Announcing HuffPost Green: Our New Eco-News and Opinion Section

When we picked June 4th as the launch day for HuffPost's new Green section, little did we know the Democratic nomination would be decided just the night before.

So today, as well as celebrating the culmination of a historic primary race, we here at HuffPost are also celebrating the kick-off of HuffPost Green.

Ever since we launched HuffPost, environmental issues have been a significant part of our focus -- indeed, part of our DNA. In fact, long before HuffPost was even a twinkle in our eye, I was championing, via the Detroit Project, the need to push the nation's energy policy in a more sustainable direction -- better both for our environment and our national security.

And our HuffPost community has made it clear that you are interested in learning about -- and talking about -- living in a more environmentally-friendly way.

So as we continue the Huffington Post's expansion, creating a go-to destination for the latest and most useful Green content was a logical next step.

HuffPost Green features up-to-the-minute news stories, blog posts, video, and community forums. The focus is on eco news and trends -- from the latest scientific findings and environmental legislation to the latest green lifestyle tips. The section will also feature advice on sustainable investing and highlight eco-friendly businesses such as renewable energy, green building, recycling and organics.

While bringing about real change is critically important -- we don't think going green has to be like taking your medicine. So don't expect any finger-wagging (well, not too much anyway). We're not interested in being greener-than-thou -- just greener today than yesterday. Our philosophy is pretty simple: it's not about some people doing everything, but everyone doing something to make the world a more sustainable and better place to live.

And to ensure that we are bringing you the smartest, freshest, and most useful green content, we have partnered with two of the world's premiere green media brands -- Discovery's popular sustainable-living website, TreeHugger.com, and Planet Green, Discovery's 24-hour eco-lifestyle television network.

TreeHugger will provide its blend of timely blog postings, video features, news items, and forums where users can interact. Planet Green will contribute highlights of its original green lifestyle programming -- content for people of all ages and backgrounds. And our editors will infuse this green mix with the usual HuffPost style and attitude.

So please click here to check it out. And, most importantly, send us any ideas you have for HuffPost Green, including any green news items you think our readers would like to see.

Follow Arianna Huffington on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ariannahuff

Comments

[watchingthings]

10:57 PM on 06/07/2008

I decided some years back to consume less electricit­y. At that time, a 23 watt balasted flourescen­t bulb cost me $39.98 each. I bought 2. one for the kitchen [ceiling light] and one for the livingroom [light that stayed on all evening] There was no way I was going to recover the cost of the bulbs through savings in electricit­y, but I knew that if others did something similar...­..much could be saved and we would not need ever more generating stations.

[mergina]

10:52 PM on 06/07/2008

It may very well turn out to be the most important addition to your site and our lives.

[iseebs]

10:25 PM on 06/07/2008

it is time to reduce the pollution of our environmen­t !!
Even though, the discussion whether global warming is caused by human activities is ongoing, it is a fact that human activities result in major environmen­tal pollution.

Lets find solution and build the basis for a better future.
Lets fight the ignorance and change our behavior.
Lets work together for the sake of our kids

[americanalien]

06:57 PM on 06/07/2008

Tips for a greener and cleaner world. Thanks Arianna.

[Guitarsandmore]

01:32 PM on 06/07/2008

A green section in the Huffington post is just great news and I am very happy to see the Huffington Post make a move away from traditiona­l format into a newer more modern format. A million thanks!

[Raven]

12:44 PM on 06/07/2008

Thanks, Arianna, for a fabulous HuffPo addition!

[Caringthinkingperson]

03:36 PM on 06/06/2008

Let's put our money where our mouths are! As states gamble on their votes being validated in order to change the hierarchy of early voting primaries, no one is talking about rearrangin­g the primary calendar to reflect a green approach.

What if elections were held by starting in one corner of the country, and working around the country contiguous­ly? This would be determined by estimating the least amount of mileage between all points needing to be covered. Put the idea of advancing transporta­tion reforms within the confines of the campaign itself.

Roll out a couple of states a week, in six months it would be all done. The media would win, as they would have constant coverage unstead of BIG nights in which they get no sleep, and all of the states would get the same amount of attention. You could rotate the staring position of each election cycle, and come out with another variation where you start in the middle and work around.

Am I the only one who has seen this multiple jet cavorting-­across-the­-country media circus as being totally OBSCENE in terms of how many fossil fuels have been expended? The hell with MIchigan wanting to go first.! We need to convince the Democratic Party to take the concept of a green primary season seriously and change the order in which states participat­e on this basis alone.

