Vivian Thomson

S6 Episode 7: Damming and Undamming The Kalamath River undammed, the US's dam building bender, fighting to preserve the forests that feed the Panama Canal, and Brazil's energy transition

The Meaning of Green's latest episode highlights the drama of undamming the Klamath River and saving the forests that feed the Panama Canal. And the episode answers the question: How was an ill-fated dam proposal likened to flooding the Sistine Chapel?

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County Board considers ban on gas-powered leaf blowers in Arlington | ARLnow.com Gas-powered leaf blowers could soon meet their downfall in Arlington. The County Board is considering a possible ban on the controversial contraptions, which local environmental advocates have critici...

In Virginia, more action on gasoline powered leaf blowers: www.arlnow.com/2025/09/17/c...

S6 Episode 6: Weapons of the Weak Trembitas, community-based conservation in Ukraine, Europe's magnificent beech forests, and why we should care about biodiversity

Weapons of the Weak, the latest Meaning of Green episode, features trembitas, community-based conservation in Ukraine, and Europe's magnificent beech forests, and explains why we should care about biodiversity. directory.libsyn.com/episode/inde...

A view along the Reflecting Pool, with practically no visitors.

Slideshow of today in Washington DC, and how it looks when a terrorizing government scares people away.

By me, no paywall: fallows.substack.com/p/a-summer-a...

The latest Meaning of Green episode is called Germans Know How to Party.
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Germans Know How to Party features this tiny car, which has become a kind of cult car. Asparagus also figures into the episode, which is about parties and energy and climate action.

A committee of the Montgomery County Council in Maryland has voted down a proposal to gut the County's gas powered leaf blower ban. The Council's president will not bring the failed proposal to the full Council. So, the County's leaf blower ban will stay in effect.

Thank you! How strange, that name thing.

It's terrific that you've submitted testimony. Spread the word! The 21st is a hard deadline for commenting.

Hi Carol, FYI, the landscapers were out in force at the public hearing yesterday. Naturally, almost all of them want to gut the leaf blower ban. The deadline for public comments is 21 July.

Hi Carol, How great that you're commenting! BTW, I just saw that the July issue of Lawn and Landscape has a cover article about battery powered equipment titled "No More Need to Hesitate." www.lawnandlandscape.com/article/batt...

Latest proposal to undermine Montgomery County leaf blower ban endangers worker, public health - Maryland Matters Gasoline-powered leaf blowers are more than a nuisance, they're a health hazard, and Montgomery County was right to ban them, write Vivian E. Thomson and Kit Gage. Now's not the time for backsliding b...

MoCo (Montgomery County MD, outside DC) took big, important step in phasing out dirty, grossly polluting gas leaf-blowers. As DC has done, to wide public support.

Some MoCo politicians trying to undermine it. How/why to stop them @vivianthomson.bsky.social

marylandmatters.org/2025/07/10/l...

The bill to undermine our leaf blower ban is "Expedited Bill 19-25."

You can email Montgomery County's Council members (www.montgomerycountymd.gov/COUNCIL/cont...) and/or comment online here: www.montgomerycountymd.gov/COUNCIL/PHSi...

YouTube video by rghm Molly Ivins, "Why I Left the New York Times"; 3 of 6 from 1992 Mother Jones Fundraiser

These days, I really miss Molly Ivins, with her sharp tongue, marvelous writing, deep faith in the possibilities of American democracy, and willingness to call things as she saw them. Here she describes why she left The New York Times. It has to do with chickens. www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pug...

The Meaning of Green With host Dr. Vivian Thomson. Listeners are from 49 US states and 78 countries. Available on the usual podcast platforms.

Thank you so much for the shout-out and for validating leaf blower wars. Other recent episodes on The Meaning of Green (meaningofgreen.com) have featured a mysterious nocturnal creature in Brazil, an analysis of who will suffer from US environmental rollbacks, and The Great Rice Fiasco in Japan.

The Meaning of Green With host Dr. Vivian Thomson. Listeners are from 49 US states and 78 countries. Available on the usual podcast platforms.

Other recent Meaning of Green (meaningofgreen.com) episodes feature a mysterious nocturnal creature in Brazil (Janis and the Sea of Forested Hills), an analysis of who could lose the most from overturning environmental rules in the US (Let Them Drink Lead), and The Great Rice Fiasco in Japan.

S6 Episode 4: A Cruel Bargain Class, race, and leaf blowers, strong vs. weak local powers, birds that attack windshield wipers, and Cate Blanchett's recommendation

Great podcast episode by Vivian Thomson at Meaning of Green, on nationwide movement away from filthy, obsolescent gas-powered leaf blowers. (And why some bitter-enders in MoCo Maryland are trying to backslide.) Goes into class/race/equity issues.
Worth hearing

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