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Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need Science
U.S. EPA shifts pollutant-review process, mixing policy with science The U.S. EPA continues to suck Big Oil’s dipstick: Yesterday, the agency announced that its air-pollutant reviews, formerly conducted solely by staff scientists, will now incorporate recommendations from its political appointees. Deputy Administrator Marcus Peacock insisted the shift will bring “air rule-making into the 21st century,” […]
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Follicularly, that is
Whether or not he wins the Oscar, Al Gore can take some small measure of pride in having the thirteenth best-selling book at Amazon.com this year.
If he'd cultivated a righteous 'stache, he could have made it to No. 2.
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Reflections on the state of organic from an old pro
Bob Scowcroft, executive director of the Organic Farming Research Foundation and a longtime presence in the world of California -- and national -- organic farming, published a provocative essay recently on where organic came from and where it's headed.
He discusses the hidden history that brought organic regulations into the USDA (which I also talk about in Organic Inc.) and suggests where organic needs to go. Most of all, he provides a much-needed perspective on the debates engulfing the organic world right now, which are leading some consumers to question its worth:
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Inhofe rides out of town with a final blast of dumbness
Departing Senate Environment Committee chair Sen. James Inhofe -- who's gone from sinister to pathetic with dizzying speed -- held one final hearing on global warming and the media the other day.
Yawn.
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Plumb Crazy
U.S. EPA considers delisting lead as an air pollutant That sound you hear? It’s jaws dropping everywhere in response to the U.S. EPA’s announcement that it might stop regulating lead as an air pollutant. Citing the fact that concentrations of the toxic heavy metal in the air have dropped 90 percent since 1980, and using […]
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The ethanol game
Here is an article I found in the Renewable Energy Access bulletin asking for further government subsidization of cellulosic ethanol so it can compete with other subsidized biofuels.
It gave me an idea. I looked up some statistics to see how much oil the Prius fleet has saved and compared it to how much ethanol is consumed. Turns out that the 500,000 Priuses sold save about five to seven times more oil annually than all of the corn ethanol consumed in the United States.
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The enduring attraction of apocalyptic predictions
I'm sure I'll eventually forgive Toby Hemenway at Energy Bulletin for writing -- before I did, and better than I could have -- a cogent and eloquent analysis of the apocalyptic bent of those concerned with peak oil. His piece should be read by environmentalists not obsessed with peak oil as well.
An excerpt:
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Educating housewives
Treehugger TV's Simran Sethi was on Oprah for a short segment yesterday in a show devoted to global warming. Al Gore was on as well, and in passing Oprah referred to him as "our Noah" on global warming.
That really irritated Rush Limbaugh, and anything that chafes that dyspeptic old druggie pervert gasbag sounds like an unqualified success to me. Kudos.
The video of Sethi is below the fold.
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Two great tastes that taste great together!
If y'all want to do something nice for Grist without, you know, spending any money, you could bookmark GoodSearch as your main search site (or install the toolbar widget on your browser). Tell it to remember Grist as your charity of choice. Each time you search, half the resulting ad-sale revenue goes to us. Easy breezy and oh so sweet!
Of course, we are in the midst of a fundraiser, so you could spend some old-fashioned cash too. The phrase has become hackneyed from overuse, but it is nonetheless true: we depend on your generosity to keep going. Despite the bling-bling you see on the site every day, we are in fact a perpetually broke non-profit. Our wee staff runs like a crack-smoking gerbil on its media wheel 10 hours a day. Give us some nice gerbil food, won't you?
