Super Eco

Photo credit: Mattox, SXC

Everyone has some sort of stake in the environment. Exactly what that stake is may differ: to protect the environment, to regulate it, to exploit it, to swallow themselves up in it or even to avoid nature altogether. Any way you slice it, there's real meaning, real intent behind our individual vested interests.

The madness of being an environmentalist today stems from the madness of the news itself about the environment, the tangle of opinion and rhetoric, the propaganda and the spin, the hue and cry ... and the pools of unexpected silence. As more people pull their news straight off the internet and traditional newspaper journalism struggles to maintain a voice, we can no longer write off eco-activist special interest web sites as niches that don't show the big picture. Sometimes, those special interest sites are the only places that are getting the word out at all -- macro or micro, big picture or not.

Super Eco keeps an eye on all sorts of eco-angles in today's news, spanning traditional news outlets, the blogosphere, special interest groups and more. The news, is it a-changing ... We think these recent pieces offered a thought-provoking window into the relationship between today's media and the green message.

• Drive and determination Why are two recent Yale graduates driving a plug-in electric car with rooftop solar panels across India in what they call a "caravan of solar electric cars and jatropha trucks with solar music, art, dance and a potent message for climate solutions?" In their own words, "the world needs crazy ideas to change things, because the conventional way of thinking is not working anymore."
• Who's telling the story? Is being green liberal or conservative? Is it a niche topic, or does the message warrant multiple mainstream articles? Is it worthy of front-page space in The New York Times, or should it be relegated to the blogosphere?