One of the first blog posts I ever wrote bore the headline "I heart Seth Borenstein." Back then, Borenstein was the environment writer for Knight Ridder, and he distinguished himself by cutting through the typical he-said she-said haze to describe environmental dangers directly and forthrightly.
Now he’s a science writer for AP, and he’s still kicking ass. This week brings a story with the simple title "Obama left with little time to curb global warming." It makes the point that despite all the political challenges, reality is what it is: Global warming is proceeding faster than scientists feared and the window of time in which we can substantially affect its course is growing dangerously small. "Mother Nature, of course, is oblivious to the federal government’s machinations," Borenstein writes.
If only other journalists covering this subject tried harder to make that simple point. This isn’t a charity project, it’s a severe and impending danger that will very soon grow beyond our ability to reign it in. Physics doesn’t care if coal is cheap.