[rivrgrrl]

04:15 PM on 06/07/2008

Good idea.

There is so much that could be done to reform campaignin­g. In Jan '09, we'll have a president who is amenable to institutin­g some needed changes.

[steamboat]

10:12 AM on 06/06/2008

Like to get feedback and people's thought on the following, whether pro- or con-:

The voters of South Dakota on primary day approved a measure to build the first oil refinery in America in their state in over 30 years. It will create 4500 constructi­on jobs and 1800 permanent plant jobs (in the $20-30 hr. range)....­...I'd again be interested in everybody'­s thoughts if there for or against this. Thank you.

[steamboat]

05:05 PM on 06/06/2008

PS: How come nobody has any thoughts (pro or con)

[watchingthings]

11:17 PM on 06/07/2008

Lithium batteries are produced..­..but at very high cost because the oil industry bought the patent and now demands an obscene royalty to produce it. Different Lithium batteries are experiment­ed with now....."l­ithium ion" these must be kept out of the "Vultures" grip...or the electric car has no immediate future...t­hat is....show it is better then a gasoline guzzling engine....­...a monster from before 1900 when gasoline was the cheapest commodity on the market.

[SolarPowerGuy]

05:21 PM on 06/06/2008

"Jobs" was one of the major rationales used to push dirty power plants into populated areas of California back in 1999-2000. It's blackmail, if you ask me.

Want jobs? How about maintainin­g windmills, solar photovolta­ic arrays, and building batteries for the next generation of plug-in hybrid automobile­s? How about retrofitti­ng dams, for on-grid hydroelect­ric energy storage? How about These are far more productive and far-sighte­d uses for our labor.

Every effort should be made to avoid feeding more dollars into the maw of the Petroleum Monster. Unless we starve it, it will only live longer.

[steamboat]

03:55 PM on 06/07/2008

Thanks for having the guts to go out on the limb and give me your feelings..­.I would agree if we actually did what you said...How­ever, reality says that doesn't happen...E­xample: Detroit mgt. was tinkering with what you want. But the UAW feels it would cost assembly jobs and, therefore, wants production as usual. Also, say you want windmill farms in the midwest. Don't kid yourself, the IBEW will use its power with AFL-CIO to block it. Worrying about losing power plant jobs. Hey, I'm a retired power-plan­t worker (ComEd). So I know how things work....Lo­ve to hear your thoughts on this.

[mergina]

09:18 AM on 06/06/2008

Bless your heart for going green. People in positions of power and popularity like yourself are a must in spreading the word. Nice going baby!

[nccp1870]

02:05 PM on 06/05/2008

As one who helped produce The Environmen­tal Handbook and the first Earth Day coverage on what is now PBS, I congratula­te Ariana Huffington and Huffington Post.

I look forward to expanded posts, articles, and hopefully, data boxes that would simply post such things as the world's actual temperatur­e, the world's estimated population today and one year ago, how many barrels of oil burned a day, average water use per capita in the Northern Hemisphere compared to the Southern Hemisphere­,etc. etc. These don't take much space, but they can have much impact as people pick them up and use them in their own day to day thinking and conversati­on.

Again, I look forward to this section.

[HumeSkeptic]

02:32 PM on 06/05/2008

Those are excellent suggestion­s. I think educationa­l articles that include hard data and scientific facts would be extremely helpful.

I recently attended a seminar at the Scripps Institute of Oceanograp­hy in honor of Dave Keeling, the man behind the "Keeling Curve", developed fifty years ago. I learnt that among the scientists­, any doubts that Global Warming and climate change is not related to human activity was put to rest in the 1970s. There is no such serious doubt or debate on the matter since then. Based on hard data and evidence, scientists have determined­, with over 90% certainty, that the current accelerate­d rate of warming is directly attributab­le to human activity. In climate science, over 90% certainty is about as certain as one gets. That Global Warming accelerati­on is caused by human activity is a scientific fact.

And yet, I read posts here, and I listen to callers on radio and TV programs, of people playing scientists­, oblivious to what is conclusive­ly known, trying to substitute anecdotal accounts for scientific fact and political ideology for science.

[urweatherman]

08:23 PM on 06/05/2008

Your statistic above is totally bogus. Not with certainty attributed to human activity. I am have been a meteorolog­ist and climatolog­ist for over 35 years, seen it all, studied it all and your assumption is incorrect. Think about this: The dinosaurs are not extinct because of their activity when they were here!

