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 - Page 3
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Delhi Added a Record 500,000 New Vehicles to Its Already Polluted Streets in 2011
80% of these were private cars and two-wheeled vehicles, most of which are powered by diesel engines.
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1.4 Million Megawatts of Coal Power Plants Currently Being Developed Globally
Three quarters of these are in India and China, though a surprising amount are still being proposed in the United States.
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72% of Harvard Students Vote to Divest School Endowment From Fossil Fuels Companies
Pulling money from fossil fuels now has much greater support on campus than did the campaign to divest from apartheid South Africa.
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Storm Surge Barriers May Save Wall Street, But Would Worsen Flooding in Outer Boroughs
A better approach to reducing flooding in future storms is to improve soft infrastructure, soften the coastline, working with nature.
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Protests Against Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline Continue, From Washington DC to Texas
Keystone XL will be the Obama administration's a major test of its newly re-articulated commitment to taking action on climate change.
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Mississippi, West Virginia Drivers Most Vulnerable to Gasoline Price Changes
In both places people are spending nearly 9% of their income on fueling their cars, a new NRDC report finds.
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ExxonMobil Oil Spill in Nigeria Stretches for 20 Miles, Worst Since Company Came to Country
...And yet the director of local operations apologizes that the spill has caused "inconveniences."
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Patagonia's New Wetsuits Will Be Made From Plants
In spring 2013 surfers will finally be able to buy a wetsuit made from a plant-based alternative to neoprene.
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Should the Former OPEC President Really Head a UN Climate Summit?
Compared to having Denmark's climate and energy minister head COP15, having the Deputy Prime Minister of Qatar at the helm seems a cruel joke.
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The Jill Stein Presidential Campaign Was Both a Dismal Failure and a Remarkable Win
Stein may have gotten only 0.3% of the national vote, but that's actually a huge increase over what Greens have gotten in the past two elections.
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Half of Indian Concentrating Solar Power Projects Delayed
India's ambitious plans for expanding solar power are set for a short-term setback.
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Photo of the Day: Yosemite Valley
Continuing a theme for photo of the day Fridays, here's more of the beautiful transition from fall foliage to winter whites, this time in the Yosemite Valley of California.
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New York Governor Pledges to Lead on Climate Change - But What About on Fracking?
Andrew Cuomo pens an impassioned piece on the importance of reinforcing New York's infrastructure against extreme weather, but fails to mention how we can help slow climate change itself.
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Exxon Is Actually Entirely Correct: A Carbon Tax is Better Than Cap-and-Trade
I'm actually kind of giddy over all the recent talk of the virtues of a carbon tax, versus those of cap-and-trade.
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Butterball Employees Caught Abusing Turkeys, Again (Video)
Mercy For Animals has again shown the abuse meted out upon turkeys at a Butterball factory farm in North Carolina.
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BP Will Pay Biggest Criminal Fine in US History For Gulf Oil Spill
Not only that, but up to four employees may be charged with manslaughter. But, will the fine actually encourage companies to be more careful?
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President Obama Mentions Climate Change! But Says the Wrong Things
In the President's first press conference since the election he's asked about climate change, and still fails to show enough urgency in addressing the problem, or even really get the solutions right.
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California's New Cap-and-Trade Emissions Trading Program is Second Largest in World
Results of the first auction of pollution permits will be announced next Monday.
