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NEWSWEEK: Media Lead Sheet/April 14, 2008 Issue (on newsstands Monday, April 7)

COVER: "Who's the Greenest of Them All?" (p. 42). Senior Editor Jerry Adler reports on where the three candidates stand on the environment and why some environmental advocacy groups, such as the League of Conservation Voters, which influences mainstream environmental groups, are still undecided on which candidate to endorse. The league's rankings, based on their positions on 15 votes in 2007, show that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are considered strong environmental candidates. Meanwhile, John McCain, who had a 2007 league rating of zero because he missed all 15 votes, is still a strong candidate since his lifetime LCV rating is 26 percent, compared to an average of 16 percent for all Republicans.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/130624

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080406/NYSU003 )

"A Leadership Reality Check" (p. 50). Editor-At-Large Evan Thomas and Washington Correspondent Pat Wingert report that to truly tackle the greenhouse effect, it will require the one thing from voters that few politicians dare to ask for and fewer achieve: massive public sacrifice. Accomplishing this would require the rhetoric of Barack Obama, the grit of Hillary Clinton and the courage of John McCain-all combined in one leader.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/130629

"10 Fixes for the Planet" (p. 52). Reporter Anne Underwood asked dozens of thinkers for their solutions to the world's environmental woes. The ideas include using LED light bulbs, driving 300-mpg cars, using enormous kites to help pull ships and having manufacturers produce products that are fully recyclable.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/130625

"Iceland Has Power to Burn" (p. 58). Senior Editor and Columnist Daniel Gross writes about what the island nation can teach the world. Gross writes that while "many U.S. states have set goals of obtaining 10 or 15 percent of their energy from renewables at some point in the distant future, and the European Union has pledged to reach 20 percent by 2020," Iceland is already at about 80 percent.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/130626

"A Growth Industry" (p. 64). National Correspondent Martha Brant reports on a new breed of M.B.A. students who think it's possible to make money by going green. For some, studying sustainable business practices just gives them a competitive edge. For others, it's a fresh way of thinking about business. These eco-M.B.A.s talk about the "triple bottom line"-people, planet, profit.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/130591

"Not Just Greener Grass" (p. 66). Editorial Assistant Matthew Philips reports on how Natural Resources Defense Council's Allen Hershkowitz's efforts lobbying Major League Baseball's teams and their facilities to go green have started to pay off. Last month the NRDC rolled out a team-specific greening-advisory system for the NBA, MLB and NHL, designed to help clubs implement ecofriendly practices by putting them in touch with local companies familiar with composting and energy audits.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/130592

"Sense and Sensibility" (p. 68). General Editor Anna Kuchment reports on New York Fashion Week's "Future-Fashion," a show organized by the New York-based nonprofit Earth Pledge, which inspired many top designers to work with sustainable fabrics such as sasawashi (a Japanese fabric made from paper and herbs), peace silk (a process that lets silkworms live out their full life cycle) and hemp. Several top designers have since pledged to incorporate organic fabrics into their lines.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/130627

"Sounds Good, But ... " (p. 70). Senior Editor Sharon Begley writes about the errors that have plagued efforts to help improve the planet, from not recycling properly, to the pitfalls of hybrid cars to, "perhaps the greatest folly, ... the push for ethanol to replace gasoline," she writes.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/130628

CHINA: "China Feels the Heat" (p. 26). Beijing Bureau Chief Melinda Liu reports that in recent weeks China has been acting less like a budding superpower than a tin-pot dictatorship-petulant, preachy, defiant. When Beijing was awarded the Olympic Games back in 2001, the hope was that their staging would push China to open up. But precisely because Beijing is determined to hold a picture-perfect Olympics, the government has declared war on anyone who might pose a problem.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/130601

IRAQ: "Sacrificed To the Surge" (p. 30). Special Correspondent Silvia Spring and Baghdad Correspondent Larry Kaplow report that although the Iraq government and U.S. forces are in charge of the country, the local militias or Sahwa hired to watch the streets are subjecting women to often-medieval mores. "We are becoming like Afghanistan was in the 80s," says Zainab Salbi, the Iraq-born founder and CEO of the activist group Women for Women International.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/130602

POLITICS: "Come, O Come, Emanuel" (p. 32). National Correspondent Suzanne Smalley and Thomas report that when the time comes, it may fall to Rahm Emmanuel to break the news to Hillary Clinton that her time is up rather than Howard Dean, the head of the Democratic Party.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/130605

RACE: "Al, Jesse and Barack" (p. 36). Assistant Editor Joshua Alston writes that an Obama presidency would change how black Americans see themselves. "Polls have consistently shown blacks as pessimistic about the country's level of racial progress," Alston writes. "But there's still a willingness among African-Americans to suspend disbelief and try it his [Obama's] way, to see if black America's concerns can be addressed better by cooperators than by agitators. The resilience of [Jesse] Jackson and [Al] Sharpton has been fueled by black America's desire to hold onto King's memory. If Obama shows that his new model can work, blacks may finally be ready to let go of King's ghost."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/130609

BUSINESS: "Clues for the Clueless" (p. 38). National Correspondent Daniel McGinn reports on how the mortgage crisis has created momentum for improving financial literacy. As millions struggle with mortgage payments they can't afford, there's new interest in helping close this financial IQ gap.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/130590

JUDGEMENT CALLS: "High Finance Laid Low" (p. 39). Contributing Editor Robert J. Samuelson writes that resenting or blaming the titans of finance is only half the story of modern finance. "The paradox of finance is that its advantages and disadvantages are tightly commingled," he writes. "The idea that enlightened government regulation can outlaw this cycle is at best an optimistic exaggeration."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/130622

HEALTH: "Open Wide. No, Wider" (p. 40). Special Correspondent Tina Peng reports new surgical procedures that allow doctors to perform surgeries through the mouth, anus and vagina. Though still experimental, orifice-surgery proponents say it is faster and less painful than laparoscopic surgery, potentially cheaper and doesn't leave scars.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/130600

SHARON BEGLEY: "You Can Blame the Bugs" (p. 41). Senior Editor Sharon Begley writes that a team of researchers has come up with a surprising explanation for determining why a society falls where it does on the individualism-collectivism spectrum: disease-causing microbes.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/130623

TIP SHEET: "When Kids Attack" (p. 80). General Editor Anna Kuchment reports on the growing popularity of parent coaching. Organizations such as the Parent Coaching Institute (parentcoachinginstitute.com), train coaches who advise parents with kids of all ages on issues ranging from sleep training to fussy eating and managing screen time to coping with adult sons and daughters who've moved back into the house.

http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/tipsheet/default.aspx