EnviroWonk writer and Obama delegate Marsha Johnston will be blogging from the DNC convention all week. We are still looking for a writer and/or delegate who is interested in blogging from the RNC convention in St. Paul next week. If you're that person, e-mail editor Dave Loos at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Before digging in and bringing you all of the environmental policy developments and other eco-tidbits from the Democrats in Denver, we thought it a good idea to give you some of my background as context for whatever perspectives I might offer.

I am an Obama delegate. I first met him at the reception for his Senate investiture ceremony in January 2005, to deliver a proposal for translating his first book into French. (It never happened; "not enough readers back then," he joked when I needled him about it at the California convention last year.) I have worked countless hours for him as a grassroots organizer since January, 2007.

And what kind of environmentalist am I? I came of age in then-rural San Diego, not far from the Mexican border, a land of bone-warming sunshine, infinite arrays of agave and succulents, with the endless perfume of jasmine and eucalyptus in the air. I live for forays into the wildest spaces left on earth, where you can still literally feel the earth breathing: Brazil’s Pantanal, the Peruvian Amazon, Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula. I believe we may return to an era of sailing ships and slower travel, though perhaps not in my lifetime.

As has already been reported here, the Democratic Party has made a clear effort to "green" their convention. Carbon offsets are provided to delegates (one can even opt to have it in one’s name, rather than just as a group), bikes are offered for transportation, there are an array of environmental projects for delegate service day (I will be working to restore Confluence Park in downtown Denver), as well as social events from notable green groups, including the Apollo Alliance.

Over the next few days, I will let you know just how much is green and how much is "wash."