Dearest Readers, Happy Earth Day. I have mixed feelings as I look forward to the planet's special holiday tomorrow. Happiness on the occasion of anniversaries: Grist (six years), me at Grist (three years), Earth Day (35 years). Sadness, for this column shall be my last edited by my august editor, and we are having an argument. We disagree about the climate-change literacy of Umbra readers, and we must settle things peacefully before she passes me off to another editor. She offered to arm wrestle, but I'm no fool. She's short but powerful. There's only one way to settle our dispute: …

Shall I compare thee to climate change? Here's the paradox: if the scientists are right, we're living through the biggest thing that's happened since human civilization emerged. One species, ours, has by itself in the course of a couple of generations managed to powerfully raise the temperature of an entire planet, to knock its most basic systems out of kilter. But oddly, though we know about it, we don't know about it. It hasn't registered in our gut; it isn't part of our culture. Where are the books? The poems? The plays? The goddamn operas? Compare it to, say, the …

Today, on the eve of the 35th anniversary of the first Earth Day, the House of Representatives is voting on, and widely expected to pass, a grossly porkified energy bill that would dole out billions in subsidies to fossil-fuel industries, shortchange alternative-energy and efficiency initiatives, and indemnify makers of the gasoline additive MTBE against liability for groundwater contamination. And this time the bill may actually have a chance of passing in the Senate, perhaps as early as next month, after years of stalemate. Bright Earth Day events are no match for dark D.C. happenings. This and other dismal news rolling …

The House starts work on the monstrosity that is the Energy Bill today, and could vote on it as early as tomorrow. It contains this hideous provision, a naked givaway to big industry that would "bypass Congress's normal spending process to funnel up to $2 billion over 10 years into research for recovering oil and gas from the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico." And that's just the beginning. It's difficult to describe just how reprehensible this bill is -- an exquisite example of the crony capitalism and patronage network that have long since replaced responsible governance for the …

Greenhouse-gas limits affordable, study says; "Told ya so," E.U. replies A new study by the Energy Information Administration, an independent arm of the U.S. Energy Department, reveals that mandatory limits on greenhouse-gas emissions would not significantly affect the country's economic growth through 2025. Surprisingly, or perhaps not, the report contradicts the principal argument the Bush administration has used against imposing such limits. European Union representatives, meeting with senior officials in Washington this week, took the opportunity to say "nyah nyah" and "we told you so." The EIA estimated that placing caps on carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases in …

Iran using oil, natural gas resources to find fast friends Much in the way the kid with the backyard swimming pool and the trampoline always manages to rustle up friends, Iran is turning to its oil and gas reserves to leverage alliances with influential Eastern nations -- and rather urgently, as it faces the threat of sanctions from the U.S. and Europe over its nuclear program. With oil prices rising and anxiety over oil supplies in fast-growing nations rising alongside, Iran's holdings -- 10 percent of the world's oil and the second-largest gas reserves -- give it increasing leverage. In …

Some conservatives getting uncomfortable with energy-bill pork A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, being a conservative meant favoring free markets and smaller, less intrusive federal government. A shrinking number of conservatives still cling to the old ways, and they are disturbed by the energy bill making its way through the House. Though Republican leaders promised to trim the bill down from the bloated version that was defeated in past years, a new analysis by the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense shows that lawmakers have added $35 billion to the bill's costs in the last three …

Arctic Refuge oil could be sent overseas A portentous U.S. commitment, sold with slogans about freedom and national security, that turns out to be all about the oil industry. No, not that one. We're talking about drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Drilling proponents cite the fact that the U.S. imports most of the oil it uses, thus leaving it dependent on some rather grumpy countries. Drilling in the refuge, they say, would ramp up domestic oil supply, Make America Safe, and Set America Free. Except, ahem, note the fine print: Turns out the oil sucked out from beneath …

ExxonMobil plows millions into funding for 40 climate-skeptic groups In 1998, the American Petroleum Institute outlined a strategy to sow the seeds of doubt about global-warming science "with Congress, the media, and other key audiences." "Victory will be achieved," read an API memo, "when ... recognition of uncertainty becomes part of the 'conventional wisdom.'" Since then, ExxonMobil -- one of API's leading members -- has been working valiantly in pursuit of that strategy, even as other oil, energy, and car companies bow out in the face of overwhelming scientific consensus or public pressure. From 2000 to 2003, Exxon funneled more …

Substantial changes to Clean Air Act slipped into energy bill Buried deep in the energy bill, filed under "Miscellaneous," is a tiny bit of text that could affect the Clean Air Act in a big way. The provision, authored by Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, would allow "downwind" states like New York and other Northeastern states to postpone fulfillment of clean-air standards until offending "upwinders" clean up their act. If the energy bill becomes law, this provision would represent one of the most significant changes to the Clean Air Act in 15 years, …