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March 10, 2008
Look, up in the sky: It's the green governor
Sacramento's not such a bad place: The summer heat and lousy air quality are balanced by the outdoor recreational opportunities and an unpretentious, small-town feel. But if you're a international movie star used to the bright lights of Hollywood and you somehow get yourself elected governor of California, surely you can't be expected to actually live there.
The first governor to fit that description, Ronald Reagan, had nothing against Sacramento per se, but Nancy found the historic governor's mansion near the Capitol a dump. The state built a new residence in the suburbs that became a white elephant after Jerry Brown decided he preferred a mattress on the floor of a studio apartment. Today we have Arnold Schwarzenegger, who at first toyed with the idea of buying a home and moving his family to Sacramento, then took up residence in a hotel penthouse across the street from his office. But he missed his kids in Brentwood, and he already had a private jet at his disposal, so of late he's been flying home at night and back in the morning. It's a three-hour round trip, not that extreme a commute in California today.
The governor pays for his jet-set commute from his own pocket -- more than half-a-million dollars a year. But wait? Isn't this the same Arnold Schwarzenegger who last year was featured on magazine covers as an environmental hero? The same one who flexed his muscles to lead California's fight against global warming? The one who must be aware of the vast amount of global-warming gases and air pollution his jet is spewing?
Yep, same guy. The Los Angeles Times' Evan Halper and Michael Rothfield broke the story last week:
The governor's Gulfstream jet does nearly as much damage to the environment in one hour as a small car does in a year, according to figures compiled by the Helium Report, an online publication for buyers of luxury items.Administration officials say Schwarzenegger is well aware of this and makes amends by purchasing pollution credits for the carbon dioxide his jet releases. The credits fund efforts worldwide to reduce greenhouse gases, such as projects that harness energy from wind, landfill gas and farm waste, although they don't eliminate the pollution from Schwarzenegger's plane.
Flying the Gulfstream and other jets the governor uses costs as much as $10,000 an hour. Some conservationists say Schwarzenegger is essentially attempting to buy a clean conscience with the carbon offsets, which cost about $43 an hour.
"He has been very bold on all these [environmental] initiatives, so it is sad to see him undercut that," said Denis Hayes, president of the Bullitt Foundation, a philanthropy that funds conservation efforts in Western states. "If you are going to be talking about an issue, you should be living the reality you are trying to embrace."
Don't get me started on pollution credits, but it's better than doing nothing. To be fair, Arnold shouldn't be singled out as the only climate hypocrite in government. Even the greenest members of Congress fly back to their home districts every weekend, and some members of the Legislature who live as far from Sacramento as the Bay Area drive back and forth every day, in state-supplied vehicles. As someone who lived in the Big Tomato for a few years, back when it was hard to find an espresso, I know about the lure of I-80 or Southwest Airlines on Friday afternoon. If you've got your own jet, why not every day?
Here's why not: This governor has gone out on a limb to promote himself as a global warming warrior. It's a laudable stance that has genuinely helped move America toward a greener politics. This latest flap is a rare PR slipup for a master of the game, but it could make some Californians – like, all of us who don't own a jet – think twice about how well his walk matches his talk.
October 18, 2007
Nuke free's the way to be
This is not about celebrities.
If this was about celebrities, people would say "What do they know?" and "Their job is to entertain, they should just stay out of politics" and "Who do they think they are?"
So I won't tell you what they know. Instead, I'll tell you what I know.
- Producing tons of radioactive waste (tons per power plant, per year, which then needs to be safely transported and stored and will remain radioactive for tens of thousands of years) is not sustainable, and it is not clean energy.
- Spending billions of taxpayer dollars on nuclear energy as a clean energy option is at best misguided, and at worst a total sham.
The Senate version of the energy bill authorizes essentially unlimited loans to companies building new nuclear power plants in the name of clean energy, when in fact it is nothing of the sort. The are other issues at play, here: the health of employees, environmental effects, the possibility of an accident like the ones at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, and the potential for nuclear power plants to be used as terror targets ought to be enough to get you thinking.
But I'll tell you what gets me. Congress is willing to spend billions on "clean" energy that is, by definition, not clean, instead of putting their our money where their mouth is and spending that same money to research and develop promising sources of actual clean energy.
That's what I know about nuclear power, but let me tell you something else: those entertainers know a lot more than I do, because they've been thinking about and working on this issue since 1979. Nuke Free has the information you need about what's going down, and about what you can do to stop it.