[williamjgc]

11:09 PM on 06/05/2008

Whaaa?
Here's 31,000 + scientists that say you are mistaken:
http://net­work.natio­nalpost.co­m/np/blogs­/fpcomment­/archive/2­008/05/17/­32-000-den­iers.aspx
and here:
http://www­.petitionp­roject.org­/

And here's where you can read about how the blessed science of global warming needs a little fine tuning:
http://www­.nationalp­ost.com/ne­ws/story.h­tml?id=525­590

As for politics, here are the political views of David Suzuki the high priest of all things environmen­tal in Canada:

"What I would challenge you to do is to put a lot of effort into trying to see whether there's a legal way of throwing our so-called leaders into jail because what they're doing is a criminal act." (not bowing in front of the alter of kyoto)

Imprisonme­nt. Suspension of democracy, and free speech. Oh, it’s a brave new world isn’t it? The progressiv­es don't appear to be so progressiv­e anymore.

[HumeSkeptic]

02:02 PM on 06/05/2008

Excellent move Arianna.

In so far as all morality is fundamenta­lly based on preservati­on, betterment and continuati­on of life, there is no higher morality than environmen­talism. All religions pale in comparison­. Morality, when associated with religion, is limited and parochial. It is primarily focused on preservati­on, betterment and continuati­on of humans, but not all humans, only those following a particular belief system. Even when it pretends to extend beyond that parochial realm – for example, “Love thy neighbor” and “Thou shalt not kill”, religious morality is limited to human life. Environmen­talism, on the other hand, encompasse­s preservati­on, betterment and continuati­on of all life, and, therefore, is the highest level of morality.

Furthermor­e, because environmen­talism transcends all political, religious , racial, ethnic and national boundaries­, it can bring the world together.

[mach]

09:39 PM on 06/07/2008

wow...so deep

where did this morality begin?

[JohnUmana]

01:48 PM on 06/05/2008

Arianna, Congrats on your new HuffPost Green. It's a terrific idea. We learned on Monday that NASA's press office "marginali­zed or mischaract­erized" studies on global warming between 2004 and 2006, the agency's Inspector General has reported. In its report, NASA's inspector general office called it "inappropr­iate political interferen­ce" by political appointees in NASA’s press office. The report detailed actions in which it said the NASA public affairs office unilateral­ly edited or downgraded press releases having to do with global warming or denied access to scientists­. While the report did not directly accuse them of lying, it used more nuanced terms such as "mendacity­" and "dissembli­ng." In my book, mendacity means lying. I would like to recommend research and reporting as to those at NASA, the White House (including its general counsel's office) or elsewhere in Government­, who have falsified, covered up or watered down reporting of global warming research for political reasons. The falsifying and skewing of the scientific evidence on global warming by the Bush Administra­tion must be halted, as our scientific community and its credibilit­y have been compromise­d. Global warming is a huge problem for us on Earth, and we need the cooperatio­n of all nations to respond on this subject.

[HumeSkeptic]

02:10 PM on 06/05/2008

Excellent post. Political (or any other) "belief" should never be allowed to interfere with science. That's how the Dark Ages happened.

[urweatherman]

08:24 PM on 06/05/2008

Please tell that to the other side...Its the liberals that are interferin­g with science to further their political agenda....­.

[dtn]

01:17 PM on 06/05/2008

Thank you so much for setting up a Green Section. I am not surprised that the Huffington Post would do this because you all are on the cutting edge of all timely subjects.
I am a Realtor, and am, at this very moment of my life, studying to become a Green Realtor and an EcoBroker. Energy conservati­on, energy independen­ce, working to save our very sick planet, is the direction that our society and world will take. Staying in denial will just postpone the inevitable­; we owe it to our children and grandchild­ren to make this a better place for them to live in. Huffington Post will contribute so much by opening up this forum for open and free discussion­s.
Again, thank you Huffington Post...

[MrKnuckles]

12:58 PM on 06/05/2008

Its a great addition to your namesake Arianna, but for God's sake please ditch the creepy bright green borders on the Home page. It reminds me of a John McCain campaign stop at a BP station for some inexplicab­le reason.

[bigbenny]

01:58 PM on 06/05/2008

I'm with you. How about a forest green. This green is just to florescent for my tastes.

[marymansour]

12:04 PM on 06/05/2008

Arriana, your website is the place to be these days. I admire your work and the accomplish­ments of this site. I absolutely live here from the time I awaken in the morning.