Corporate officials “can’t decide whether they want to close it or to keep it going” I wrote last about the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan back in August. At that time, there was evidence that radiation was seeping into the Pacific Ocean with the potential for much more contamination on the horizon: TEPCO has been pumping the water into […]

Corporate malfeasance that harms the planet is not exclusively American It’s been two and a half years since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant complex in Japan began spewing radioactive material into the air, land, and sea after it was destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami. Since that time, much of the world has turned its attention elsewhere with most […]

Won’t somebody please think of the corporations???

In one of my favorite books of all time, Infinite Jest by the late David Foster Wallace, in an effort to raise money, the Organization of North American Nations (O.N.A.N.) has sold the naming rights to each year to corporations. It’s called “Subsidized Time” and, over the time frame of the book, these are the years:

CHRONOLOGY OF ORGANIZATION OF NORTH AMERICAN NATIONS’ REVENUE ENHANCING SUBSIDIZED TIME™, BY YEAR

1. Year of the Whopper
2. Year of the Tucks Medicated Pad
3. Year of the Trial-Size Dove Bar
4. Year of the Perdue Wonderchicken
5. Year of the Whisper-Quiet Maytag Dishmaster
6. Year of the Yushityu 2007 Mimetic-Resolution-Cartridge-View-Motherboard-Easy-To-Install-Upgrade For Infernatron/InterLace TP Systems For Home, Office Or Mobile (sic)
7. Year of Dairy Products from the American Heartland
8. Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment
9. Year of Glad

It’s an hilarious bit extrapolation of today’s trend of corporate naming of stadiums and sports venues. However, one Michigan Republican seems hellbent on taking us down that slippery slope far faster than you might imagine.

Click through for details.

I’m a big fan of Clean Water Action and our Michigan team is rock solid. What is Clean Water Action all about? This is what they are all about: Clean Water Action is an organization of one million members working to empower people to take action to protect America’s waters, build healthy communities and to make democracy work for all […]

I am one of those environmentally conscious liberals who has, over the years, had an unfriendly word or ten to say about Congressman John Dingell. For many years he fought the raising of CAFE mileage standards and that really bothered me. But, since that time, I can honestly say that Congressman Dingell has become someone I not only admire, he […]

Last October, the Obama administration announced that it is considering raising auto fuel economy standards to as high as 62 mpg by 2025. The move went mostly under the radar. The White House has said it is considering a range of fuel economy standards for 2017 to 2025, with 62 mpg being on the high end, and the alliance said […]

Last week in Ann Arbor, Van Jones spoke at the Ecology Center‘s 40th anniversary. Held on the campus of the University of Michigan, the event was a fundraiser but also an opportunity for Van Jones to share his thoughts on Michigan’s role in the environmental movement, the success of places like the Ecology Center and why now is not the […]