June 8, 2007
Which is the real Chevron?
Last weekend, on my 4-year-old's preschool campout, I was talking to another dad about the environmental commitment of the oil company he works for. They're putting millions of dollars into biofuels research, converting their vehicle fleet to hybrids or natural gas, and my friend is writing speeches for the CEO that proclaim the urgency of addressing global warming.
Today, in the San Francisco Chronicle, I read about an oil company that plans to increase production at its refinery to meet gasoline supply shortages that have helped push Bay Area pump prices to the highest in the country. Problem is, that will also increase the refinery's emissions – not just global warming gases but volatile organic compounds known to cause respiratory disease and cancer, as well as heavy metals and toxic chemicals that will be dumped into the bay. The community around the refinery, which has lived for decades with the impact of its pollution, flaring, and accidents, is demanding safeguards and considering special taxes to offset the health effects of the expansion.
So which company is going green and which is still mired in the muck of environmental evil?
Trick question. They're the same company: Chevron.
Continue reading "Which is the real Chevron?" »
April 25, 2007
Parts is parts
Big Oil is getting into the biodiesel game. On the surface that’s good news. Last week I wrote about oil companies and how through their gas station franchises they are not allowing competing products like biodiesel to arrive on the pumps. Now Conoco-Phillips has entered into an agreement with Tyson Foods to produce the oil company's own brand of biodiesel out of leftover, well, parts from Tyson’s chicken, beef, and pork production.
Continue reading "Parts is parts" »
February 27, 2007
Ethanol: solution or delusion?
In his State of the Union Address last January, President Bush vowed to decrease gasoline consumption in the US transportation sector. “Let us build upon the work we’ve done and reduce gasoline usage in the United States by 20 percent in the next 10 years . . . To reach this goal, we must increase the supply of alternative fuels, by setting a mandatory fuels standard to require 35 billion gallons of renewable and alternative fuels in 2017.”
Bush proposes increasing US ethanol output to help meet this goal.
While agribusinesses jack up production in preparation for an upsurge in corn prices, others worry that ethanol might not be the best solution to our energy problems. A January USA Today article expressed concern over both ethanol’s economic feasibility and its production limits.
With stagnant mileage standards that provide lenient provisions for gas-guzzling personal vehicles , the average MPG rating for US automobiles has been slowly decreasing for over a decade. Currently, the United States consumes more oil per capita than any other nation, with the transportation sector accounting for about two-thirds of US oil consumption. Unless the United States takes major steps towards improving fuel efficiency and encouraging alternative forms of transportation such as walking, biking, and public transit, our domestic agricultural resources will run far short of meeting our nation’s energy demands.
February 22, 2007
Proper disposal of CFLs
NPR reports on the hidden hazards of compact fluorescent light bulbs. CFLs contain trace amounts of mercury that can be released when the bulbs break. The concern is not for consumers but rather those who handle our solid waste. As recycling programs for CFLs are not yet in place in many cities, some people are tempted to toss them into their municipal trash, where invariably they will break and leave residues on trash cans, dumpsters, and trash trucks. Bad idea.
Do not put your CFLs out for regular trash pick-up. Instead, store them in a shoebox in your garage or closet and when the box gets full take them to a recycling facility or hazardous waste drop-off to dispose of them all at once.
I’m going to keep my expired CFLs right next to the box of 25 incandescents I replaced this fall. My guess is disposal options for CFLs will be better by the time that shoebox gets full. With the longer life of the bulbs and their emergence as mainstream products only recently, there shouldn’t be too man burnt out CFLs yet.
[Wendy Reed, who manages EPA's Energy Star program] says that even though fluorescent bulbs contain mercury, using them contributes less mercury to the environment than using regular incandescent bulbs. That's because they use less electricity — and coal-fired power plants are the biggest source of mercury emissions in the air.
January 25, 2007
Bush's energy concerns fuel international interest and skepticism
The world watched in awe and excitement as President Bush outlined his new concepts of global warming and strategies to battle it during his State of the Union address Tuesday night. While the responses varied from optimistic to skeptical, the resounding conclusion was “finally!”
“The fact that the American president acknowledges climate change as a problem is definitely a positive sign,” Karsten Voigt, the German government’s coordinator of transatlantic relations told Spiegel Online.
