Finding the Environmental Blog Community

A tip to c h a n d r a s u t r a for getting the conversation rolling.

Yes. Environmentalists blog. However, a really good blog is a reflection personal views and thought processess, an online think space, etc. The environmental group blogs are nice tools (GreenPeace) for giving voice to members and ways to create volume around core messages. I have run across thousands of blogs that hit on clean air, water, river quality, birding, campaigning, health, labor and justice issues but the fun blogs are more personal and I don't think the movement (organizations) are comfortable letting staff kick out personal opinions on subjects just yet so most likely you are going to see more personal blogs (like this one) that are cranked out by environmentalists but not branded as such.

Keep the list rolling and links from comments will be pulled together into the list:

Environmental Blogs:

The collection sites of Environmental Blog Feeds:

NPO Blogs - running collection of nonprofit blog feeds.
Earth Blog @ the eco portal the environmentalism portal - useful links to environmental sites

Group or Campaign Blogs

Colorado Environment state environmental group blog on issues affecting Colorado.

Inner Purple Line

Green Media Toolshed staff blog on environmental communications.

Greenpeace Blog
Excellent content about Greenpeace initiatives, campaigns, and news

Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior Blog
A boat with a blog! Check out this excellent post about clear cutting in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia (includes narrated flash slideshow -- now that's wired enviro-blogging!)

Environmentalists as People Blogs

World Changing
Not specifically environmental but good related issues and content

Jon Stahl's Journal
Interesting, well-written, timely content on a variety of issues pertaining to sustainability and the environment

Geoweblog
Mostly related to physical geography but with an environmental edge

Nature Guy
Vancouver BC writer and all-round enviro-dude. New to the blogosphere but not the issues

Sustainablog
Everything about sustainability

David Suzuki Science Matters
OK... this is really just Suzuki's "Science Matters" Column but I like to pretend it's a blog

If you want the html for the page to add these links to your MT or Typepad blog leave your email in the comments and I'll shoot it back to you.

Comments

[Mel]

Hey thanks for reposting my list and continuing the dialogue!

I'd like to give you the URL's and maybe you could make the links live? Otherwise your readers could cut and paste them from this comment. Here you go!
Greenpeace Blog
Excellent content about Greenpeace initiatives, campaigns, and news

Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior Blog
A boat with a blog! Check out this excellent post about clear cutting in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia (includes narrated flash slideshow -- now that's wired enviro-blogging!)

World Changing
Not specifically environmental but good related issues and content

Jon Stahl's Journal
Interesting, well-written, timely content on a variety of issues pertaining to sustainability and the environment

Geoweblog
Mostly related to physical geography but with an environmental edge

Earth Blog @ the eco portal
Environmentalism portal - useful links to environmental sites

Nature Guy
Vancouver BC writer and all-round enviro-dude. New to the blogosphere but not the issues

Sustainablog
Everything about sustainability

David Suzuki Science Matters
OK... this is really just Suzuki's "Science Matters" Column but I like to pretend it's a blog

[Mel]

"I don't think the movement (organizations) are comfortable letting staff kick out personal opinions on subjects just yet so most likely you are going to see more personal blogs"

You've made a point that I think is of critical importance to any movement. Namely, that they have to understand that *the personal is political*. For me, my personal expression (whether it is poetry, fiction, journals, or blogging) is a means of connecting my feelings and ideas with the world around me. Taking what feels small and singular and realising it as a point of connection and bridge building with everyone and everything else. It's this interconnectedness of all things that is at the heart of what many organizations are speaking to with their campaigns.

I don't know about you but it's always the personal story that really tunes me in to a particular issue or event. It's the little details that can touch your heart or your mind and galvanize you about a cause. I think if organizations are going to be effective they have to be more open to the personal stories because, I feel, it's the personal stories that are one of the most effective means of awakening an interest in a critical issue.

I agree though that there is a limit to the nature of personal expression when tied to a larger organization. But this is simply a matter of editorial intelligence and sensible choices with regards to the kinds of stories they might feature.

