Happy No-Pants Day! (Photo by James Calder.)

When it comes to transit, even the best of us have a bad attitude. In my own case, I ride the commuter train because it’s the lesser of evils: Driving to work sucks, and the train sucks a bit less. Among those with stronger environmental devotions, transit can be an obligation: We ride the bus or train because it’s the right thing to do, not because we enjoy it.

It doesn’t have to be that way, argues urban planner Darrin Nordahl. His potent new e-book, Making Transit Fun!, has all the enthusiasm for buses, trains, and bike lanes that its title’s exclamation point implies. Can transit incorporate art? Yes! How about playground equipment? You bet. Even … sex? Oh yeah, baby.

The automobile industry has employed the best designers and marketers (and even Posh Spice) to make driving cars cool, sexy, exhilarating -- and piss on transit options like biking. “Here is where we transit advocates need to take a lesson from Corporate America,” Nordahl writes. “You cannot get sufficient numbers of people to buy a product or service if it doesn’t excite them.”

Q. Dear Umbra,

If you assume the Greenland ice shelf falls in the ocean, and ditto in Antarctica, and that the Southwest United States runs out of water, where would be the place to move before doomsday? I am thinking Maine or Vermont, along the coast, but more than 20 feet above sea level. I am looking for a sort of “best places” to retire for survivalists. Your thoughts?

Amy L.
Wichita, Kan.

Photo by Colin Grey

A. Dearest Amy,

Believe it or not, I answered a question similar to yours a few years ago, from a fellow in Belgium. After careful consideration, I advised him that Europe was the place to be. As it happened, I was feeling down on the U.S. after the botched response to Hurricane Katrina. I’m also something of a Europhile. I can’t help it -- the countries are so tiny and proximate! The pastries are so good!

E. O. Wilson thinks you should get out there and make some noise.

We had lots of questions for acclaimed biologist and conservationist Edward O. Wilson when he dropped by the Grist office recently while touring to promote his latest book, The Social Conquest of Earth.

But Wilson directed the toughest question of the day back at us: Why aren't you young people out protesting the mess that's being made of the planet?

As we squirmed in our seats, Wilson, 82, continued: "Why are you not repeating what was done in the ‘60s? Why aren’t you in the streets? And what in the world has happened to the green movement that used to be on our minds and accompanied by outrage and high hopes? What went wrong?"

We didn't have great answers, so we're going to turn the questioning on you, dear readers: Why aren't you out in the streets? And if you are, where, why, and who else is out there with you? Should more of us be staging '60s-style protests? Can online activism or lobbying in the halls of power make just as much of a difference, or more? Tell us what you think in comments below.

Norfolk, Va. (Photo by Sharon.)

When the presidential candidates talk about the long-term economic security of the U.S., they often talk about the national debt, the viability of Medicare and Social Security, and the rise of China.

But there’s another issue that could have major implications for the nation’s economy, and it’s barely mentioned at all: the soaring costs America might face in generations to come from climate change. More specifically, the very damaging and very costly effects of sea-level rise.

According to recent research put out by Climate Central, close to 4 million Americans now live in coastal communities that could see increased flooding caused by sea-level rise. The kind of flooding that was once considered extremely rare could happen more and more often, with devastating economic consequences.

The city of Norfolk, Va., is getting an early look at what sea-level rise means for a big coastal community. The city is experiencing sea-level rise earlier than most because not only are the seas around the city going up, but much of the land beneath Norfolk is going down. This one-two punch means the city is seeing today the kind of flooding that many cities could experience down the road if the scientific projections of sea-level rise play out.

We went to Norfolk recently and talked with Mayor Paul Fraim (D) about how he’s grappling with the flooding that’s occurring more and more often in his city. In what may be a first for an American mayor, Fraim tells Need to Know that if sea-level rise continues, some parts of his city may have to be abandoned to the rising tide. Here’s our report:

Jean-Marie herds goats within the Louisville city limits. He sells them to the growing immigrant and refugee populations. Goat isn't yet popular with all Southerners, but it reminds Jean-Marie of his home in Burundi.

I have been seriously slacking on the Friday Music Blogging lately! I plead excess travel. And apologize to the ones and ones of FMB fans out there. Anyway, back to it.

As I've said before, fans of beardy music are in hog heaven these days. There is a full-fledged beardy renaissance happening. I'm not sure exactly what started it -- I guess you could trace it back to Band of Horses and Fleet Foxes, at least in its recent incarnation -- but it is now in full flower. The Avett Brothers, The Head and the Heart, Family of the Year, Of Monsters and Men, Milo Greene ... all these bands have recently released albums or will release something this year. All follow the basic beardy template: strummy, stompy, catchy, sing-along music featuring pretty, multi-part, guy-girl harmonies.

I can't get enough of it! This is one of those genres where I don't really require excellence. Just the basic template is usually enough to please me. (Everyone has genres like this, right?) As a bonus, the bands in this genre seem relaxed and down to earth, more concerned with honesty and communal experience than pop success. I'm into that as well.

Anyway, this brings us to The Lumineers, a Denver-based band who released their eponymous debut album this month. Though the band itself appears puzzlingly beard-free, the music is beardy to the core, what they describe as "an amalgam of  heart-swelling stomp-and-clap acoustic rock, classic pop, and front-porch folk." And yes, there's a fetching young lady playing cello and mandolin and singing harmonies. Check!

The music is not exactly revelatory. Your mind will not be blown. It's just pleasant and hummable. This song, "Classy Girls," should give you a pretty good sense of what to expect:

"Immigrants cause global warming!" says Stephen Colbert. "It's always an immigrant who's cutting my grass with an exhaust-spewing lawnmower. ... And their spicy food always increases my emissions."

In a smart segment this week, Colbert rips apart noxious ads that criticize immigrants for increasing their carbon footprints. The ads, being run on MSNBC, come from anti-immigration group Californians for Population Stabilization. Watch:

Photo by Hans Gerwitz.

The International Energy Agency recently issued its annual progress report [PDF] on clean energy. Here's the five-cent version:

The transition to a low-carbon energy sector is affordable and represents tremendous business opportunities, but investor confidence remains low due to policy frameworks that do not provide certainty and address key barriers to technology deployment. Private sector financing will only reach the levels required if governments create and maintain supportive business environments for low-carbon energy technologies. [my emphasis]

Progress is inadequate -- relative to the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 2 degrees C -- on virtually every low-carbon technology except onshore wind and solar (click for a larger version of this chart):

Photo by Milan Boers.

It's hard to imagine a teensy mosquito taking down an animal as mighty as the killer whale. Yet that's exactly what some folks suspect happened at two SeaWorld locations.

Representatives from the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) say that orcas that died at SeaWorld parks in Orlando and San Antonio succumbed to encephalitis, a virus transmitted by mosquitoes.  WDCS argues that these deaths could have been avoided if whales weren't kept in captivity.