This observation was universal, ranging from Tony Blair’s expected statement of support, stating that Bush’s speech will lead the debate on global warming in a new direction, to the Australian Conservations Foundation’s rebuff of Bush’s global warming recognition, pointing out his “profoundly weak” proposals, as according to the Washington Post.
Continue reading "Bush's energy concerns fuel international interest and skepticism" »
The upside of higher gas prices
Two years of record-high gasoline prices have forced auto-crazed Americans to do something they haven't done in more than two decades: Drive less.
To avoid getting robbed at the gas pumps, stay away from them!
U.S. motorists cutting back a bit by Elizabeth Douglass. LA Times (25 Jan 07)
More reactions to Bush's ethanol plan
Today North Jersey's The Record highlights some salient observations illuminating the reality behind Bush's ethanol proposal.
Eric DeGesero, executive VP of the New Jersey Fuel Merchants Association, wants to remind us that putting more corn into fuel production could raise the cost of America’s corn-intensive diet (though something tells me Mr. DeGesero should visit a nutritionist).
"You'll pay more for Twinkies or Coca-Cola or Frosted Flakes, which are sweetened with corn syrup, because of the demand ethanol will put on the price for a bushel of corn."
Bush "20 in 10" plan calls for a 20 percent reduction in the amount of gasoline consumed in the country within 10 years.
But, the fine print called for reducing the "projected" amount of gasoline to be used in a decade, not the amount that's currently being used.
Continue reading "More reactions to Bush's ethanol plan" »
January 24, 2007
Bush's 'biofuel boosterism' boondoggle?
In the State of the Union address, in addition to tougher mileage standards, President Bush called for increased reliance on renewable fuels, namely ethanol. The corn-based fuel additive, which has gained notoriety as of late, is far from a panacea for the environment or oil independence. Bloomberg’s Jack Kaskey writes of the high fertilizer diet corn requires (30 times that of soy) and the likelihood that this year will see the greatest increase in farmland used to grow corn since 1949 – an increase that doesn't bode well for the Gulf of Mexico.
Forbes' Jonathan Fahey warns that the “corn rush” creating ethanol distilleries all over the U.S. may boost supply well above demand, raising corn prices, lowering ethanol prices, and sending investors into the red. On top of that, energy analysts quoted in the New York Times warn that “corn-based ethanol, which accounts for virtually all of today’s production, will not be able to produce more than about half as much alternative fuel as Mr. Bush envisions by 2017.”
On Mulchblog.com, EWG President Ken Cook notes that Bush's "surge" of "unrestrained biofuel boosterism" is far more ambitious than his calls for increasing fuel economy standards for cars and trucks.
EWG supports the development of the biofuels industry. But we do not support its expansion at all cost--to water pollution, wildlife, trade, food prices here and abroad--and with no thought given to these impacts, much less to mitigating them.
Bush's omissions not omitted by Washington Post
The Washington Post will not let President Bush off the hook for his omissions in last nights State of the Union address:
... what was most significant -- and disappointing -- was what Mr. Bush left off his agenda. Once again, he did not offer a sustained and broad-scale effort to address climate change, instead choosing to treat progress on the issue as just a fortuitous byproduct of his effort to cut gasoline consumption.
January 9, 2007
Study: Hybrid cars save money in long run
An Intellichoice.com study finds that hybrid cars, whose fuel efficiency alone may not justify their higher initial purchase price, are in fact more economical in the long run. When you factor in financing, fuel, insurance, state taxes and license fees, repairs, maintenance and depreciation, over five years a Prius will cost $13,408 less than a similar-size non-hybrid sedan.
Hybrids retain their value better than conventional cars, have moderate maintenance and repair costs and, of course, there are those lower fuel costs. Hybrids also benefit from federal tax credits, which this year can range from $250 to $1,950.
Straight to the source:
Hybrid autos save money in long run, study finds (LA Times)
Additional links:
HybridCARS.com
January 2, 2007
I'm resolving to change my light bulbs. Will you join me?
Happy new year and welcome back to Enviroblog--you are reading the first post of 2007!
I’ve never been big on New Year's resolutions but this year I’m making one I know I’ll follow through with and that will benefit both my wallet and the earth--changing the remainder of the incandescent bulbs in my house to compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). After switching most of my lamps and fixtures over to CFLs last Fall I saw a 30-40% reduction in my home energy bill. CFLs are to be Wal-Mart’s next environmental conquest as they aim to sell 100 million of them per year by 2008.
