Clik here to view.
The Facts About Peat Soils in Sarawak, Malaysia
As you may have seen, there has been a lot of news from the palm oil industry in recent months, with companies like Hershey’s, L’Oréal, Kellogg’s, and Unilever committing to source deforestation- and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Palm Oil: To Boycott or not to Boycott?
I get asked a lot whether you should stop buying products with palm oil altogether. The answer is “no,” for three major reasons. Oil palm plantations are more productive and store more carbon than any...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Is Palm Oil-Driven Deforestation the Secret Ingredient in Your Favorite...
Like most Americans, I’m really devoted to the products I buy. I’ve been using Old Spice since I was 15 and entered my “Frank Sinatra” phase, on a bad day nothing cheers me up quite like a bowl (or...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Palm Oil, Deforestation, and the Fast Food Industry: Would You Like a Side of...
I travel a lot for my job and after long days on the road the one thing that gets me through is constancy. I pack basically the same clothes for every trip and try to keep up the same workout routine,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Capitalist Manifesto: Major Palm Oil Companies Try to Rewrite the Book on...
The word “manifesto” rarely conjures up positive connotations. That word brings to my mind Karl Marx’s famous tome, at best, and, at worst, images of a bearded man in a remote cabin. Regardless, it’s a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Out with Duh-nuts, in with DO-nuts: Two Major Fast Food Brands Tackle...
Every Tuesday night in college, I would get in my get in my ’87 Tercel and drive 15 miles over winding surface streets and three highways to my destination. Lit up like a Christmas tree, green, red,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fall of the Oil Curtain: Palm Oil Manifesto Group Announce Forest Clearing...
The late summer and fall of 1989 marked the beginning of the end for the Soviet Union and communism in Europe. Mass movements of citizens in Poland, Hungary, Romania, and East Germany forced those...
View ArticleClik here to view.
When It Comes to Palm Oil, PepsiCo Is Less than Perfect
Growing up, Back to the Future Part II epitomized what the future would look like. I dreamed of owning a hoverboard or riding in a flying car (it didn’t have to be a DeLorean, I wasn’t that picky)....
View ArticleClik here to view.
The SPOM High Carbon Stock Study: A New Square Wheel
Imagine you hear that a group of businesses has hired some of the best minds in the world to invent a new thing called a “wheel.” “Strange,” you say, “don’t we already have wheels?” In fact, aren’t...
View ArticleClik here to view.
PepsiCo’s New Palm Oil Commitment: Transparency, Trust, and the Company You Keep
Since starting our work on palm oil, UCS has taken a position that a company’s zero deforestation commitment needs to cover all of its operations, not just the products it sells or manufactures in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Top Ten International Negotiation Terms for [In]action
My 7th grade English teacher had a stuffed mouse and a small plastic box she used to teach us prepositional phrases. The mouse’s name was Preppy the Prepositional Mouse and everything he could do with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Rio+20: Where’s the Science?
Yesterday was the official opening of the Rio+20 summit, with heads of state and government ministers descending on RioCentro for the opening ceremony. For all intents and purposes though, the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Rio+20: Stopping Short of the Summit
Today is the final day of the Rio+20 summit. The conference officially opened Wednesday afternoon with an opening plenary featuring speeches from the more the 119 heads of state in attendance and major...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Congress: Bad on Lemurs, Bad on Jobs [UPDATED]
Have you heard the news about lemurs? No, I’m not referring to the commercial success of Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted. This is much, much worse. This lemur is NOT happy. It may have something to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sally Ride: 1951-2012
Yesterday, the world suffered a great loss with the passing of Dr. Sally K. Ride. Dr. Ride was a brave explorer, passionate educator, brilliant scientist, and complex human being. Her impact and her...
View ArticleClik here to view.
UCS Awards Young Scientists for Work Outside of the Lab
I recently returned from the Ecological Society of America in Portland, OR. While I got to attend lots of interesting talks and workshops, and grabbed many a microbrew with my grad school friends and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What Wood You Do: Solutions for Deforestation-Free Wood Products
I’m writing this post from the back porch of my parent’s house (even on vacation there is no rest for a Concerned Scientist). Away from the glass, steel, concrete, and brick of Washington, DC, here I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hurricane Sandy: The Map Is Not the Terrain
Like most of you, I’ve spent the last few days staring at maps. And now that the issue of red and blue states is settled (mostly) for the next few years, I’m turning my attention back to the maps that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
“Sustainable” Palm Oil Should Not Drive Deforestation
We all know that “sustainable” is a good thing but the word is only as strong as its definition. Right now, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has a huge opportunity to strengthen its...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tropical Forests in 2012: A Year in Review
It’s that time of year. Holiday decorations line the streets, days are getting short, and temperatures are falling (well, theoretically at least, it’s still been in the 50’s and 60’s here in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The 78%: The Majority of Orangutan Habitat in Borneo is Under Threat
On a recent trip to Chicago, I took some time to visit the Lincoln Park Zoo. The highlight for me was the Great Apes Hall, and while I enjoyed seeing the chimps and the gorillas, they didn’t have the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Into Africa: Palm Oil’s Next Frontier?
I’ve been seeing a lot of articles and blog posts recently about the expansion of palm oil production into Africa. As near as I can tell, the recent flurry of attention is being caused by Seeds of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What's in a Name? Why the RSPO’s Definition of “Sustainable” Falls Short
Words are living things. Their definitions and meanings change as society changes, as evidenced by the Oxford English dictionary bestowing official word status to “selfie”, “unlike”, and “FOMO” (fear...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Palm Oil: From Plantation to Peanut Butter
A couple of years ago, as I waited for my morning coffee to brew and my toast to, er, toast, I was reading the label of my peanut butter jar and had my entire organic, fair trade world thrown for a...
View Article
