FEATURES
Decades of oil drilling in the Ecuadorean Amazon has turned hundreds of square miles of rain forest into a toxic-waste site. Meanwhile, Pablo Fajardo was growing up there, determined to seek justice for his home and his people. Just three years after getting his law degree, he’s spearheading a massive suit against Chevron. William Langewiesche investigates. Photographs by Rémi Bénali.
Global Citizens
The mission: save the planet. The weapons: food, movies, wine, fashion, fame, and music, as well as science, economics, and superhuman will. From Robert Redford to Sir Nicholas Stern, to a treeful of Nobelists, V.F. pinpoints 88 crusaders whose passions have global payoffs. Portfolio by Annie Leibovitz, Todd Eberle, Jonas Karlsson, Brigitte Lacombe, Norman Jean Roy, Mark Seliger, Snowdon, Art Streiber, and Gasper Tringale.
Dante’s Inferno: Green Edition
Abandon hope, all environmental sinners. George W. Bush, Michael Crichton, and Gale Norton are among those toasted as V.F. reimagines the nine circles of hell.
The hottest new sports car on the market goes from 0 to 60 in 4 seconds, is whisper quiet, and runs without a drop of gasoline. Checking out the Tesla, Michael Shnayerson reports on Silicon Valley’s re-invention of the electric wheels. Plus: Robert Levine surveys the next generation of rechargeable hot rods and green dream machines. Photograph by Jonas Karlsson.
In 2005, the Amazon sizzled from its worst drought in recorded history. Could a one-two punch of global warming and deforestation turn the rain forest to savanna by 2080? Alex Shoumatoff sets off through the world’s most diverse biome in search of answers. Photographs by Jonas Karlsson.
With an exclusive transcript from his upcoming documentary feature, The 11th Hour, Leonardo DiCaprio steps forward to take the baton from Al Gore.
FANFAIR
31 Days in the Life of Culture
Life Sketches—Tony Sarg’s New York illustrations. The Cultural Divide. Elissa Schappell’s Hot Type. My Stuff—Lauren Bush; A. M. Homes on Lilly’s new men’s wear. Krista Smith exposes the hotties of Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s Grindhouse; Bruce Handy warms up to Hot Fuzz. Matt Tyrnauer has designs on Moss. Graham Fuller reviews the Edith Piaf biopic; giving back with Green Jewels. Frank DiGiacomo on the Iggulden brothers’ lost childhood; Lisa Robinson meets The Actual. Leslie Bennetts on Elettra Rossellini Wiedemann’s eco-education; Amy Larocca on Olivia Chantecaille’s undersea odyssey; Hot Looks.
COLUMNS
Lampooning environmentalists as "wackos," Rush Limbaugh lulled millions of Americans into happy complacency. As the country wakes up to the climate crisis, James Wolcott asks: Who looks wacko now?
Astronomical returns, negligible risk, gold-plated cachet—only a loser would sit out the private-equity bubble. With everyone from Edgar Bronfman Jr. to Norman Pearlstine getting in the game, Michael Wolff makes his own play.
The Bush administration has gutted decades of environmental protection, appointing energy-industry executives to uphold the very laws they’d worked against. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. busts the polluters’ picnic.
Plagued by pollution and drought, major cities are outsourcing their water management to corporate giants, such as France’s Veolia, who apply Economics 101 to Earth’s most precious resource. In China, Charles C. Mann discovers, some can’t afford the bill. Photographs by Stephen Wilkes.
When scientists are united, and even corporate sponsors like ExxonMobil are backing off, how does a global-warming skeptic stay busy? As long as the media calls, Myron Ebell is happy to explain why CO2 is good. Michael Shnayerson catches him in full denial. Photographs by Jonathan Becker.
Problems without Borders
As teams from two top universities chart consumption patterns, the map of the world bulges and shrinks. Famed biologist E. O. Wilson puts the findings into perspective.
The Falcon’s Call
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. got his first red-tailed hawk from his father, at age 11, and an environmental education through the ancient art of falconry. Decades later, he meets up with a small band of falconers in Wyoming’s sagebrush, a wilderness being overrun by Halliburton. Photographs by William Abranowicz. View the video "The Falcon’s Call."
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Throne
Public ridicule never stopped Prince Charles from championing green causes. Now that the Prince is a hero, with a grand plan for carbon-emissions labeling, Michael Shnayerson writes, he’s taking a different kind of flak.
The Nixon White House’s notoriously comprehensive—and recently declassified—archives contain a close-up of the president’s struggle to control his secretary of state Henry Kissinger. In an excerpt from his new book, Robert Dallek reveals how Watergate and a Middle East crisis put Kissinger on top in 1973.
If you’re like the average American, your daily routine—from brushing your teeth to hitting the gym—wreaks havoc around the globe. Alex Shoumatoff tallies the damage in the 2007 Green Guide, while Adam Spangler compiles the latest data.
VANITIES
Taylor-Made
Mark O’Donnell gives celebrity a new (numerical) meaning; the green movement then and now; Howard Schatz captures Nathan Lane in character. Bruce Feirstein’s utilitarian apologia; Ben Schott measures the immeasurable. Ed Coaster is caught spoon in hand.
ET CETERA
On Borrowed Land
Contributors
Letters
An Agent of War
Plantetarium
Teeth of a Taurus
Fairground
The Oscar party
Credits
Penny Marshall