I will also be replacing my halogen floor lamps, which suck up as much as 300 watts each, with floor lamps that are compatible with CFLs. I found out what energy leeches my halogens are after measuring them with a Kill-a-Watt Electricity Monitor, a helpful device I bought myself (and a few other people) for the holidays this year. The Kill-A-Watt plugs into a wall outlet and gives an accurate reading of energy consumption for any electrical appliance plugged into it. The Kill-A-Watt, which costs about $20, is a good investment and is sure to pay for itself very quickly in my home. I was shocked to find that the vampire load my small stereo used when completely OFF was 15 watts! Now I unplug it when it’s not on.
Comment in and tell us what other resolutions you'll be making to lighten your environmental footprint in 2007.
Power-sipping bulbs get backing from Wal-Mart, New York Times. (2 Jan 07)
Buy a Kill-A-Watt Electricity Monitor from SustainabilitySystems.com
December 4, 2006
Greening international sports competitions
As the excitement of the Olympics begins, so does the need to increase environmental awareness. London, the winner of the 2012 Olympics bid, has promised to make the 2012 games the greenest in history. They’ll be cleaning up brownfield sites for use, setting goals for minimizing waste and other pollution. The games have even been declared a car-free event--public transportation is the only option.
While the Olympics have traditionally made efforts to offset their emissions and waste, the next World Cup bidders must have a strong strategy to be greener. Germany succeeded in offsetting its emissions, making it the first “climate neutral” World Cup; however, waste and energy reduction efforts fell short--neither meeting their 20 percent reduction goals. South Africa has already made huge strides toward creating the necessary infrastructure for 2010. Lets see what they can do toward making it glow green.
November 20, 2006
Are the new hydrogen cars as clean as they claim?
BMW has announced the introduction of the first hydrogen powered luxury car. Rather than C02, pure water vapor drips from its exhaust pipe. While the hydrogen tank’s range is limited to 200 kilometers (124 miles), a button on the steering wheel can switch the car from hydrogen to allow the car to use gas, allowing up to 500 additional kilometers (310 miles).
Sounds like a great idea, but like any new toy, a hydrogen car has its downsides. Besides the high price, there are a few other kinks in this seemingly smog-free ride. Producing hydrogen with fossil fuels can outweigh the benefits of using it as a fuel. BMW says they'd prefer to use hydrogen produced by wind or solar power, but for now, the fuel is generated by burning petroleum. Then there's the problem that only five hydrogen-fueling stations exist in the whole world. Still, BMW hopes that this high-profile model will spur other companies to produce hydrogen vehicles, which in turn means a bigger market for hydrogen produced with renewable energy and refueling stations.
November 8, 2006
Alternative energy proven cost effective as well as environmentally friendly
The International Energy Agency (IEA) came out with yet another economic report announcing the cost effectiveness of cleaner energy. Through use of energy trends, the World Energy Outlook, a division of IEA, demonstrated that the world will be facing unstable energy supplies at affordable prices and extreme environmental damage due to over-consumption of energy by 2030.
Even with all the gloom and doom, there’s good news if we’re willing to get up and do something. It seems that, much to many anti-alternative energy advocates’ chagrin, alternative energy is less expensive than fossil fuels.
"There are different upfront costs involved, but they are quickly outweighed by savings in fuel expenditure," said IEA executive director Claude Mandil to BBC News.
Continue reading "Alternative energy proven cost effective as well as environmentally friendly" »
November 1, 2006
Scared into action: avoid vampire currents
TreeHugger TV published this scary video this week about the energy our electrical devices draw when they’re not even turned on. According to the video:
Standby power consumes 7-25% of a home’s electricity bill.
Americans spend more money powering home audio devices and televisions when they are turned off than when they are actually in use.
That’s right. Turning everything off when you leave the house isn’t enough. To ensure that you aren’t losing energy to phantom currents, either unplug devices when not in use or use power strips that can accommodate many plugs and cut energy flow to them through one main switch. And watch out for those cell phone chargers. Only 5% of the power drawn by cell phone chargers is actually used to charge phones. The other 95% is consumed when the charger is left plugged in with no phone attached to it.
October 19, 2006
And you thought the Tahoe ad idea was bad ...
