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Deck chairs on the Titanic

While it's noble that people the world over are horrified by the human toll of the tsunami (Mozambique just donated $100,000 for tsunami relief), this outpouring of sympathy is not altogether logical. As Nicholas Kristof pointed out in the New York Times, malaria, AIDS, and diarrhea each cause as many deaths each month as the tsunami did in December. If it was the actual toll of human suffering that got to us (and not just the theatrics of destruction), maybe we as a species would be more concerned about climate change. But for now, we can at least read about why investing in infrastructure in low-lying coastal areas may not be such a smart idea. Here's an interesting analysis by The Australia Institute.

A modest proposal

According to a study by the National Wind Coordinating Committee, "Based on current projections of 3,500 operational wind turbines in the US by the end of 2001, excluding California, the total annual mortality was estimated at approximately 6,400 bird fatalities per year for all species combined." Let's say they lowballed things, they underestimated the number of turbines, underestimated the number of birds per turbine, and are sops to the wind industry. Let's double their number ... no, triple it.  No, quadruple! Let's say turbines kill 25,000 birds a year.

According to the National Audubon Society, house cats kill 100,000,000 birds a year.

So, much like one can offset one's carbon use by paying to plant trees, one can offset the impact of a wind turbine by tossing one's cat into its blades.

It's the least you can do to avert global warming!

Top environmental events of 2004

What were the big eco-events of 2004? More than 2,000 members of the Sierra Club voted. The results are here.

Tsunamis Tsuck

Ecological damage from tsunami may be long-lasting The tsunami that ravaged coastlines of Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, and India last week, causing some 150,000 human deaths and countless dollars in property damage, also wreaked havoc on the region’s already-fragile environment. Researchers are just beginning to survey the toll on coastal forests, coral reefs, and wetlands, […]

The year in renewable energy news

A lot happened this year in the world of renewable energy.  As Renewable Energy Access summarizes:

2004 was a banner year for renewable energy! PV production capacity reached the 1GW mark; Global Wind Power continued to blow at hurricane strength, even with a downturn in the U.S. market; Bioenergy gained critical momentum powered largely by biodiesel; Ocean Energy moved from a few ripples to serious swells in Europe and the U.S.; Green Energy purchases became synonymous with sustainable business practices; and lots more...whew!

They've got a four-part year-in-review feature that makes for great skimming.  Here's Jan-March, April-June, July-Sep, and Oct-Dec.

Readers talk back on porn, radicalism, Christmas trees, and more

    Dear Editor: Thank you, thank you, thank you! I never miss my Daily Grist, but most of what I read depresses the hell out of me. Your story on Fuck for Forest is the first thing I’ve seen in a long time that actually gives me hope for the future. I was charmed […]

You go Conoco

ConocoPhillips has decided to withdraw from Arctic Power, the main lobbying group pushing for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. We were actually going to write this up in the Daily Grist today, but our subscription to the Wall Street Journal, where it was reported, has mysteriously stopped working. (Anybody got a login they'd care to share? Not that I would ever encourage you to do something illegal, like send the login and password to droberts at grist dot org.)

Luckily, the Green Life Blog has a summary of the story, with some trenchant thoughts on its significance.

Of course, this good news is tempered by the fact that Sen. Pete Dominici (R), recently re-elected chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, is hell-bent on getting into ANWR. "We are going to make a push to develop our vast oil resources in the Arctic Refuge in a way that leaves the environment pristine while stabilizing oil prices and enhancing our energy independence," he said, which is fine unless you consider he's being dishonest about the "vast" part, the "pristine" part, the "stabilize" part, and the "independence" part. Sadly, the "push" part is true.

Green coffee for the office

A short, concise, and helpful answer to the question of how to find the most eco-friendly coffee solution for your office, from Treehugger.

Consistency Blows

Wind power set to explode in 2005; bats set to haunt Grist Several readers pointed out — rather snarkily, we might add — the seeming dissonance between Umbra’s latest column praising wind farms and the news, reported the following day, that some such farms have been chopping up quite a few bats. But hey, like […]

Baby Got Adirondack

Pataki protects big swath of New York’s Adirondack Mountains New York Gov. George Pataki (R) yesterday announced a deal whereby some 104,000 acres of land in the northeastern Adirondacks will be protected from development and opened up to public use — the third-largest land conservation deal in state history. The parcels of land lie on […]