustrated! — in this book.

That said, Dire Predictions at times reads like a dry textbook — so you may find your eyes glazing over from time to time. Despite the authors’ efforts to make the book easy-to-read and engaging, Dire Predictions, while readable, is still loaded with rather dense, wonky prose and geek speak.

Still, read the book and you’ll have excellent science-based rebuttals to the arguments brought up by the few remaining climate change skeptics. Just don’t get too depressed by the gruesome and dire consequences that’ll result if we don’t work to combat climate change now. Some tips from the blogosphere on keeping positive in the face of climate change:

>> Shannon Moore, aka smoo, at Local Warming urges you not to get depressed about global warming: “Global warming is depressing. But here’s the paradox- I can’t afford to get depressed about it. Once I get depressed I feel overwhelmed and hopeless and do nothing. The reality is that we people can only take so much bummer before we start breaking down. So regardless of the reality of the situation I choose optimisim because I function better on it. ”

>> Umbra of Grist recommends a coping strategy she calls “selective caring”: “It’s the way we all keep positive. How can we eat breakfast every day, given what’s happening in Darfur? Through deciding where we can make a difference, and understanding that there are other areas that we can know about, but not act upon, whether through choice or circumstance.”

What is your emotional coping strategy when scary thoughts about global warming pop up?

[crossposted on BlogHer]

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A twice-weekly sharing of eco-shwag.

Today’s giveway’s a copy of Alan Weisman’s book, “The World Without Us.”

The World Without Us” examines what seemingly-indestructible edifices will quickly disintegrate without our presence — and what material legacies will remain of human life long after we disappear as a species. Because the book covers so much ground — from the history of the Hagia Sophia to today’s virtual water trade in Kenyan flowers — “The World Without Us” sometimes reads as a compendium of bits of sociocultural histories you’ve always wanted to learn more about but never got around to exploring on your own.

Read my review of the book here, then comment or email by Sunday to get into the drawing, which’ll happen Monday. US addresses only.

This freebie’s the third green LA girl giveaway in celebration of the Bloggy Giveaways Quarterly Carnival.

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A twice-weekly sharing of eco-shwag.

Today’s freebie is a copy of Seven Wonders for a Cool Planet, a 120-page booklet written by Eric Sorensen and others at the nonprofit think tank Sightline Institute and published by the Sierra Club.

All seven “wonders” covered in this book — from the condom to the clothesline — are ALL uber-efficient objects that are both affordable and readily available. While all seven of these items are eco-friendly, efficient inventions in and of themselves, each also serves as a synecdoche for larger environmental issues.

Read my review of the book here, then comment or email by Sunday to get into the drawing, which’ll happen Monday. US addresses only.

This freebie’s the third green LA girl giveaway in celebration of the Bloggy Giveaways Quarterly Carnival.

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