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Now it’s regulatory

These are not words that lend themselves to restful sleep: President Bush has signed a directive that gives the White House much greater control over the rules and policy statements that the government develops to protect public health, safety, the environment, civil rights and privacy.

Yummy veggie curry

Despite the fact that I am an omnivore, I belong to a vegetarian dining co-op that meets weekly. There are nine of us, and we each prepare dinner once every nine weeks. Several people in the co-op eat meat as a regular part of their diet, while others are strict vegetarian -- some for environmental reasons, others for ethical reasons (including a pro-hunting vegetarian: a story for another day). Those of us who eat meat are still happy to eat a vegetarian meal and we enjoy the chance to get together with our veggie friends and listen to their shocking tales of being taunted at their various places of employment for bringing "weird" lunches to work.

A few weeks ago, the person whose turn it was to cook had to work both her old full-time job and her new full-time job for a full week while transitioning from one to the other. "Um, do you want me to trade weeks with you?" I asked.

Super Bowl gets greener, renewables could power half the world by 2050, and more

Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: Leader Hosin’ But I’m a Cheerleader Plus, Only Teams With Animal Names Can Play The Neverending Tory This Just (W)in Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: Paying the Farm Bill Koplow and Robbers Whereof They Speak Honeysuckle Prose

Everybody talks about it, nobody funds it

The administration claims, at least, to be interested in two goals: Reducing U.S. dependence on oil. Addressing the threat of climate change. No. 1 rules out imported fossil fuels; No 2 rules out coal. What’s that leave? Renewable energy. So WTF: Congressional earmarks that redirected Energy Department financing last year slowed or even shelved many […]

Tree plantations are bad for people and no good for offsetting carbon

We've discussed problems with carbon offsets from an economic viewpoint, and from their abuse as a misleading public relations tool. But perhaps we should focus on the awesome cruelty of their human costs.

Their new album rocks

I’ve been a huge fan of the band Cloud Cult for a while, but their new album, The Meaning of 8, is really knocking my socks off. Or rocking my socks off. Rocking my knocks off. Whatever. It’s a huge leap forward and my favorite album of this young year. Right now you can only […]

What should we do about it?

We’ve spilled a lot of pixels around here discussing areas of climate science that are officially — that is, according to the IPCC — unsettled (e.g., hurricanes). In these areas the IPCC has not ratified a conclusion, but many prominent scientists line up on one side or another. The important questions raised by these areas […]

At present, offsets are impossible to verify

It is time environmental writers to stop accepting PR spin, and double check claims of "carbon neutrality" whether they come from giant corporations, the Super Bowl, or a really cool film festival.

Carbon offsets are almost always either an honest error or a scam.

It’s time for enviros to adjust to winning

I had hoped to leave my ill-tempered rant behind, since the subject obviously irritates the hell out of me, my irritation obviously irritates the hell out of everyone else, and as was pointed out, the whole subject is something of a distraction. But as I’m now being compared to (called?) a rapist, I suppose I […]

NYT columnist gets it right

Paul Krugman is generally on target, so it’s not surprising that when he turns his gaze to ethanol, he nails it. He points out that despite considerable pre-release hype, the administration’s SOTU "energy plan" consists of little more than a reliance on ethanol. After reciting the by-now-numbingly-familiar drawbacks of corn ethanol, he writes: Still, doesn’t […]