Twitter’s a great way for me to keep up with the world of business and sustainability, as well as a quick way for me to share ideas and stories. I thought I’d share with you an edited, annotated list of things that recently got my attention, adapted from my Twitter feed. You can follow me at @marcgunther.
The end of football? Why the NFL could lose its “license to operate.” This is a fascinating story by the economist Tyler Cowen, whose blog, Marginal Revolution, is one of my favorites, and Kevin Grier. They describeswhat the US would look like without football–other college sports would suffer, but academia would be better off. And why would football end? Because the violence and injuries associated with the sport could gradually mean the NFL loses its “license to operate.” What Would the End of Football Look Like, on Grantland.
Terrible: A lethal version of “the sharing economy” The sharing economy conserves resources and shifts people from ownership to usage models–but this story is all about sharing guns. In a Mailbox: A Shared Gun, Just for the Asking, on the New York Times.
Petition claims Google associates with hate groups by sponsoring Conservative PAC event in DC. I was surprised to see Google as a sponsor of CPAC, not because of the conservative politics, but because some of the speakers are on the record as making anti-gay and bigoted remarks. Google, Don’t Sponsor Bigotry, on Change.org.
That fishy smell: Is the Marine Stewardship Council too bureaucratic? Too lax? Both? Smart analysis from Brendan May, now a consultant, who formerly ran the Marine Stewardship Council. His writings this week deliver insight into the MSC’s problems on his Mayday Blog.
A Very Warm January, New York Times. Enough said.
Thinking fast and slow about climate. A blogpost by Dan Lashof of NRDC, inspired by the wonderful new book from Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahnemann. Kahnemann was charming and provocative when he spoke at Politics and Prose here in Washington, D.C. I subsequently read the book, and he is every bit as charming and provocative in print. Behavorial economics is very cool!
A Long, interesting story about biotech firm Syngenta and its investigation of critical reporters and NGOs was published by the Center for Media and Democracy. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with companies seeking intelligence about the reporters who cover them, but this operation by Syngenta struck me as an over-reaction and mildly paranoid
My “green” rabbi: Fred Scherlinder Dobb on climate, Judaism and a Biblical emissions mandate. I’d like to see more clergy talking about climate as a moral issue. 14 by 14, Huffington Post.
Osha Davidson reviews the new affordable Toyota hybrid, The Prius C (C = city, compact, cleanenergy, and <gasp> comely). The Prius C: Not a Swan, Maybe, but a Damn Fine Duck, The Phoenix Sun.
“The web is like polar ice caps: under severe, long-term attack by forces of our own creation.” So says technology writer John Battelle, who argues that as we spend more time on Facebook instead of on the open web, the collective value of the Internet will decline. In a similar view, Facebook has negative externalities and Google positive ones, says The Atlantic’s James Fallows in a posting with useful links.
Shocker: The Sierra Club took millions from the natural gas industry, until Mike Brune put a stop to it. Talk about strange bedfellows–Chesapeake Energy gave the NGO money to campaign against coal plants. Bryan Walsh of Time broke this story.
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Thanks to Carissa Wodehouse of Sustainable Business Forum, where this post originally appeared. for suggesting this idea.