Chevy is back it at with another ridiculous ad strategy. Since their "make your own" Tahoe advert was a flop, Chevy and John "whatever-my-middle-name-is-today" Mellencamp have teamed up to try a new angle--capitalizing on American icons like Rosa Parks and MLK, and tragedies like 9/11 and Katrina, to sell their new Silverados. Seth Stevenson at Slate rolls up the newspaper and slaps Chevy in the nose with his assessment of the ad:
This ad makes me—and, judging by my e-mail, some of you—very angry. It's not OK to use images of Rosa Parks, MLK, the Vietnam War, the Katrina disaster, and 9/11 to sell pickup trucks. It's wrong. These images demand a little reverence and quiet contemplation. They are not meant to be backed with a crappy music track and then mushed together in a glib swirl of emotion tied to a product launch. Please, Chevy, have a modicum of shame next time.
Idolator had this to say in their so aptly titled post, 'John Mellencamp's controversial new song hurts so bad':
The video is creepily exploitative--we're pretty sure that Rosa Parks didn't get on the bus hoping that she'd be posthumously employed to sell pick-up trucks--and the song sounds like every other Mellencamp tune since 1992.
Continue reading "And you thought the Tahoe ad idea was bad ..." »
October 10, 2006
Making sure there is always bad weather to report
Several TV stations are now using souped-up Hummers not only as their mobile weather stations, but also as educational tools for schoolchildren. ABC 15 in Phoenix is quite proud of its brightly airbrushed “Weather Hummer,” and their Weather on Wheels website features the Hummer in graphics and interactive puzzles for kids. The Hummer also accompanies the staff meteorologists on their educational trips to area schools.
I can just imagine how those lessons go: "You see kids...giant vehicles like our Weather Hummer here are the second-largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. The pollutants it spews collect in our atmosphere like a thickening blanket, trapping the sun's heat and causing our planet to warm up. This warming trend leads to conditions that can make weather reporting a REAL ADVENTURE, like wildfires, drought, dust storms, flooding, and bigger and badder hurricanes! And that's why it’s only safe to perform our duties from inside this tank...Ok, while we have your attention--can any of you boys and girls spot us a few bucks for gas?"
The Storm Chaser joins the ranks of other ill-advised uses for the famous combat-utility vehicle (CUV), like...
...shuttling around the staff of classy dining establishments
...ensuring a most memorable high school prom
[more brilliant uses for Hummers after the jump]
Continue reading "Making sure there is always bad weather to report" »
October 6, 2006
New 'Earthpark' to be built in Iowa
Iowa has been chosen as the location for Earthpark, the largest educational center in the United States on environmental and conservation issues. Earthpark Iowa is hoping to have the same success that its predecessor has enjoyed in the UK.
The park will be built on 70 acres of land, and will feature an indoor rain forest, a 600,000-gallon freshwater aquarium and exterior prairie and wetland exhibits. It will also feature alternative renewable energy systems and will be part of a larger residential, recreational and retail development that will have condominiums, hotel, a restaurant and water park, among others.
While I do agree that the park will play important role in educating public on important issues, I can’t say that the idea of indoor rainforest does much for me. And, I can’t help but wonder which fast food restaurant will get the first contract inside?!
Green-conscious GE develops hybrid lightbulb
Just in time for Change a Light Day:
October 4, 2006
Shedding light on compact fluorescents
In the September issue of Fast Company, author Charles Fishman begins his story like this:
Sitting humbly on shelves in stores everywhere is a product, priced at less than $3, that will change the world. Soon. It is a fairly ordinary item that nonetheless cuts to the heart of a half-dozen of the most profound, most urgent problems we face. Energy consumption. Rising gasoline costs and electric bills. Greenhouse-gas emissions. Dependence on coal and foreign oil. Global warming.
Wow! A leader like that begs for an explanation. Well here it is. Compact Fluorescent Lights or CFLs, which spent the 1990’s struggling through quirky engineering and aggravatingly poor performance, are finally being produced to match the quality and output of “regular” incandescent bulbs.
“So what?” you say.
