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Issues: Moving Beyond Oil

Google's Schmidt: "Solving Every Problem At Once"

December 2, 2008

Posted by Phil Gutis in Green Enterprise , Living Sustainably , Moving Beyond Oil , Solving Global Warming

Tags:
cleanenergy, danreicher, economy, environment, ericschmidt, francesbeinecke, google, ralphcavangh, wendyschmidt

A few days ago, a bunch of us left NRDC's office and walked a few blocks downtown after work to hear a talk by Google Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt. The event -- organized by NRDC Trustee Wendy Schmidt --...

Getting Preachy

November 30, 2008

Posted by Phil Gutis in Living Sustainably , Moving Beyond Oil , Solving Global Warming

Tags:
automakers, climatechange, jameswomack, PresidentObama, washingtonpost

Maybe it's the start of the holiday season, which has long been recognized to increase stress. Or perhaps it was the news from India where terrorists killed almost 200 people and injured hundreds more. Whatever the cause, I've found myself...

Pink as the New Green

November 24, 2008

Posted by Phil Gutis in Green Enterprise , Living Sustainably , Moving Beyond Oil

Tags:
glass, insulation, newsweek, owenscorning, pink, pinkpanther, recyclebank, recycling

The imagery in this news release caught my eye: "the amount of waste glass diverted from landfills could form a two-lane glass highway that extends 1.3 times around the world." The news release came from Owens Corning, which produces "Pink"...

San Francisco to Detroit: Drop Dead?

November 22, 2008

Posted by Phil Gutis in Curbing Pollution , Green Enterprise , Living Sustainably , Moving Beyond Oil , Solving Global Warming

Tags:
automakers, betterway, bigthree, electriccar, infrastructure, michigan, oakland, sanfrancisco, sanjose

On the same day that congressional leaders threw in the towel on a bailout for the auto industry, three Bay Area mayors joined an innovative startup in backing a $1 billion plan to create the modern day Detroit. According to...

Yes We Can

November 5, 2008

Posted by Phil Gutis in Curbing Pollution , Green Enterprise , Moving Beyond Oil , Solving Global Warming , U.S. Law and Policy

Tags:
buckscounty, changeinwashington, climate, election08, energy, fairlesshills, solar, ussteel, wind, yeswecan

I'm not much of a party guy so my husband, our laptops and assorted dogs spent last night  sprawled around our family room watching the election returns. We'd often speak over the drone of the talking heads to blurt out...

Oily, Day Two

September 18, 2008

Posted by Phil Gutis in Curbing Pollution , Living Sustainably , Moving Beyond Oil , Solving Global Warming , The Media and the Environment , U.S. Law and Policy

Tags:
bigoil, energylegislation, politico, tomfriedman

Day two and the feeling of being dunked in oil hasn't lifted. In fact, given the financial news rocking Wall Street and the soaring price of oil futures, I'm left feeling greasier than ever. The latest reports from Washington find the...

Oily

September 17, 2008

Posted by Phil Gutis in Curbing Pollution , Living Sustainably , Moving Beyond Oil , Solving Global Warming , The Media and the Environment , U.S. Law and Policy

Tags:
energylegislation, losangelestimes

I woke up feeling more than a bit greasy this morning. It was almost as if I someone had snuck into my bedroom and dumped a barrel or two of oil on me. And my shower didn't help all that much....

Substance Abuse and Promiscuity

September 10, 2008

Posted by Phil Gutis in Moving Beyond Oil , The Media and the Environment , U.S. Law and Policy

Tags:
InteriorDepartment, oilindustry, scandal

"Sexual relationships with prohibited sources cannot, by definition, be arms-length." So wrote the Inspector General of the Department of Interior today in an eye-popping report decrying "a culture of substance abuse and promiscuity" in the Bush Administration program charged with collecting...

Crack Cocaine and Oil

July 23, 2008

Posted by Phil Gutis in Living Sustainably , Moving Beyond Oil , Solving Global Warming

Tags:
energy, gasprices, oil, oiladdiction, renewables, SUVs, tomfriedman

Last night, as I drove home from the train, an SUV came speeding up behind me and sat on the tail of my hybrid. I was in the mode of seeing how high I could get my gas mileage --...

The Explorer Has to Go

June 26, 2008

Posted by Phil Gutis in Green Enterprise , Living Sustainably , Moving Beyond Oil , The Media and the Environment

Tags:
adage, explorer, ford, honda, neanderthals, woolymammoths

I'll admit it. There's a Ford Explorer towering over the Honda Civic hybrid in our driveway. A gas-guzzling monster of an SUV that my husband inherited years ago. But it will not be there much longer.Yep, rising gas prices and...

It'll Cost You

June 18, 2008

Posted by Phil Gutis in Curbing Pollution , Living Sustainably , Moving Beyond Oil , The Media and the Environment , U.S. Law and Policy

Tags:
alliancetosaveenergy, fuelsurcharge, georgia, hollyspring, speeding, usatoday

Couldn't resist this nugget from the front page of today's USA Today: "Speeders to Pay Extra for Police Fuel."According to the paper, the City Council of suburban Holly Springs, GA, decided to help cover the spiraling cost of gasoline by...

Musings of a Desk Jockey

August 30, 2007

Posted by Phil Gutis

Tags:
consuming, ecologically-sustainable-economies, international-forum-on-globalization

I'm a desk jockey. I drive a vintage law partners desk that was inherited by NRDC a long time ago from the very generous law firm of Simpson, Thacher, which handles many of NRDC's general counsel type issues on a...

Phil Gutis
Phil Gutis
Director of Communications
New York City
I'm NRDC's Director of Communications so Switchboard and NRDC.org are ultimately my responsibility. (Cheers or...
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