[Brant]

Really enjoying reading through a fellow eco-warrior's blog. Visit my "Views From a Fishbowl" for the often boring, sometimes turbulent musings of a Bay Area forest blogger.

[Mel]

Glad you've added yourself, Brandt. I believe it's easy for people who already have established ties to organizations and campaigns to find each other. For me the problem is always (with any issue or organisation) access.

People who are new to any kind of outreach often have trouble finding community because many organizations and communities are very insular. Even the perception of insularity is enough to drive new comers away. It can be the difference between somebody getting involved or giving up out of frustration. This is especially important in terms of attracting a wider audience.

Most importantly, those who are trying to achieve related goals independent of organizations should be able to find each other easily and quickly. That's possible through the vast range of emerging technologies such as blogs and social software. I really believe in the power of these tools to connect people - especially people with vision!

[Elisa Murray]

I'd like to (modestly) add Northwest Environment Watch's Cascadia Scorecard Weblog to the list. While it specifically looks at Northwest news and issues, most of the themes we touch on are universal: http://cascadiascorecard.typepad.com/blog/

[Stephen Nodvin]

A major focus of my blog, Guns, Germs, and Steeled, is on environmental issues.

http://blog.nodvin.net/

Stephen Nodvin

[Goutham]

The site Pollution.net was launched recently. The site aims to serve as a knowledge base on pollution, environmental and conservation topics.
The Environmental Jobs section of the site contains links to environmental jobs updated daily.
The Environmental News section contains original press releases and links to syndicated news releases.
The Articles section contains original articles and links to syndicated articles.
Visitors interested in blogging can do so at Environmental Blogs. You can also find my blogs on global warming here.
The search engine
in pollution.net aims to return relevant information. This is done by performing search on a related set of terms put together by expert knowledge.

[Katy]

Please help us fight to keep a nature preserve from being destroyed in Armenia!

http://www.blogrel.com/category/shikahogh/ for more information.

[Clayton Northouse]

EPA is planning to scale back highly succesful toxic waste program.

The EPA recently announced a plan to roll back reporting under the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). This is the public’s only way to access what toxic chemicals are in their neighborhoods and how such chemicals are being released. Furthermore, publishing the pollution figures every year has pressured facilities to reduce their pollution. Companies have cut millions of pounds of toxic emissions because of TRI.

There are three proposals. First, the agency proposed changing the limited reporting threshold from 500 pounds to 5,000 pounds. Second, the EPA wants to remove the ban on limited reporting for the most toxic chemicals (PBTs like mercury, lead, etc.). Finally, EPA plans to cut the program in half and only collect the pollution reports every other year.

This issue is finally getting some coverage, such as this front page article from the Seattle Post Intelligencer http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/245592_polluters22.html and this story at Bush Greenwatch http://www.bushgreenwatch.org/ But, the EPA has tried its best to keep a low profile.

At OMB Watch, we are leading an effort to stop the rule change. We need to increase public awareness about this and stop the rule change from going into effect. We raise the pressure on the EPA. If you think you would like to weigh in on the issue, you can send comments to the EPA docket through our action alert: http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/ombwatch/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=1324

Here are some details on the proposed rule change:

Our recent story on how communities use TRI data http://www.ombwatch.org/article/articleview/3156/1/1?TopicID=

EPA's Fact Sheet on the changes
http://www.epa.gov/tri/tridata/modrule/phase2/Fact_Sheet.pdf

Our story on the proposal
http://www.ombwatch.org/article/articleview/3117/1/396

Thanks
Clayton Northouse
Information Policy Analyst
OMB Watch

[Curtis Johnson]

To my fellow environmentalists who despise Wal-Mart. Let's keep track of what are politicians are doing!

Hillary Clinton was on Wal-Mart's board of directors

WARD HARKAVY, VILLAGE VOICE, 2000 - Twice in three days last week, Hillary
Rodham Clinton basked in the adulation of cheering union members. Her
record
of supporting collective bargaining, however, is considerably worse than
wobbly. Pity the thousands of unionists at last Tuesday's state Democratic
convention who chanted her name, and the hundreds of retired Teamsters at
Thursday's luncheon in midtown who had interrupted their Founder's Day meal

to hear the corporate litigator turned union-loving Democrat deliver a
campaign speech.

