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Polar bears may be listed as threatened in U.S., and more

Read the news items highlighted in this week’s podcast: Threat Level: White Since U Been Gone Naughty and Nice Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: Ed Over Heels We Got Our Kicks in 2006 Dingell Minded A Different Angle

What are you optimistic about?

Every year at the Edge Foundation World Question Center they ask a single question of a huge collection of diverse thinkers. The results are always fascinating — intellectual crack, as BBC radio has it. (I wrote a bit about last year’s question.) This year’s question is: What are you optimistic about, and why? As you’d […]

Things will fall apart

Shorter James Kunstler: Sure, things didn’t fall completely apart in 2006, but this year … this year it’s gonna happen!

The supposed ‘middle way’ is debunked

Andy Revkin produced a truly bizarre piece over the weekend: "Middle Stance Emerging in Debate Over Climate." Frankly, I’m surprised it got past the NYT’s news editors. It strikes me as a good illustration of the limits of traditional journalism, since what Revkin’s up to is not a description of a state of affairs — […]

Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now

Louisiana sliding into the Gulf of Mexico, new report says Talk about kicking a state while it’s down. A new report says swampy southeastern Louisiana isn’t just sinking — it’s sliding sideways into the Gulf of Mexico. Scientists say Mississippi River sediments are causing Cajun country bedrock to shift. While those rebuilding the hurricane-ravaged area […]

That Was the Year That Was

Grist looks at the top news stories of 2006, wings it for 2007 Welcome to your new year! Before we rush into this great unknown annus, let’s pause to reflect on the wonders of 2006. Remember when George W. Bush proclaimed that the U.S. was “addicted to oil”? Yep, that was just 12 months ago, […]

Ignore them

As most of you have probably noticed, Gristmill has attracted a few trolls. I guess we can attribute that to some combination of increased popularity and the recent Coby-driven focus on global warming. There’s a lot to say about this, but I’m jammed with other things right now, so just a quick note. I’ve been […]

A cartoon for our times … from 1939

The only cartoon ever nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, circa 1939: [vodpod id=Video.3402&w=425&h=350&fv=] Happy 2007.

American automakers stuck with unsold gas-guzzlers

In 2006, droves (pun intended?) of Americans bought new fuel-efficient vehicles, while sales of large trucks and SUVs declined, leaving U.S. carmakers with hundreds of thousands of trucks and SUVs rusting on their lots. Chrysler alone had not sold 500,000 of its 2006 vehicles as of September! What an insanely colossal waste of resources that represents.

Jesse Toprak, Executive Director of Industry Analysis for the respected auto review site Edmunds.com, had this to say recently about the situation:

Gas prices will be a leading factor in how consumers choose what vehicles they purchase in the coming year. Automakers who are prepared for that trend will enjoy great success in 2007.

With the leading producer of hybrid vehicles, Toyota, about to overtake GM as the world's top carmaker, Detroit should take notice and stop making so many awful/unwanted vehicles.

From Grist

Far above the golden clouds, the darkness vibrates The earth is blue And everything about it is a love song — Paul Simon