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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End of an Era: Mat McDermott Shares His Favorite TreeHugger Moments
Dear TreeHugger readers, you've no doubt noticed some changes on the site in past weeks. You'll notice other changes coming as well, one of which being that you won't be seeing aany more pieces under my byline. That's right, I'm moving on from TreeHugger.
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Photo of the Day: Verbier, Switzerland
I've definitely had a theme in the past few Fridays' Photos of the Day. And, if you guess that I'm jonesing for some time on snow, you're right.
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Fight Fracking via Video, Win Lunch With Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon
Have some video skills and want to join in the fight against fracking in New York? Here's a contest for you.
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Down to the Wire: The COP18 UN Climate Conference Is On!
TreeHugger rounds up the best reporting, commentary, and social media reaction to this year's version of the annual UN climate talks.
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Photo of the Day: Mt Kangchenjunga
The third highest mountain in the world, with an elevation of 28,169', Kanchenjunga is on the border of the easternmost part of Nepal and the northern part of the Indian state of Sikkim.
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Feeding Dead to Vultures to Resume in India's Parsi Community
What's the greenest way to dispose of a body, after a natural death and hopefully after a long life, of course? Burial? Cremation? Both have a long proud tradition, but there's another tradition being revitalized by the Parsi community of Mumbai.
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South Korea Formally Cancels Plans to Resume Whaling
South Korea has decided that it will use "no-kill" methods of scientific research on whales.
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BP Should Be Barred From Government Contracts for At Least 5 Years: Public Citizen
In a letter to EPA administrator Lisa Jackson, Public Citizen calls BP "A repeat criminal felon".
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WWF Gets $5 Million Grant From Google to Help Fight Wildlife Trafficking
The money will go "to create an umbrella of technology to protect endangered wildlife like elephants, rhinos and tigers."
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UK Economy Will Fare Better With More Wind Power Than Natural Gas: Report
By 2030 GDP will increase by nearly a full percentage point, billions of pounds will be saved on natural gas imports, and carbon emissions drop two-thirds. All will more wind power and less natural gas.
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Reduced Air Pollution Means You May Live 4 Months Longer
In both rural and urban areas of the US decreases in fine particle air pollution from 2000-2007 has increased life expectancy, new research shows
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Is Earth Screwed? Scientist Says Yes, and He's Not Even Talking About the Outcome of COP18
We now have scientific data proving something that many TreeHugger readers, climate change politics watchers, biodiversity wonks, anti-deforestation activists, consumer culture critics already probably know, or at least fear, deep down in their hearts.
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Tim DeChristopher Barred From "Social Justice" Work While in Halfway House
Tim had planned on working at a Salt Lake City Unitarian church doing social outreach. That is, until the Federal Bureau of Prisons decided that wasn't a "safe" occupation for the climate activist.
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Rich Nations Spend 5x More Money on Subsidizing Fossil Fuels Than Climate Change Assistance
The priorities here seem pretty obvious.
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Department of Justice Quietly Stops Investigating Monsanto for Antitrust Violations
All over Thanksgiving, and with only a tiny press release...
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IEA Head Calls for End to Fossil Fuel Subsidies
Doing so will get us halfway to preventing dangerous climate change... if there's still time to do so.
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$550 Million Coming Each Year to Green California Schools, Public Buildings
Half of the expected revenue from California's Proposition 39 is dedicated towards green energy and energy efficient projects. Good deal.
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Shell Arctic Oil Spill Clean Up Gear "Crushed Like a Beer Can" in Tests
More detail has emerged of what happened during tests of Shell's oil spill containment dome last June. It doesn't bode well.
