J.B. MacKinnon

Nov 12, 2024 | hakaimagazine.com | J.B. MacKinnon

1. A reckoningIt’s a blustery day in the autumn of 2023, and I’m standing in a roadside pullout in Northern California, looking at the past and future of the Klamath River. Immediately upstream I see Iron Gate Dam—17 stories tall, nearly four times as wide— completely blocking its red-rock canyon. There are four such dams, with Iron Gate as the first and largest, in 60 kilometers of river rising to the northeast.

Sep 4, 2024 | bloomberg.com | J.B. MacKinnon

Listen: The Practical Economics of Reaching Net ZeroRamping down global emissions is achievable in terms of cost. But until the US and other rich countries assume a war footing, we don’t stand a chance of meeting critical climate goals.

Mar 27, 2024 | orionmagazine.org | J.B. MacKinnon

OF ALL THE FEELINGS said to sweep over us in wild places — awe, peace, a sense of the divine — there are a few that rarely get mentioned. My last two-week trip into the woods, for example, was frankly depressing. The year had been a cold one, and the forest was not its usual refulgent self. A black bear was hanging around, skinny and sickly from the bad berry crop and probably bound for death by starvation in its winter den.

Jan 19, 2024 | cottagelife.com | J.B. MacKinnon

The most underestimated pleasure of winter is the cold. There are two standard responses to the coolest season. One, fashionably known by the Danish word hygge, meaning cozy conviviality, also goes by such names as hibernating, cocooning, and binge-watching. The idea is never to suffer so much as a draft. A heated house leads to a pre-heated car in a heated garage, then off to a heated workplace.

Jan 18, 2024 | sierraclub.org | Jessian Choy |Austyn Gaffney |Ben Jealous |J.B. MacKinnon

Rainforest Alliance and Hershey Sued for Falsely Claiming Fair Labor and Sustainability The class action lawsuit seeks to hold ecolabel certifiers accountable In this story: food and drink, environmental justice, labor, forests, environmental law Clean Energy Jobs, and Unionization, Are Moving Into the South The UAW’s recent strike could mark a turning point In this story: green jobs, labor Steel Mills Can Steal From the Least Powerful The story of Gary, Indiana, shows how In this story:...