A TOUR OF MY PAGEFLAKE

MY PAGEFLAKE


RSS Feeds:

The RSS feeds I’ve chosen reflect the spectrum of eco-minded subjects and literary styles that one generally finds on environmental websites and blogs; there are chatty musings and formal essays, personal accounts and factual news bulletins, on feeds with different levels of expertise and radicalism. With the exception of UrbanConservative.com (whose staunchly right-wing posts dismiss global warming as liberal propaganda), these RSS feeds share a concern for the environmental crisis, and their posts are cast as agents for positive change.

On the lighter side of my RSS feeds is ecomoderate.com, whose posts are written by “Linda,” and mix personal asides with folksy advice. Typical posts debate the eco dilemmas of daily life: comparing the energy usage of microwaves versus conventional ovens, and the benefits of recycling your tennis shoes. This is a quirky but practical feed.

Surprisingly the RSS feed from the esteemed Natural Resources Defense Council features chatty, intimate blogs written in the first person, often by high-profile authors outside the eco sphere. Onearth.org addresses environmental issues with an emphasis on the writer’s personal perspective and experience.

An RSS feed of a more radical bent is Will Potter’s GreenIsTheNewRed.com. Will injects his unique brand of informed wit and indignation into his updates on the eco front, with special emphasis on the U.S. government’s ongoing harassment of eco activists. His pithy post “Garden Gnome Liberation Front” is a hilarious classic.

For straightforward news updates on the latest global environmental developments, I rely on two RSS feeds: The United Nations Environment Programme (unep.org) and environmentnews.it. Each of these feeds casts a wide net, with objective reporting on such diverse international subjects as hazardous waste in Nairobi, the impact of natural disasters on worldwide refugees, and the death rate from air pollution in Canada.

The Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies also addresses every aspect of the global environment in its scholarly but lively RSS feed, e360.yale.edu. It addresses heavyweight topics like water scarcity and the risks of nanotechnology with an unexpected boldness; its expert authors often suggest radical, provocative solutions to environmental crises.

Finally, for entertaining bits of eco-oriented material, there is the RSS feed of greendaily.com. A smattering of lightweight, topical issues, the feed often inadvertently borders on farce—as in its posts about the “Eco-tini” vodka cocktail promoting New York City’s parks, and the billboard of green lettuce that McDonald’s recently installed in Chicago. Consider it diverting eco-lite.


Active Searches:

As the focus of this blog is radical environmental activism, I limit my search terms for Universal News and Blog searches to the single word “ecoterrorism.” It brings up a wide enough range of material on the subject, running the gamut from straight news reports to colorful opinion pieces.



Zotero Bibliography:

Of the four books listed in the bibliography, two are anthologies of essays on a broad spectrum of environmental subjects; the other two books specifically address radical environmentalism, the subject of my blog, from negative points of view.

American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau is a comprehensive historical survey; its collection of over one hundred entries embraces environmental writing in its broadest sense—essays, letters, fiction and even song lyrics offer a valuable scholarly context for contemporary eco issues.

Conserving the Environment, part of the popular Opposing Viewpoints Series, juxtaposes pro and con essays on topics relating to environmental problems, with an emphasis on conservation and energy sources. The anthology’s format fosters critical thinking on environmental issues, and offers an objective view of both sides of heated eco debates.

In Eco-Terrorism: Radical Environmental and Animal Liberation Movements, Don Liddick cloaks his anti-environmental stance in facts and figures about the animal rights’ movement. In Environmental Mafia, Richard O’Leary argues that environmentalist activists would trample our liberties in the name of wildlife protection and land preservation.



Social Bookmarking Soulmate: Del.ic.ious flake: Newearthling

Newearthling’s bookmarks focus on a few core environmental issues, and the government and corporate policies that impact them; their main topics are energy conservation, food crises and carbon footprinting. Newearthling offers a valuable, select list of primary and secondary sources that are heavy on facts and light on editorializing.