Mat McDermott
Mat edits the Business and Energy sections of TreeHugger, as well as writing about resource consumption, animal welfare issues, and the response of religious communities to our current environmental problems.
Driving his work are two main convictions: 1) Our current environmental problems—climate change, biodiversity losses, peak fossil fuels, natural resource over consumption—are but symptoms of the greater problem of fetishizing material economic growth; and 2) only by first changing our minds, recognized the literal and metaphorical interconnected nature of all life, will we make the lasting external changes required to create an ecologically sustainable civilization.
In addition to his work with TreeHugger, Mat is an Advisor for The Bhumi Project, "a worldwide Hindu response to the environmental issues facing our planet...faciliated by the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies."
Beyond writing, Mat's creative output consists of documentary photography and filmmaking, with photographs appearing in a number of national and international print publications, as well as being exhibited in solo and group shows in the United States, France, and the United Arab Emirates. His last film, for which he was cinematographer, was Above Brooklyn and examined the dwindling but passionate pastime of pigeon fancying in New York City and Long Island.
He holds a Masters degree from New York University's Center for Global Affairs, where he concentrated in environment and energy policy. His Bachelors degree from Burlington College (Vermont) is in Writing & Literature, with research focused on the work of Rabindranath Tagore, Bengali devotional poetry, and the Beat Generation.
Mat currently lives in New York City. ૐ
In addition to Twitter and RSS below, you can also follow Mat on Facebook, and Flickr.
Latest Stories from Mat McDermott
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Paul Watson Will Be Released on Bail, But Must Stay in Germany Awaiting Possible Extradition
Watson must put up over $300,000 in bail and stay in Germany while awaiting the final ruling on whether he will be sent to Costa Rica to face trial on a decade-old charge.
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Vermont Bans Fracking: We Can Live Without Oil & Natural Gas, But Cannot Without Clean Water
In signing the ban into law, Vermont's governor reminds us that there was civilization before fossil fuels, but there was no life at all before water.
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US Proposes More Tariffs For Chinese Solar Power Modules
For companies that participated in the Dept of Commerce's investigation the preliminary tariffs are roughly 31%, and much higher for those that didn't.
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Last 60 Years In Australia Have Been Warmest in Past Millennium
Natural factors alone cannot explain the warming, "suggesting a strong influence of human-caused climate change" in the region.
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Nearly 10% of Western Hemisphere's Animals Won't Be Able to Outrun Climate Change
In some places 40% of animals will be unable to migrate quickly enough, with primates being particularly hard hit.
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Electricity Transmission Line for 7 GW of Offshore Wind Power Off Mid-Atlantic States Given Go Ahead
Now if the US could just build the wind turbines to actually generate the electricity...
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Paul Watson Faces 15 Years Imprisonment in Costa Rica
The wheels of justice move slowly, and it may be some time before Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson is actually extradited to Costa Rica, but should that happen and he's convicted he faces over a decade in prison.
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Extreme Rainstorms in Midwest Double Over Past 50 Years
In brief: Extreme storms have increased in number, with the most extreme storms increasing more than less extreme storms and both more than average storms.
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GM Cotton Fails to Raise Yields in India, Despite Large Increase in Planting
Though cotton yields initially doubled when GM cotton began being planted a decade ago, in the past six years yields have failed to increase even though planting has markedly increased.
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North Sea Natural Gas Platform Leak Finally Stopped
After a couple months of work the methane leak amounted to not much at all, but it is a reminder that potentially environmentally damaging leaks are business-as-usual with fossil fuels.
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Fewer Americans Believe Climate Change Is Not Happening Than We Think
The latest of Yale University's surveys on American attitudes towards climate change also shows that two-thirds of people now believe the planet is warming, but fewer attribute it to human activity.
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Two-Thirds of US Land Leased by Oil Industry Not Used
Yet the oil industry wants access to more land...
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US Navy Thinks Renewable Energy is the Future, But House Republicans Don't Want Them to Have It
"The House Armed Services Committee banned the Defense Department from making or buying an alternative fuel that costs more than a “traditional fossil fuel.”"
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Hawaii Now Has Statewide Plastic Bag Ban - With Significant Loopholes
The ban, starting in 2015, only covers plastic bags at point-of-sale, exempting a whole slew of other plastic bags with equal litter potential and equally good reusable alternatives.
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Sea Shepherd Founder Paul Watson Will Be Extradited to Costa Rica
Sea Shepherd has issued a call to action, urging the German Ministry of Justice to overturn the court decision.
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Sea Shepherd's Paul Watson Arrested in Germany (UPDATED)
While working to stop illegal shark fishing in Guatemala, Sea Shepherd intercepted a Costa Rican ship, the crew of which accused Sea Shepherd members of trying to kill them.
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Coal Use in United States Drops to 36% of Electricity Generation
Why? Natural gas use is rising.
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Genetically Modified Eggplant Field Trials Halted by Court in Philippines
The move comes as a result of a petition from Greenpeace Southeast Asia, which asserts that GM crops can cause serious health issues.
