Magazines are a great source of current information on specific topics. There’s an increasing number of green and environmental magazines hitting the newsstands from general lifestyle information to energy and conservation. Subscribing gets you full access to the print edition online, and it’s usually cheaper than buying each issue off the rack.

Plenty Magazine and E: The Environmental Magazine cover general green issues of the day and include special features and interviews with green leaders, book and movie reviews, new products,and practical tips.

Then there’s magazines from enviro organizations such as Sierra Club and Natural Resources Defense Council. For architecture and design there’s Metropolis and Dwell. ReadyMade magazine has a lot of fun how-to and DIY projects. For home improvement and energy topics, check out Smart Home Owner magazine, Home Energy, or Home Power.

Victoria E reviews Body + Soul Magazine monthly for GO and has just checked out the September 2007 issue. And keep an eye out for special green issues of other magazines. Recently Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated, and Domino all had dedicated green issues, and as GO’s Noelle d’Estries pointed out, People Magazine’s Most Beautiful List featured a handfull of eco-friendly celebs.

When you’re finished reading pass your copy along to someone else, or recycle it. Or bypass the print edition altogether and read it online. Plus, most magazines (green or not) have additional features online between their monthly, or bi-monthly issues.

Amy says: One of my personal favorites is GOOD. GOOD Magazine just turned one year old, and literally focuses on good things in the world, from people to technologies that are helping make the world a better place. Plus 100% of subscription money goes towards a non-profit organization of your choice.

Of course there are more green magazines out there - what are your favorites? Leave a comment below.

More on magazines from GO:

Smart HomeOwner: Better Home, Better Planet

Weekend Review: Body+Soul Magazine, September 2007

Magazine Review: Body+Soul, July/August 2007

Weekend Review: Body+Soul Magazine, June 2007

Green Celebs: People Magazine’s Most Beautiful List Angelina Jolie, Julia Roberts + Leonardo DiCaprio

Magazine Review: Rolling Stone’s Green Issue

Daily Tip: Extend the Life of Your Magazines

Has Vanity Fair Tainted its Well-Intentioned Africa Issue?

The Green List on Newsstands Now

Sports Illustrated’s Hottest Cover Ever

Do you have a tip you’d like to share? Send it to us. If it’s published you’ll recieve Wind Power Cards from Renewable Choice Energy.

If you tune into the evening news and catch a story on global warming, alternative fuels, or wetland conservation, chances are the reporter responsible for that segment isn't an environmental reporter. More than likely it is from the health or science correspondent, or from the general news reporter who was assigned the story.

While many mainstream media outlets are increasingly playing up the green angle in their stories, they still toss much of their environmental coverage under larger categories like health and science and rarely cover it as an issue in its own right. (MSNBC files it under U.S. News).

This is why it is encouraging to see that NBC News has announced that their business and chief financial correspondent, Anne Thompson, will take up the environmental beat. Thompson, who has been battling breast cancer, told the Associated Press that she feels the environment is an important issue that network television should devote more attention to.

With a journalist focused on the environment, NBC's special coverage of these issues will increase and could prompt network competitors to do the same. However, Thompson's understanding of business and financial issues, and her own health history will likely influence her approach to this beat and provide a unique voice that will set NBC apart in its environmental news coverage.

Via Yahoo News

The Supreme Court has decided that under the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency does have the authority to regulate auto emissions.

In 2003, the EPA said that because green house gasses were not air pollutants, they had no power to set emission standards for vehicles under the Clean Air Act. Later that year several states and environmental agencies brought suit against the EPA. The suit progressed through the DC circuit and despite challenges brought by the EPA, finally made it to the Supreme Court.

In their 5-4 decision, the court did not say the EPA should step up and regulate vehicle CO2 emissions, but did clearly state the agency had authority to do so. While this decision marks the first time climate change has reached the Supreme Court, they avoided taking any position on the issue making sure to stay neutral on the matter.

Vehicle emissions are a major contributor to global warming, but can be some of the toughest to regulate through conventional policy routes. This will probably not be the last we hear about the legal battles surrounding vehicle emissions as auto manufacturers will more than likely fight any regulations the EPA may come up with.

To raise awareness of the decision and to put a little pressure on the EPA, activist group Environmental Action began an online, grassroots outreach campaign to get people to send a message to encourage the EPA to act.

Further reading:
The New York Times; Massachusettes Attorney General's Office, Environmental Defense

Associated PressSir Richard Branson, head of Virgin Group, has offered $25 million for the first person or group who can come up with a technology to remove one billion tons of green house gases from the atmosphere per year for ten years.

Branson told reporters at a news conference that he created the Virgin Earth Challenge because, "The Earth cannot wait 60 years. We need everybody capable of discovering an answer to put their minds to it today."

The contest will be open for five years and entrants will be judged by a panel including Branson, Al Gore, climate scientist James Hansen, and Gaia hypothesis creator James Lovelock.

The financial incentive provides an added push intended to spur innovation faster than would otherwise come about through policy mandates or current research tracks. Currently, the most promising mitigation measure for removing CO2 is a practice known as carbon sequestration, which grabs CO2 before it reaches the atmosphere, captures it and puts it deep underground. There is some uncertainty in this technology however, as the long term consequences and success are unknown.

TreeHugger via BBC