Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Burning stuff is depriving us of years of healthy living

This piece by Lloyd Alter is about household indoor air contaminants. The reasoning for this is . . . Homes are far tighter than what they used to be by design. There is much less of an outside air exchange today. Unless, the home design allows it to breath. We are seeing a higher level […]

NYT writes about the rapid growth and change in the drive-through restaurant

Lloyd answers the question about how Americans will be getting their food from fast food establishments in the future. Innovative but does little for the environment and also for people’s health setting aside the argument of fast food not being necessarily healthy. To catch the rest of Lloyd’s article, click on the Carbon Upfront link. […]

Freight and people shouldn’t mix on the roads

I agree with Lloyd’s dad Gabe and also Lloyd. Big trucks including construction vehicles exceed the speed limit. Their weight does not enable them to stop in short distances. The results of a collision with automobiles is catastrophic with people in cars being seriously injured or dying. The volumes being moved long distances are better […]

New Model Oversized Cars are ridiculously Large

Too Big, too Loud, and Too fast appears to be the thing these days. Either they are jacked up squatting, large tired, multiple rear tires, altered mufflered, adjusted emission control to emit soot from acceleration, etc. Anything to gain attention for those who probably never received such while growing up. As children, we all had […]

The Convenience Industrial Scam called Recycling

I have known of Lloyd for over a decade and have read his commentary a number of times when he was writing at Treehugger. A parting of the ways came about for Lloyd and other Treehugger writers. Lloyd has his own substack and is presenting his views on recycling, conservation of resources, etc. It is […]

Can architects and designers make a difference in the climate emergency?

Can architects and designers make a difference in the climate emergency? Carbon Upfront, Lloyd Alter, One prominent English architect says we should just shut up and draw, we don’t matter much anyway. I am single-minded when teaching sustainable design at Toronto Metropolitan University: it is all about carbon, carbon, carbon, the issue of our time. […]