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Iceland Is Your Land

Last chance to enter Iceland sweepstakes OK, some of you are sick of hearing about Iceland, but others of you are sitting on your hands, bouncing a little, like the kid who had to pee in math class but wasn’t allowed to get up. Because you are dying to know if you’re going to win […]

Umbra on mulch

Dear Umbra, Spring is upon us and the season for spreading shredded bits of trees around our landscaping is here. How does Umbra feel about the utility of mulching, and what is the environmental impact of mulch production? OmarEllicott City, Md. Dearest Omar, Umbra feels excited about spring, I’ll tell you that much. Umbra is […]

Offering a balanced policy would mean admitting that some of the groups they’ve demonized are right

Via Ezra Klein , I see that periodically contrarian conservo-blogger John Cole has good post up about energy policy (also read through the comments on both posts -- there's some good stuff). Here's Cole's proposal for a balanced energy policy:

1.) Domestic drilling 2.) Research for alternative fuel sources other than the outrageous slush-fund known as ethanol subsidies, which should be exhibit A in any argument against having the Iowa Caucus first. 3.) Increased Cafe standards 4.) Radical improvements to Clean Coal 5.) Nuclear plant construction and research in storage of nuclear waste, as well as an administration and Congress with the political will to actually store the waste somewhere, rather than the rag-tag temporary storage everywhere in the country. 6.) Tax credits and incentives for fuel efficient vehicles, energy efficient appliances, energy efficient homes 7.) Increased refining capacity 8.) Increase oil exploration and smart extraction policies 9.) Conservation campaigns 10.) And for goodness sakes, end the tax loophole for SUV's. Are we out of our damned minds?

I don't agree with all of it -- in particular, drilling in the Arctic Refuge for symbolism's sake is just dumb -- but here's the thing: If a U.S. administration came out pushing for this policy, I would dance a friggin' jig (though not, perhaps, as Ezra says, " kill the goddamn caribou myself to help it pass").

New journal focuses cross-disciplinary work on sustainability.

I have a soft spot for titles that include the kitchen sink and lack what we'll call concision. It comes from regular attempts to bring together strange bedfellows with our Environmental Change and Security Project at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

So I was heartened and not put off when I received notice of a new open source ejournal Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy.  As explained in an inaugural editorial by journal advisor and renowned biologist E. O. Wilson, "[t]he goal of the publication -- to establish a forum for cross-disciplinary discussion of natural and social sciences, practices, and policies related to sustainability -- is an important step toward creating achievable sustainable practices through buy-in and consensus."

Such forums at the science -policy interface are too few and far between.  This one promises to have a chance to make a difference, even if reading the inaugural issue suggests it will err on the scholarly side of readability.  The journal's private and public backers, CSA, the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII), and Conservation International (CI), bring some diverse ends and means to the table.  

Some not-entirely-coherent thoughts on nuclear power.

I've been pondering the question of nuclear power, about which there is, as Gristmill readers well know, impassioned debate. Here are some random, rambling thoughts:

Authors seeking tips for new book on toxics and children’s illness.

Over at Sheldon Rampton's blog on PRWatch, there's a plea from former New York Times reporter Philip Shabecoff and community development advocate Alice Shabecoff for leads for their upcoming book on "the links between environmental toxicants and the epidemic of children's chronic illnesses in the United States today."

In an effort to follow the money trail, they've got a list of questions regarding who's paying whom and who's fronting for whom, so send them an e-mail if you know what's what.

Sen. Orrin Hatch takes a swing at reasonable energy policy.

Mike at Green Car Congress brings news that Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) has re-introduced the CLEAR (Clean Efficient Automobiles Resulting from Advanced Car Technologies) Act, a package primarily composed of tax credits and incentives designed to encourage purchase of cleaner cars. Mike's got the details.

(Mike -- like the Worldchangers -- has made the unfortunate web design decision to present long excerpted quotes in italics, which makes them substantially harder to read. Just say no to squinting, fellas.)

There Is a Lord God

Woodpecker thought extinct rediscovered; birders weep like babies It was spotted several times — once even filmed — over the past year and a half. Now, ornithologists writing in the journal Science have officially confirmed the existence of at least one ivory-billed woodpecker, a miraculously tangible token of a species long thought extinct. The discovery […]

More on Bush’s energy policy speech

Matt points to an interesting analysis of Bush's energy speech from last night, by Michael O'Hare. I'm not sure I agree with every detail, but it's hard to argue with the conclusion:

The energy policy of the Bush administration is to assure that its political base, namely the firms who know how to make money selling the fossil fuels we mostly use now, can go on doing so as long as possible. The political policy of the administration is to spend just enough nickels and dimes on real and fake alternatives to oil and coal to hide the policy. The implementation of these politics is an insult to citizens. And both the politics and the policy constitute an injury to future generations.

Readers talk back about art, our climate quiz, and how much they adore us

  Re: Imagine That Dear Editor: “Where are the books? The poems? The plays? The goddamn operas?” Bill McKibben is asking the right question, but looking in all the wrong places. The concern for subjects such as global warming and peak oil is not reflected in the corporate media or in corporate-funded arts institutions. McKibben […]