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Bring in da noise, bring in debunk

Tim Lambert has made debunking pseudo-science into an art form.  Observe, as he practices his craft on a pair of climate change skeptics.  That's gotta sting.

Vice Presidential candidates discuss the environment during their debate

Cheney: "..."

Edwards: "..."

UPDATE: In fairness, it should be noted that environmental issues (and jobs, wages, education, immigration, health care, etc.) didn't get their due in large part due to the fatuous and at times genuinely befuddling questions chosen by moderator Gwen Ifill. "What's wrong with a little flip-flop every now and then?" Are you serious?

Lead Astray

Lead contamination in municipal water systems systematically underreported If you live in the U.S., the water you drink may contain unsafe levels of lead, thanks to a water-safety enforcement system rife with manipulation and negligence. Water utilities across the U.S. are discarding unfavorable test results and ignoring safety regulations. State regulators rarely enforce standards and […]

Presidential candidates on science

It would be an exaggeration to say that science is a top issue in this election ... or ever, really.  But the scientific community itself is far more involved and engaged than usual.  There was the Union of Concerned Scientists open letter accusing the Bush administration of distorting science for political ends.  And just recently, a group of science-types formed a group called Scientists and Engineers for Change, explicitly devoted to booting Bush from the Big House.

These developments, combined with the drip-drip of science-related miniscandals coming out of the White House -- on salmon hatcheries, peer review, global warming, etc. ad nauseum -- have raised the profile of science somewhat.  

All of which is by way of saying that tens of ... tens of people will be interested to read the flurry of science-related interviews with the candidates that have come out recently.

Re-Orient-ing

China pressing forward with renewable energy Faced with energy shortages and endemic air pollution, China is moving aggressively to develop renewable-energy technologies. Last summer, it announced it would seek to get 12 percent of its energy from renewables by 2020. As it strives to meet this goal, the government is eschewing central planning and instead […]

Enfant, Terrible

Most-polluted places in California see highest infant mortality rates The results of a San Francisco Chronicle analysis of infant morality rates in California zip codes are, while depressing as hell, not surprising: In short, pollution kills babies. Agricultural waste, toxic chemicals, smog — while these sources of pollution are difficult to link to any single […]

Disunderstandism

A new poll from the Program on International Policy Attitudes indicates that, despite all the incumbent's vaunted straight talk and the "core principles" in his "heart of hearts," Bush supporters don't fully understand what they are supporting.  

Leftovers Again?

New environmental trend: eating other folks’ leftovers Here at Grist we love reporting on new environmental trends, especially when there are gimmicky new terms coined to describe them. Herewith, we give you the “freegan,” someone who subsists entirely on food other people — usually restaurants or grocery stores — have thrown out. Though freegans can […]

Utah, You’ve Been Norton’d!

Interior Department protecting Utah rivers from wrong threat Last month, Interior Secretary Gale Norton splashily announced the Three Rivers Withdrawal: Nearly 200 miles of prized territory along Utah’s Green, Colorado, and Dolores rivers would be withdrawn from consideration for new hard-rock mining claims. The proposal had been on her desk for 18 months, so some […]

The environment and foreign policy

No presidential debate has ever provided much succor for environmentalists, but last night's was literally devoid of any mention of environmental issues, save one:  In a discussion of Bush's tendency to be "certain but wrong," Kerry wedged "global warming" into a list of subjects about which the president is ignoring facts.

What's significant is not just that green issues were passed over, but that they were passed over in a debate focused on foreign policy.  In the U.S., environmentalism is still considered a matter of domestic politics, a "special interest."  It is frequently portrayed as a lifestyle quirk, a preoccupation of the leisure class -- as when Dick Cheney notoriously dismissed energy conservation as a "sign of personal virtue."

But in years to come, environmental problems will likely manifest primarily as foreign policy issues.  Sir David King, Tony Blair's chief science advisor, got an avalanche of press recently for baldly asserting that climate change is a greater danger to the world than terrorism.  

It was an artless way of making a perfectly legitimate point.