Opportunity Knocks

Among the cost-cutting measures in its 2010 budget, the White House has 86’d longstanding subsidies to the oil and gas industries—casualties of both the swollen deficit and a larger initiative towards clean energy. And that initiative, an Obama talking point since the campaign trail, is being presented as more than just an environmental opportunity. In order to get the public and......read more

Scouts Unveil Eco Cabin

In his final address to the Boy Scouts, Sir Robert Baden-Powell told the troops to "leave this world a little better than you found it." Sixty years later, the organization still abides by its founder's words. Evidence is to be found at the Scouts' camp on Catalina Island, 19 miles off the coast of Southern California, where the group is pursuing a sustainable vision for its......read more

Swelling Glass Cleans Polluted Water

This is the discovery that could put the College of Wooster on the map: glass that swells like a sponge. Put together like a nano-matrix, the new glass can unfold to hold up to eight times its weight. The glass binds with gasoline and other pollutants containing volatile organic compounds but it does not bind with water, so it acts like a “smart” sponge, capable of picking and......read more

Ars Natura: Lea Turto

The Finns are a thoroughly modern people. They are world-famous for their uber-modern design aesthetic and are wont to include any historical references of any sort in their architecture or design. And while the country revels in its modern history, it is next to impossible to find any information on the ancient roots of the Finnish people. In contrast to Norway and Sweden, Finland is not......read more

Join SHFT at Collective - A Unique Thought Leadership Conference During Sundance

Sundance is coming upon us.  Kick off the new year by spending a few days in Park City with SHFT and the Collective - a conference which runs parallel to Sundance with a great group of leaders in film, music, technology, philanthropy, and entrepreneurship. SHFT will be presenting The Collective's Award for Social Impact Film to one filmmaker during the conference, and we'll also be......read more

Oil-Rich Qatar Hosts UN Climate Talks

As nearly 200 countries meet in oil-and-gas-rich Qatar for annual talks starting Monday on slowing global warming, one of the main challenges will be raising climate aid for poor countries at a time when budgets are strained by financial turmoil. Rich countries have delivered nearly $30 billion in grants and loans promised in 2009, but those commitments expire this year. And a Green Climate Fund......read more

U.S. Criticized at Durban Climate Conference

My, what a difference three years makes. In November 2008, then president-elect Barack Obama spoke to a conference of U.S. governors, saying in no uncertain terms that the U.S. was ready to join the world in the fight against global warming. Now, three days into COP17 in Durban, the U.S. is being lambasted by negotiators and eco-advocates for stonewalling progress on climate change.  In a......read more

What We Can Expect From the Durban Climate Conference

The annual United Nations meeting on climate change convenes in Durban, South Africa on Monday. The talks are officially known as, ahem, the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 7th Session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties (CMP7) to the Kyoto......read more