Uncategorized

Small change

“It’s not insignificant, but it’s the cost of a paint shop in an auto factory.” — David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Michigan, on John McCain’s $300 million prize for a new electric car battery

Friedman’s Chapter 18

For ages I’ve been meaning to mention Thomas Friedman’s Chapter 18 Project, an online addendum to his new book Hot, Flat, and Crowded (which I reviewed). It’s a not-very-frequently-updated blog, but it’s also a call for ideas, which Friedman will allegedly rate or assess or something, for possible inclusion in a paperback edition. Share your […]

Snippets from the news

• China’s greenhouse-gas emissions could double or more in next 20 years. • Former Spanish prime minister calls climate change a “new religion.” • Japan launches voluntary carbon market. • Seoul goes big for bicycles. • Could thorium solve nuclear waste-disposal woes? • Safeway will ban baby bottles containing bisphenol A. • Environmentalists sue EPA […]

Federal spending, quick!

Paul Krugman was my favorite New York Times columnist even before he won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics this week. His column on Friday lined right up with my current obsession: federal stimulus spending, quick, lots of it. He writes: “Right now, increased government spending is just what the doctor ordered, and concerns about […]

Massive U.N. study attempts to do for biodiversity what IPCC did for climate

When Wall Street saw around $1-$1.5 trillion dollars go up in smoke from the financial sector, the world rightfully freaked the hell out. Meanwhile, the world is burning up between $2 trillion and $5 trillion of capital a year through global forest loss. That’s the cumulative value of the lost services forests provide, including carbon […]

Bush admin will rush review of comments on endangered-species plan

The Bush administration will carefully consider the 200,000 non-form-letter comments it received on its recent plan to muck with the Endangered Species Act. And by “carefully consider,” we mean 15 reviewers will chug through ’em in just four eight-hour days. That means each reviewer, each minute, must peruse seven comments, some of which are tens […]

Snippets from the news

• Boston waste haulers may lose licenses if they don’t offer recycling. • Dentists back sealants, despite bisphenol A concerns. • Conservationists factor climate change into land buys. • Sarah Palin and Joe Biden have strong differences on environment. • Electronics recycling industry plagued by lax rules and weak enforcement.

EPA overstates pollution enforcement, says GAO

It’s no secret that the Bush administration has slashed fines for polluters: The U.S. EPA issued $137.7 million in penalties in 2007, down from $240.6 million in 1998. But even that level of enforcement is overstated, says a new report from the Government Accountability Office. The EPA publicly reports the penalties it slaps on egregious […]

Crown Estate’s offer fans interest in wind farming

This Guardian story was written by reporter Terry Macalister. Grist is a member of the Guardian’s Environment Network. —– The Crown Estate, holder of the Queen’s property, has helped trigger a resurgence of interest for wind projects in the deep waters off Britain by promising to invest in projects at a time when schemes are […]

Study: California’s green economy has created 1.5 million jobs, $45 billion

Originally posted at the Wonk Room. —– As Bush’s pollution-based policies continue to drive our economy and planet to the brink of disaster, conservatives are crying that changing course with progressive energy policies would “ravage the countryside” with “huge economic costs.” But a major new study of the success of California’s green economy tells the […]