They would have dropped their forks if they had heard that Hillary served
for six years on the board of the dreaded Wal-Mart, a union-busting
behemoth. If they had learned the details of her friendship with Wal-Mart,
they might have lost their lunches. . . In 1986, when Hillary was first
lady
of Arkansas, she was put on the board of Wal-Mart. Officials at the time
said she wasn't filling a vacancy. In May 1992, as Hubby's presidential
campaign heated up, she resigned from the board of Wal-Mart. Company
officials said at the time that they weren't going to fill her vacancy.

So what the hell was she doing on the Wal-Mart board? According to press
accounts at the time, she was a show horse at the company's annual meetings

when founder Sam Walton bused in cheering throngs to celebrate his
non-union
empire, which is headquartered in Arkansas, one of the country's poorest
states. According to published reports, she was placed in charge of the
company's "green" program to protect the environment. But nobody got
greener
than Sam Walton and his family. For several years in the '80s, he was
judged
the richest man in America by Forbes magazine. . .

Was Hillary the voice of conscience on the board for American and foreign
workers? Contemporary accounts make no mention of that. They do describe
her
as a "corporate litigator" in those days, and they mention, speaking of
environmental matters, that she also served on the board of Lafarge, a
company that, according to a press account, once burned hazardous fuels to
run its cement plants. . .

The Clintons depended on Wal-Mart's largesse not only for Hillary's regular

payments as a board member but for travel expenses on Wal-Mart planes and
for heavy campaign contributions to Bill's campaigns there and nationally.
.
.

Meanwhile, Wal-Mart's first lady, who also benefited from Wal-Mart stock,
solicits support from union workers. Which makes her words to the elderly
Teamsters last week especially poignant: "You can count on me to stand up
for the right to collectively bargain!" Right on, sister!

[Michael]

Hi,
This post is meant just for the author of this site.
We launched a few 'green' themed sites, and if you're having a slow blog day, I'm hoping you might mention one or two of them:
Green-Passions
http://www.green-passions.com

Vegan Passions
http://www.veganpassions.com

Vegetarian Passions
http://www.vegetarianpassions.com

Community Passions
http://www.communitypassions.com

Activist Passions
http://www.activistpassions.com
All our sites are 100% free, so this isn't a sales pitch.
Thanks for considering it,
Michael

[Howard W. Malone]

How does one get a foot in the door in the environmental community?

[Erik]

Here is a blog that focuses on a small island fighting an American golf course developer:

http://notesfromtheroad.com/guana.htm

[Anonymous Enviornmentalist]

Here is a blog from college students.

[Angie]

I like the forums mission. It is good to have information on such important issues. There is a great movie out there talking about the importance of organic farming. It is called "The Future of Food." Just one more thing to worry about...This is what inspired me to start my company, "Natural Order of Things."

[BTSO1001]

Bill Clinton (yes, THE Bill Clinton) is blogging his way through a visit to Africa where he is addressing several important issues, including climate change. Take a look:

http://www.clintonafrica.org

[Peter van der Helm]

Hi,

I just wanted to bring to your attention this campaign we are doing for Friends of the Earth Netherlands.
We are planting trees in different countries in the world, make a movie of it and publish it online sending people to the site to sign the petition.
Please see:

http://www.stopstealingourforests.org/

And these movies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JqmBUu1iRc
(Brussels)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yry2L6s4h3c
(Amsterdam)

Paris was done yesterday night (movie in the making), minimal 3 other countries have said to join.

Very best regards,
Peter van der Helm

[Brandon]

We recently launched a new site and blog on Environmental issues called Enduring Earth (http://www.enduringearth.com). We hope to use this platform to continue to raise awareness of environmental issues, including global warming and climate change. Check it out if you have a moment.