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Take a magical tour of discovery!
Ugh. I’ve got about 50 things stacked up to write about, but I’ve finally been struck by the illness that’s been floating around Seattle. I can’t breathe, my muscles ache, and my head is … fuzzy. I feel stoopid. Anyway, here’s a bunch of random stuff: I giggled and clapped so much my wife came […]
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Expressing energy consumption
A while back, I mentioned this idea of expressing energy consumption in "cubic miles of oil." I was not impressed. I feel better now that Engineer-Poet has expressed (far more intelligently) his own dissatisfaction:
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I’m sure this will get old someday
Inhofe at the Conservative Political Action Conference, quoted in the Washington Post: "I have been called — my kids are all aware of this — dumb, crazy man, science abuser, Holocaust denier, villain of the month, hate-filled, warmonger, Neanderthal, Genghis Khan, and Attila the Hun," he announced. "And I can just tell you that I […]
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This one’s funny
Ah, this is rich. Between 1980 and 2004, the Kansas City Board of Public Utilities made upgrades to its three power plants. In at least 15 cases, it failed to apply for or receive New Source Review permits beforehand, or monitor emissions afterwards, putting it in violation of the Clean Air Act. In Nov. 2004, […]
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Better be ready to prove your eco-cred
Dear Leonardo,
You own a hybrid. You talked up global warming on Oprah. And last week, you stepped up to the Oscar mic with Al Gore. But I wonder if you have any idea how much eco-scrutiny you're going to be under now that you're officially first knight to the King of Climate Change?
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They Didn’t Get the “Aw, Cute” Memo
Public hearings on polar-bear fate get Alaskans all riled up The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is holding public hearings on plans to list the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act, and it’s getting an earful. A hearing in Anchorage on Friday brought out critics of all stripes, from the deputy director of the […]
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But Wait, There’s More
High-tech extraction methods are delaying the peak of world oil production Remember the predictions that the world was at or near the peak of oil production? Sigh with us now, for industry is using high-tech methods to suck oil from wells once considered tapped out. Thanks to steam and carbon dioxide injections, as well as […]
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Some call for action
When it comes to global warming, conservatism in this country is at a crossroads. Increasing numbers of business leaders, evangelicals, and conservative opinion-leaders are calling for action to reduce the risks associated with climate change, but the best-known conservatives continue to doubt the science of global warming, attack those who would act to reduce emissions, and deride those concerned by the threat to the planet.
To many sympathetic observers, it's puzzling. As Kerry Emmanuel pointed out in an essay for the Boston Review earlier this year, conservatives didn't have to react this way:
