Think green

It was over a decade ago when SN&R first started publishing stories about global warming. One of our early articles on the subject, in fact, was written from Kyoto, Japan, by contributor Fred Branfman, who (along with former SMUD director Ed Smeloff) was in that city during the heady days leading up to the passage of the Kyoto Protocol. Branfman’s story told of mounting international tensions around passage of the Kyoto treaty and a dramatic late-arrival by Vice President Al Gore, who influenced an 11th-hour U.S. vote to sign the famous agreement. (Tragically, the U.S. Senate would not ratify the treaty and, soon thereafter, the George W. Bush administration did away with hopes for U.S. support for Kyoto.)

Still, those days in 1997 were of historic significance and marked the beginning of a ground shift in consciousness on this crucial issue. Unfortunately, it took the next decade— and many, many more studies and melted glaciers—before mainstream America would be fully convinced of the truth about global warming.

As the late Kurt Vonnegut would say, so it goes.

Now Earth Day 2007 is upon us and a vastly heightened awareness finally, at long last, has erupted around climate change. In our editorial, we issue a challenge to readers in this regard. (Click here to find out what it is.) In our cover story “5 things Sacramento can do to save the world”, SN&R contributor Cosmo Garvin writes about how municipalities around the country are trying to “think globally, act locally” regarding climate change. Case in point is Sacramento’s new Sustainability Master Plan.

But that’s not all. We’re also pleased today to be introducing a new weekly section called Green Days. Green Days will be SN&R’s attempt to help readers find and embrace sustainable eco-practices in their homes, workplaces and lives. We’re pleased to welcome freelance journalist Jennifer Davidson, a CSUS graduate with a degree in biological sciences, as SN&R’s point person on this new page.

So check out Green Days, consider the five things and go buy a CFL bulb.

Oh yeah. And think green.