This evening I saw Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speak at Seattle's Paramount theater, thanks to Foolproof's excellent "American Voices" program. The guy is pretty amazing. For one thing -- and I'm not sure why this is the first thing that struck me -- he looks like a Kennedy! It's a little strange, like some PBS documentary or Discovery channel special come to life. And he speaks like a Kennedy too, obviously erudite but completely at ease with the kind of aspirational, inspirational rhetoric for which his father and uncle were known. It's one of the more substantive one-hour public talks …

Michael Crichton gave a talk at the American Enterprise Institute today -- you can watch the video here. Sadly, I was not able to attend and ask him why the eco-terrorists in his book use small, poisonous octopi as their primary weapons. I get that octopi are natural and everything, but given that to use them you've got to get right up next to your victim and hold him or her still for a few seconds -- or get a friend to do it while you fumble with the sandwich baggies in which said octopi are contained -- it seems …

I am, like most enviros, somewhat conflicted on the subject of ecotourism, and I wish I knew more about it. In the end, I'm inclined to think that the damage such tourism does to the ecosystems where it takes place is outweighed by the simple fact that it offers a source of revenue other than resource extraction. There is, of course, good ecotourism and bad ecotourism -- if you, as an aspiring ecotourist, want to know which is which, MSNBC's 12 tips for ecotravelers is a good place to start.

Via Worldchanging, where they are quite enamored of Vancouver, I see the city's 21 Places for the 21st Century contest. Participants are encouraged to choose a favourite public place or site, and then propose a change or improvement to it. Changes can be abstract or concrete; permanent, temporary, or seasonal. Your chosen public space may be large or small, as may your change. Ideas for activities or programmes to be offered in a public place are also welcome. You're only limited by your imagination. Dreamy. What if every city in North America held a similar contest?

On Treehugger, a round-up of the most bizarre new sources of energy.

Two good pieces on the fight to cut CO2 emissions post-Kyoto (and post-reelection of Bush, who will never sign it), one from The Guardian and one from Environmental Science & Technology. Update [2005-1-28 16:7:48 by Dave Roberts]: It's a little old, but this piece over on GreenBiz is also on the same theme.

Is it me, or is the transition between the first two paragraphs of this NYT story rather jarring? PORT GIBSON, Miss., Jan. 20 - Facing the possibility that a utility company would try to build a new nuclear reactor here, the City of Port Gibson and surrounding Claiborne County moved swiftly last month to protect the interests of their residents. "We're willing to do whatever it takes to do to make this happen," said Amelda J. Arnold, the city's mayor. Last month, city aldermen voted unanimously to urge the Entergy Corporation, which already operates one reactor here, to build a …

I can't believe how many mind-boggling things are packed into this short story on Arctic Power, the lobbying group devoted to getting oil companies access to ANWR. Let us begin.Arctic Power is funded in part by the state government of Alaska. Whaaa?! Did other people know this? I didn't. Arctic Power's members include some of the richest oil companies on the planet, although BP dropped out a while ago, and ConocoPhillips dropped out a few weeks ago, leaving mainly ChevronTexaco and ExxonMobil -- but still, they can't afford to do their own lobbying? Alaska has given Arctic Power about $9 …

Speaking of cool trends, here's one that's even cooler but, sadly, less likely to make it to our shores. Cities in Denmark, Scandinavia, and possibly in the near future, Britain [* see update] are dealing with traffic through what might be called creative chaos: They're removing signs, lights, and guardrails to create open public spaces, where cars and pedestrians mix freely, ungoverned by any rules. Sound crazy? Consider the results from Dutch towns where the approach has been tried: Drivers start to behave in a very different way amid the new uncertainty, moving slowly, making eye contact with pedestrians, and …

Via Marshall Wittman, aka the Bull Moose, an NYT op-ed by Paul Starr: Social Security, progressive taxation, affordable health care, the constitutional basis for environmental and labor regulation, separation of church and state -- these issues and more hang in the balance. Under these circumstances, liberal Democrats ought to ask themselves a big question: are they better off as the dominant force in an ideologically pure minority party, or as one of several influences in an ideologically varied party that can win at the polls? Perhaps environmentalists should ask themselves the same question. What do you think? Let me know …