Wednesday, 01 Mar 2006

Bring in Da Illinois, Bring in Da Hunk

Obama speechifies for energy independence, chemical-plant security

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is calling for a bipartisan effort to create a cabinet-level national director of energy security, who would coordinate federal policies to cut U.S. dependence on foreign oil. In a Tuesday speech to U.S. governors, Obama touted several policies to promote oil-free energy, among them Department of Defense investments in the best commercial biofuel endeavors. He also suggested Big Auto put serious effort into creating fuel-efficient vehicles, in return for the feds picking up some health care costs for industry retirees. Obama's hot for national security: On Monday, he said he'd introduce legislation this week mandating minimum security requirements at chemical plants around the country, where an attack could kill thousands and endanger millions more. So far, only about 1,100 of the nation's 15,000 largest plants participate in the Bush administration's voluntary security program. "Voluntary security" -- love it. But hey, at least the United Arab Emirates isn't running the plants.


"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately," wrote Henry David Thoreau. His experiment in stripping down has inspired generations of environmentalists to cast off possessions, or at least aspire to -- but simple living doesn't look so appealing when it's the only choice you have. Today, anthropologist Elizabeth Chin puts a new spin on environmental consciousness as she examines rich and poor consumers, and the difference between simple living and survival.


You know how, in grade school, it was easier to understand multiplication when there were pictures of fruit and panda bears involved? Today we bring you that. Only, the multiplication is now stats about poverty and the environment. And the pictures of fruit and panda bears are now an original illustration by Keri Rosebraugh. Which has pop-up factoids. We bet you haven't had this much fun since grade school. Check it out.

Repent, Ye Synners

Shady synfuel industry making billions off tax-credit loophole

A budget bill currently being hashed out in Congress may help a few dozen coal plants continue to get filthy rich off of taxpayer money. The backstory: In 1980, Congress enacted tax incentives for turning coal into synthetic fuel, requiring only that the coal be chemically altered -- not necessarily cleaner. The subsidy was designed to be phased out if oil rose above a certain price, the thought being that synfuel demand would increase if oil became too expensive, making subsidization unnecessary. You may have noticed oil prices nudging up lately, but the synfuel industry -- which often does little more than spray coal with diesel fuel -- continues to rake in public money, to the tune of $9 billion in the last two years. Now an amendment to the Tax Relief Act of 2005, introduced by Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), would base the synfuel credit on the price of oil in 2004, well within the subsidy loophole. Ah, we love the smell of graft in the morning.


So maybe you haven't gotten quite as far down the Road of Love as the bride-to-be who wrote in earlier this week. Maybe you're still in the Driveway of Despair, or even the Kitchen of Fixing Yourself a Snack Before You Go. What's holding you up? If by chance it's the desire for a perfectly green and compatible eco-mate, advice maven Umbra Fisk has two words for you: grow up.

Global Warring

Climate change a major security problem, says U.K. defense chief

U.K. Defense Secretary John Reid has echoed a growing number of analysts by stressing that global warming is not just a weather problem, or a health problem, or a problem for biodiversity. It's a global security problem. In a Monday speech, Reid called on the nation's military to prepare now for strife brought on by desertification, water shortages, melting ice fields, and increased population. "The blunt truth is that the lack of water and agricultural land is a significant contributory factor to the tragic conflict we see unfolding in Darfur," said Reid. "We should see this as a warning sign." Reid's cheery comments came on the eve of a summit at which Prime Minister Tony Blair will discuss Great Britain's response to global warming. They also coincided with a leak of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's next big report, which indicates that the planet could heat up far more than previously predicted.