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Gore: Oscar winner

An Inconvenient Truth will win the 2007 Oscar for Best Documentary. You heard it here first.

On a related note: below the fold, you can watch video of Al Gore's surprisingly funny appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno last week. (Thanks to Treehugger for uploading the video.)

Is hydropower really low-carbon? Time will tell

Back in early November, I noted information suggesting hydropower may not be as carbon neutral as we thought. The word "may" was deliberately chosen.

At the time, I received an angry email from a leading hydropower supporter, which included links to some studies suggesting the data for high emissions was cherry-picked, or didn't take net emissions into account adequately.

I soon found other studies dealing with these objections and suggesting significant net emissions from hydropower. At this point, I was reminded of the debate between warming deniers and climate scientists, except I was not sure which side was which.

The December 2006 issue of Nature contains a fascinating article on the subject: "The green image of hydropower may have been seriously overstated, warn Scientists." The key paragraphs:

And I claimed there were no eco-friendly chaps in the English Premier League

I stand corrected. Back in the day I claimed that there were no eco-friendly chaps in the English Premier League. But lo and behold -- I bring you Calamity James.

James, a goalkeeper for Portsmouth, was born David, not Calamity, but seeing as Wikipedia lists him under the heading "Notable footballers prone to errors," it's a deserved nickname. Still, judging from a recent op-ed, at least his heart's in the right place.

James berates English football (yes, soccer, whatever) for its eco-slackerness:

The agricultural subsidy train never stops

Now that produce farmers are feeling the heat from overseas competition, they want some of the federal subsidy pie.

Must be seen to be believed

What can you say?

(hat tip to reader CR)

Sen. inserts foot in mouth

Two weeks ago, Dave and I gleefully reported that Sen. John Warner, current-but-soon-to-be-former Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, was going to use his seniority to oust Sen. James Inhofe from the top Republican seat on the Environment and Public Works Committee.

Apparently Warner is reconsidering and may instead seek the ranking member position on the Intelligence Committee. On Friday, The Wall Street Journal had this quote from Warner on the subject:

I've spent most of my life worried about defense. ... I don't know if I'll live long enough to figure out global warming.

Warner's office refused to further comment on the story, so tune in next week for the next episode of "As the Warner Turns."

There’ll Always Be an England … in Brazil

Vast new rainforest reserve unveiled in Brazilian Amazon The Brazilian Amazon will soon be home to the world’s largest tropical-rainforest reserve, in news that’s making conservationists beam — and making us feel better about all those pints of Ben & Jerry’s Rainforest Crunch we ate to help the cause. The vast tract — which, at […]

Carbon trading it too easily gamed

"Mommy, where do carbon offsets come from?"

"Well, you see sweetheart, when a major polluter and a consultant love money very, very much, they express that love in a special way. Nine months later, the consultant produces an extremely large paper packet."

In theory, carbon taxes and carbon trading yield similar results.(Carbon taxes raise the price of fossil fuels by taxing it. Permits raise the price of fossil fuels by requiring people to buy permits for each unit burned) So why do so many people who support carbon taxes oppose carbon trading? Because in practice they differ catastrophically, something we have good reasons to expect.

The real world record of carbon trading includes:

Ski slopes under threat from global warming, and more

To listen to the most recent podcast, go here. Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: There’ll Always Be an England … in Brazil Letting the Cataclysm Out of the Bag More Poles to Worry About Piscean Match Kick It into Underdrive Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: […]

A real live Canadian weighs in

If Capo di tutti Capi Roberts demands answers, who am I to refuse the call?

Below the fold, my thoughts on the choice of Stephane Dion for leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. The short version: modest optimism.