Grading the Media

Last week marked an interesting time for me.  I missed my first Beach Report Card press conference in 19 years to complete a leadership fellowship with the Aspen Institute. As the 20th approached, I felt a combination of anxiety and anticipation. I wanted to be at the press conference in Santa Monica, but I [...]

The Coolest Guy in the Room

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to attend the Obama town-hall meeting at the home of the Cobras: Miguel Contreras High School in downtown L.A. Jeff Carr, the city’s gang czar, reverend and friend, kicked off the afternoon’s festivities with a rousing, moving speech. Then, as at any big game, a singer belted out the national [...]

California Scrooge

What did you get for the holidays?
Due to California’s unprecedented financial crisis, the environmental, scientific, education, transportation and construction community got one big lump of coal.  Were we naughty this year?  Not hardly.  The naughty were the state legislature and the Governor, which both failed to agree on a budget plan that met the laugh [...]

Life as a Gold

Thanks to my spontaneous retort to the L.A. Weekly’s article on whale-meat  consumption in Seoul, the word is on the street.  Jonathan Gold is indeed my brother. The Pulitzer Prize-winning foodie — who coined the slogan “Tacos Forever!” long before the food truck battles began — has spent most of his adult life chowing down [...]

Love-Hate Relationship

The region under new media/sports magnate Sam Zell empire is never dull.  I won’t spend time talking about Zambrano’s no-hitter, the Trib, or the inevitability of Bartman’s curse this October. But I would like to share some thoughts about some recent Heal the Bay doings at our local Zell outlets – the Los Angeles Times [...]

Self Reflection

The Olympic flame was lit 10 days ago at Beijing’s Bird Nest. Since then Michael Phelps won an unprecedented eight gold medals in the Water Cube and the sport of China-bashing for its environmental damage and devastation has been in full swing. We all have been made aware of the facts about China’s pollution; number [...]

Industry Bag Man

Did you catch David Lazarus’ defense article for the plastic bag industry in the Sunday Los Angeles Times business section? What a joke. The whole piece took the side of the plastic industry, which argues that bags are harmless and that banning them will cost the public money and cause people to lose jobs. There [...]

Ready for Our Close-Up

In two decades at Heal the Bay, I’ve been fortunate to be part of numerous environmental victories. However, my 8-year-old daughter, Natalie, has a different perspective on success.

Water Day at the L.A. Times

It may have been a fluke, but the Sunday edition of the Los Angeles Times was seemingly all about water — and the coverage was pro environment. 
The stories included a strong editorial supporting L.A’s approach to California’s water scarcity paradigm and opposing billions for more dams (OK, I’m not a fan of replumbing the Delta, but the [...]