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Bush hopes to send Americans to the moon … again

So, many enviros are familiar with The New Apollo Project, based on Prez Kennedy's original Apollo moon missions but instead aiming to harness that good ol' 'Merican ingenuity and know-how to jumpstart a massive clean-energy program in the U.S. while simultaneously creating a whole slew of new jobs. Good idea? Sure it is. But like most good ideas in the U.S., it's going exactly nowhere in the halls of government.

But now, sensing the public's urgent, even palpable need for space travel (oh, it's there!), the ever with-it Bush admin has a plan that takes the new Apollo Project in an entirely different direction: to the moon. That's right, they've got a plan to go retro and couple that fabled American ingenuity with high-tech spending to boldly go where, uh ... we've already been. But hey, the moon worked for Kennedy, right, so why couldn't it be a rallying point more than 40 years later? (We're in the middle of a curiously similar war, after all, and maybe that's all the reason anyone needs.) Of course, some might be quick to mock the administration, saying they're just trying to divert attention away from other issues. But what could they possibly want to distract attention away from? I really have no idea.

Seriously though, this is great. Given the massive budget trauma in the wake of Katrina and, um, the enormously expensive and still ongoing occupation of Iraq (donation, please?), and, uh, that stuff in Afghanistan, and all those tax breaks (am I missing anything?) -- amid the shifting of funds away from NASA and the likely cut of about 600 NASA employees from their Washington headquarters, nevermind the fact that the agency still can't clear the stratosphere without its shuttle falling apart -- I think a big ol' Space Odyssey 2005 is exactly what this country needs. Or at least a big ol' press conference about it.

Ooh, the moon!

Lava One Another

Synthetic monkeys to replace real ones

It looks like wild orangutans are going to be extinct in my lifetime. * A pessimist would view this as a disaster, but as an optimist, I see only opportunity here. Not only do I plan to buy stock in Indonesian palm oil companies, but also I am thinking of marketing weather-resistant synthetic replicas of orangutans (see prototype above) to hang in the palm oil trees. I expect to garner a secondary income stream from tourists who will flock to the plantations to see them hanging in trees in an area that once harbored their natural habitat -- a theme park if you will. Covering all bases, I will also corner the market on bumper stickers that read, "Boycott products made from palm oil!" **

The only hope I see is that the Chinese, who are funding these new palm oil plantations, will step in and insist on some kind of conservation plan, putting our version of capitalism to shame. What are the odds that a senior member of China's ruling elite is reading this blog right now?

*Start of sarcasm.
**End of sarcasm.

Plight My Fire

Spain reprimands public for careless behavior leading to forest fires Spain has endured about 23,000 forest fires this year, up more than 25 percent from the same time last year. The blazes have destroyed more than 370,000 acres of land and killed 17 citizens — and more than 90 percent of them have been started […]

A Flood of Accusations

Justice Dept. looking for ways to blame New Orleans flood on enviros The feds are digging around for info they could use to blame the flooding of New Orleans on environmentalists. At the request of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the Justice Department last week emailed U.S. attorneys’ offices in the Gulf Coast […]

On habitat protection, zoning restrictions, and angry citizens

Amazing ... these stairs are testament to how far some people will go to lay claim to beachfront property. According to this study, half of Oregon's fish are facing extinction from human impact. I strongly suspect that a similar situation exists in every state. Dams, logging, sport fishing, and development are combining to finish the job started by the Fish and Wildlife Service when they began planting non-native fish for people to catch. Large buffers against logging and development along lakes and streams would do wonders.

A possible smear campaign fingers greens for flooding in New Orleans

The Gonzales Justice Department may be seeking to orchestrate a smear campaign blaming environmentalists for the flooding of New Orleans.

The Jackson, Miss., Clarion-Ledger reports that the following email was sent to various federal attorneys this week by the Justice Department:

SUBJECT: Have you had any cases involving the levees in New Orleans?

QUESTION: Has your district defended any cases on behalf of the Army Corps of Engineers against claims brought by environmental groups seeking to block or otherwise impede the Corps' work on the levees protecting New Orleans? If so, please describe the case and the outcome of the litigation.

A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment to the paper, because the message is "an internal email."

Senator wants to waive EPA regulations in Katrina disaster area

James Inhofe -- Republican senator from Oklahoma, chair of the Senate Environment Committee, and tormentor of enviros -- yesterday introduced a bill that would let the EPA waive for 120 days any environmental regulations that could stand in the way of the Katrina response effort.

Never mind that EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson said environmental rules weren't hampering post-hurricane cleanup.

British Airways eases passengers’ minds

If you're flying British Airways anytime soon (say, to see the London Design Show), check out this news: the airline is now charging an optional fee for passengers to offset the impacts of travel. The surcharges (the amount varies depending on the trip's length) will be donated to Climate Care, an Oxford-based company that cancels out carbon with partners ranging from a bank to a yoga center.

Is British Air's move a step in the right direction or, as one critic put it, a way to "make passengers feel less guilty about their unsustainable lifestyles"? Would you pay more for a plane ticket if the money "cancelled out" your carbon? Should more airlines get on board?

Uh …

[Former FEMA Director Mike] Brown told the Times that he had such difficulty dealing with [Louisiana Governor Kathleen] Blanco that he communicated with her husband instead.