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And also: ew

After the Washington Post published a long (and I would say incomplete) thumb-sucker on whether cloned livestock could be organic, the USDA shut the door on that possibility.

Arch Coal gets the go ahead for record-size strip mining permit

Eight years after a federal judge prevented Arch Coal Inc., one of the biggest and most active players on the West Virginia coal mining scene, from obtaining a permit to mine 3,113 acres near Blair, WV in Logan County, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued the permit instead. Though slightly smaller in size at 2,278 acres, the "dredge-and-fill" permit nevertheless allows Arch's Spruce No. 1 Mine to bury nearly seven miles of streams and is the largest permit ever issued in the history of mountaintop-removal mining in West Virginia.

Two notes

A couple of things to note. One, don’t miss Amanda’s interview with famed Republican language massager Frank Luntz today. I’ll be very interested to hear people’s reactions. Also, scroll down to the bottom of the interview. What’s that you see? Why, it’s a comment box! Yes, you can now comment directly on stories on Grist […]

Hey, We Made a Boo-Boo

Yellowstone grizzlies may lose protections, while also losing food source What do beetles, pine trees, grizzly bears, and global warming have in common? Check it: the U.S. plans to lift Endangered Species Act protections for Yellowstone-area grizzlies. But that move may be premature. Enter: high-altitude whitebark pines, the seeds of which are Yellowstone bears’ main […]

One if By Land, Zilch if By Air

New U.S. nuclear-security policy draws fire from critics The safe, clean Nuclear Regulatory Commission has revised its security policy, drawing criticism from members of Congress and others. The new policy addresses terror attacks by land, water, and computer, but leaves air defenses to the military. Instead of adapting suggested measures including no-fly zones, protective cages, […]

The myth of ‘both sides do it’ emerges yet again

Several people last week linked to a piece by leading climate researcher Kerry Emanuel in the Boston Review. I finally got around to reading it, and sure enough, the first 90% or so is fantastic. This is the kind of piece I’d give someone still doubtful about the basic IPCC consensus — it’s sober and […]

US Social Forum in Atlanta, late June

So the 7th annual World Social Forum just wrapped up in Kenya, and the news is that the U.S. will finally get around to having its own version of this event in late June. It's a huge opportunity for the whole spectrum of grassroots movements for progress in the U.S. (social justice, environment, immigration, indigenous rights, etc.) to come together and make common cause.

Here's the website.

Though past social forums have been criticized for their lack of concrete results, we shouldn't ignore this opportunity to strategize about creating a coherent movement for progress that's not splintered into so many separate camps. Hope to meet you there ...

Animated Bush

This is funny: (via Hugg)

Introducing the ‘How Many Legislators Does it Take to Change a Lightbulb Act’

Really.

Carbon taxes and carbon trading: same deal

Every now and then I see a comment on the carbon-trading wars along the lines of: "Can't we just have everything -- rule-based regulations, carbon trading, carbon taxes, and public initiatives?"

The problem with this is that carbon trading and carbon taxes accomplish the same thing -- they put a price on carbon. If carbon trading works, you don't need carbon taxes. A call for carbon taxes is an admission that carbon trading doesn't work well in putting a price on carbon.