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But I’m a Cheerleader

Renewable energy could power half the world by 2050, says new report Renewables could satisfy half the world’s energy demand by 2050, says a new report by Greenpeace and the European Renewable Energy Council. But — and there’s always a but — only if world governments encourage efficiency and crack down on fossil-fuel use. Well, […]

The Best Defense is a Good … Defense

Two-year exemption allows U.S. Navy to continue sonar trainings In a saga lasting longer than Moby Dick, the U.S. Navy will be allowed to train with sonar for two more years, despite evidence that the technology’s use has injured and killed whales and other creatures of the deep. The Defense Department has provided an exemption […]

Yes

A few years ago, Nordhaus and Shellenberger made the case that because the environmental community hadn't been able to make progress on climate change -- which to them defined almost all of environmentalism -- the environmental movement was a failure (and should die). I argued then that given the scale of climate change, the uncertainties, and how deep it cuts across all sectors of the economy, it was unrealistic and silly to expect immediate action. I also argued that traditional forms of environmental activism were alive and well and there was no need for a new paradigm.

Well, I think with this past election cycle we should lay the "death of environmentalism" to rest once and for all.

Mmm … oranges

David Roberts strongly objected to a critique of offsets and especially of credits for tree planting. The critique was originally made in the comments section of a post on a "carbon neutral" Super Bowl.

Bruce Sterling chimed in, noting that nobody can compete for purity with the dead. This is first rate irony, but unless the intention is that no one should ever criticize false solutions, no matter how wrongheaded, it only has bite if the solutions critiqued actually work. Tree planting may do all sorts of good things, but outside the tropics, it is not a significant way to fight global warming.

Borneo is disappearing for biofuels

Rhett Butler (of Mongabay) has returned from his recent travels. This photo of a poison dart frog is from that trip. Go here to see a slide show of Panama (highly recommended). One of his first posts tells us:

China has agreed to invest in a $5.5 billion biofuels project on the islands of New Guinea and Borneo ... According to The Wall Street Journal, one million hectares [3,861 square miles, which would take 4 hours to drive around at 60 MPH] have been reserved for the eight-year plan, which would convert tropical forest for oil palm, sugar, and cassava plantations.

The article goes on to say that these governments have promised to spare 84,000 square miles of mountainous rainforest in the center of Borneo (to get the environmentalists off their back). Go to this WWF site for a graphic demonstration of how fast Borneo is being consumed.

You know any?

The longest-serving member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is retiring. Here’s what he has to say about Yucca Mountain: Ed McGaffigan, a veteran member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said Monday that the Yucca Mountain program is deeply flawed and that the Nevada nuclear waste site should be scrapped. "It may be time to stop […]

It’s in the movies

I enjoy the DeWittian sting of James Wolcott's writing as much as anyone, but even a good critic can go wrong sometimes. He underestimates Little Miss Sunshine, which resonates far beyond its modest means -- even on an environmental scale.

Here's why:

A column from Romm

In his State of the Union address, President Bush threw away the last opportunity he had to save his historical legacy. He continued his business-as-usual do-nothing approach on global warming, which is the gravest threat facing the American way of life. As I wrote earlier in a column for the Center for American Progress web site:

Run out of a Senate committee, no less

How is it that taxpayers are funding what looks like an official Senate committee blog dispensing far-right agitprop? Here’s the story. Toward the middle of last year, then-chair of the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee James Inhofe (R-Okla.) hired Marc Morano as his communications director. Morano is a long-time operative in right-wing media circles, […]

Soup-er news for greens

In a recent NYT op-ed/obit for the inventor of ramen noodles (R.I.P. Momofuku), Lawrence Downes wrote, “Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. Give him ramen noodles, and you don’t have to teach him anything.” If that sentiment makes you chuckle … and then salivate, I’ve got good news: In […]