Where CFLs shine is in their energy savings. While CFLs costs as much as five times the price of a regular bulb ($3), they use 75% less energy and typically last about ten times as long. According to Fast Company, if each of the 110 million homes in America replaced one 60-watt bulb with a CFL bulb, enough energy would be saved to power a city of 1.5 million people, equivalent to taking 1.3 million automobiles off the road. Each replacement CFL pays for its higher cost (through energy savings) in just a few weeks of regular use. The exceptionally long life of the bulb replaces the need for manufacture, shipping and disposal of eight incandescent bulbs. Are you sold yet? (rhetorical question)
Tomorrow is offical Change a Light Day. Go to the Energy Star website and take the pledge to replace just one regular bulb with an energy-efficient CFL. Of course, you’re not limited to just one.
Read Fishman's full piece on CFLs in Fast Company. You won't be sorry.
Calculate the monetary and environmental savings of switching to CFLs in your home or office.
September 25, 2006
Honda unveils diesel system to rival gasoline cars
Honda announced Monday its plans for releasing a new and simple diesel powertrain that is as clean as gasoline-fuelled cars. The new cars are slated to hit the U.S. market by 2009. Diesel engines are traditionally known for emitting high exhaust levels of nitrogen oxide (NOx), a greenhouse gas, but Honda's new diesel drivetrain is designed to generate and store ammonia within a two-layer catalytic converter to turn nitrogen oxide into harmless nitrogen.
To learn how much your particular vehicle contributes to poor air quality, check out our Auto Asthma Index.
[ Reuters ] [ Green Car Congress ] [ AutoblogGreen ]
September 8, 2006
Hybrid happy meals: a wiser choice for McDonald's
Now that McDonald’s Hummer happy meal promo is officially over and the marketing experts who conceived it are out looking for new jobs, their successors should be hard at work searching for a toy that isn’t such a PR nightmare. The answer seems pretty obvious to Nick from TriplePundit and Al from CityHippy--Hybrid Cars.
In addition to appealing to kids’ fascination with technology, putting toy Hybrids in happy meals would be a forward step in McDonald’s quest to become the greener, more socially responsible company they claim to be. I don’t think this is asking too much of the golden arches. Heck—we’ll even waive the consulting fees this time.
**************
Why is McDonald’s blog not posting your comments? I have yet to see my comment posted 28 hours after submission, and I know 3 others who've met with the same result. Al and Nick have also weighed in on the ‘Open for Discussion’ Blog not adhering to the spirit of dialogue that its name implies.
***************
UPDATE: After more than 5 days--and critical posts on TreeHugger, AdWeek, Fast Company, Emergence Marketing, Church of the Customer blog, AutoBlogGreen, TriplePundit, CityHippy, and several others,--McDonald’s is unable to ignore the buzz calling into question the authenticity of its corporate blog. Last night, VP Bob Langert began allowing comments, but has yet to respond to any of them. Langert still needs to respond to live up to his blog’s name, “Open for Discussion.”
[Hat tip to Nick for the sweet graphic]
September 7, 2006
McDonald’s responds to Hummer protest
On McDonald’s CSR blog, Vice President Bob Langert has defended the company’s Hummer Happy Meal promotion by dismissing the effect that advertising has on children:
… I polled my staff who have or had children. One of them said her children enjoy the little Hummer replicas as toys, just as many kids like toy trucks, regardless of make or model. She drives a MiniCooper, walks with her children to get groceries, bicycles with them on weekends, etc. Another said her grandchildren absolutely love the toy Hummers--that they're fun.When Langert says "the miniature Hummers are just toys, not vehicle recommendations" he's being either naive or disingenuous–-everyone knows that promotions exist to drive sales. Last time I checked, Hummer was not in the business of making kids happy. They are in the business of selling vehicles that pollute the air, waste gas, heat up the atmosphere and send asthmatic kids to the hospital. If McDonald's is truly concerned about the environment and health, why do they want to be associated with that?
Of course, there's nothing scientific about this poll, but I think it makes an important point. Looked at through children's eyes, the miniature Hummers are just toys, not vehicle recommendations…
I've submitted these thoughts in a comment on Mr. Langert's blog, and the comment has yet to be approved for posting. If it’s not up by tomorrow I'm sounding the astroturfing bells.
***************
UPDATE: After more than 5 days--and critical posts on TreeHugger, AdWeek, Fast Company, Emergence Marketing, Church of the Customer blog, AutoBlogGreen, TriplePundit, CityHippy, and several others,--McDonald’s is unable to ignore the buzz calling into question the authenticity of its corporate blog. Last night, VP Bob Langert began allowing comments, but has yet to respond to any of them. Langert still needs to respond to live up to his blog’s name, “Open for Discussion.”