Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Top Twenty Green Blogs

Iain Dale has recently published a Guide to Political Blogging and, in keeping with the blog ethic of many voices from many places, he invited a number of bloggers to write a chapter each on their field of interest. I wrote the chapter on "The State of Green blogging" and compiled the top twenty Green Blogs using a vigorous scientific method based on that used to compile last year's Top 100.

Personally, I'm more of a fan of the chapter than a numerically stacked list simply because it allows you to talk about the good things people do and discuss the pluralism of the green blogosphere in a meaningful way rather than simply assign numbers and award medals. This top twenty certainly does not reflect my personal list of the first twenty blogs I go to on a day - although I think these are all good blogs who deserve their place in the list.

One of the interesting things about "Green Blogs" is that the range from left to right, from respectable to disgraceful to personal is absolutely phenomenal. And what is a political blog anyway? These questions make compiling the list an interesting thing to do, but also impossible to come to any satisfactory conclusion. Thank God for the scientific method.

How can you really compare the blog of an environmental campaign with the personal thoughts of a green leaning academic? How do you compare the blog of a local councillor who uses it to keep their constituents informed to that of a witty green field anarchist who makes no play for respectability? It would be like trying to compare George W. Bush with a donkey. Oh. Actually. That's a bad example.

For good or ill here is the "official" 2007 top twenty as they were submitted to Iain Dale's Guide to Political Blogging.

  1. Alice in blogland
  2. Sian Berry
  3. Tom Chance
    (at the acrewoods hosting collective)
  4. Transition culture
  5. Derek Wall
  6. Jenny Jones
  7. Gaian Economics
  8. Know your place
  9. Peter Tatchell
  10. The Ecologist
  11. Green Girls Global
  12. Earthquake Cove
  13. Philobiblon
  14. The Void
  15. Green Ladywell
  16. Barkingside 21
  17. Green Jelly Bean
  18. Coventry Green Party
  19. Conserve England
  20. Greenman's Occasional Organ
But wait! There's more!

As tradition dictates (well, I did this last year anyway) we need a people's choice winner too. That means it's time to get voting in The Daily (Maybe) poll (right hand sidebar). May the best blog win. The winner will be announced on 25th November.

26 comments:

James Atkinson said...

Down from number 3 to number *somwhere well below 20* in one year! I'll go away and cry profusely :p

Well done on compiling an updated list :)

Alice said...

Wow, thanks Jim Jay! Wow.

weggis said...

Oi! I voted for Conservengland and it is now at zero. Also some of the others have been reduced.
Please explain.

Maybe [daily] I should ask for a review of recent GP elections?

weggis said...

They are now all down to zero except Derek and Alice in Wonderland [are they the same?].

Who is the ERO?

Jim Jepps said...

Bloody thing! It's reset itself! That is not good... grrrr

Jim Jepps said...

I have reported the problem - will get back with any info...

Paul said...

Yes, I hate to be self-interested, but Know Your Place had six votes and now it's got one!

Why Greens should not trust technology, part 94

Hong Kong Willie said...

it is something we can take or not take but we can blog. thank you hong kong willie, not from china, were they may not blog with out threat.

http://hongkongwillie-preservationist.blogspot.com/2007/10/hong-kong-willie-in-news-green-shopping.html

www.hongkongwillie.com

Anonymous said...

Whos'e got time for all this? Who cares whose blog is best? Get out and do something useful to save the planet. This looks like green ego-tripping to me.

scott redding said...

Iain Dale has now put the list on his blog. So, we might see an increase in voters for the "best of the best" poll.

He precedes the list with a title called "What is the point of the Greens" and lends his view on the unending "should we have a leader" debate.

Anonymous said...

Anon - you old sourpuss.
You ask Whos'e got time for all this?
Ask all the greens who sit around drinking smoking dope and chucking allsorts of drugs down their throats. Taking some time off to do a bit of blogging or read how other people see things might give their livers a rest at least!

Paul said...

Have a look at the comments underneath the list on Dale's site for a good example of what happens when you let Tories loose on a list of green blogs. Quite terrifying.

Dorothea said...

Sadly it looks much like the usual polarised - and utterly sterile - fight between those two offspring of the Western “Enlightenment”; Socialists and neo-Liberals.

Benzoylation said...

Why was my blog not nominated? http://sen.blog-city.com

Hong Kong Willie said...

How in the World could you consider Hong Kong Willie a great green blog? You know nothing about Hong Kong Willie (not from China). Why not find out the truth before accepting this odd and weird place:

The Truth about Hong Kong Willie

Jim Jepps said...

Who are you talking to HKW?

Benzoylation - maybe next year

Tractorboy said...

Thanks for including me in the list at number 17. Haven't been blogging long and I'm pleased that some people are interested. Cheers! :-)

Design Muse Blog said...

Hi - I also have a green blog called Green by Design. Would love to be considered next year!

cheers,

http://green-bydesign.blogspot.com/

Jim Jepps said...

Hi Casey - nice blog - I've popped it into my links

Anonymous said...

I have gone green the easy way and signed up for a membership with Myjunktree and was able to stop almost all the junk mail that came to my home. I was able to make a coice of what came to my mailbox and what didn't. The good thing was I received feedback within 48 hours when the stuff was stopped. I got out of all the weekly coupons, Credit Card offers, Catalogs and misc junk mail. I was even able to stop the paper phone books. It was quick and easy to make my choices. It does take time for the mail to stop flowing in, it's a process but it did stop.

Anonymous said...

Good Job! :)

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Anonymous said...

Taking some time off to do a bit of blogging or read how other people see things might give their livers a rest at least.The good thing was I received feedback within 48 hours when the stuff was stopped. I got out of all the weekly coupons, Credit Card offers, Catalogs and misc junk mail.

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Manju said...

Wonderful list of green blogs. Some of them really inspire me.

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