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Gloom and doom with a sense of precipitation

Does your blog proprietor seem sluggish and grumpy today? Perhaps it's because his home city, Seattle -- or as it's known around the house these days, "f**king Seattle" -- is in the midst of its rainiest November ever.

Outside my home office window, it is dark as night. The wind is blowing. The air is frigid. And if I'm not hallucinating, I think it just started hailing.

Kill me.

Update [2006-11-21 14:1:18 by David Roberts]: Oh, hey, speaking of darkness, does anybody out there know what's up with those full-spectrum lamps? Supposedly they make your body squirt happy chemicals? Anybody got one? Do they work or is it a scam? Know where I can find a cheap one? I have a feeling it's going to be a long, dark winter.

Far Side author working for Conservation Intl.

Several people have written to call my attention to this interview with reclusive cartoonist Gary Larson (of Far Side fame) in USA Today. Seems he's come out of hiding to promote his latest calendar, all profits of which will go to Conservation International to help fight illegal wildlife trade in Asia.

Give it a read.

Jay-Z pimps for clean water

Rapper and media mogul Jay-Z has joined the ranks of entertainment stars speaking up on environment, health, or development issues. Last week at the UN he shared stories from his recent trip to sub-Saharan Africa, where he focused his attention on the dire water and sanitation situation. MTV will air a 30 minute documentary on his trip Nov. 24th.

It is easy to be cynical and say he sees the good free press other entertainers have garnered for similar humanitarian efforts. But it takes all types to tackle these huge problems. If helping him sell some more records (and he apparently needs the help, as the new album is getting panned) is the cost of alerting new audiences to the plight of the 1.1 billion without access to clean water and 2.6 billion without access to adequate sanitation, then pump up the volume.

And it is refreshing that Jay-Z has chosen one of the less photogenic environmental and health issues -- water and sanitation gets such a low "cute and cuddly" score compared to other charity choices.

Energy polled high in voter concern this past election

Two weeks ago, I was quoted in Muckraker casting doubt on how important environmental issues were in the past election. Two new polls -- from Zogby on global warming and Greenberg Quinlan Rosner on energy (PDF of full memo) -- force me to reconsider that position.

Seems Republican's failure on energy and gasoline prices was the top concern, by a 20 point margin, among Democratic voters who considered voting Republican. Energy was also a top concern of other key groups.

Read them and smile!

Delayed Gratitudation

Grist takes rest of week off, needs time to stuff free-range Tofurky Here at Grist, we take our holidays seriously, so after today you won’t be seeing us again until next Monday. But as Thanksgiving nears, we want to take a moment to give our thanks to you, our readers, for being so darn loyal […]

One Good Deed Reserves Another

Northeast, California move forward with marine reserves It’s time to call in the marine reserves (think fish, not guns). The Conservation Law Foundation and the Canadian branch of the World Wildlife Fund issued a report yesterday recommending that a network of ocean areas off the eastern coast of Canada and the U.S. be protected from […]

OSHA, No He Didn’t

Federal agency threatens asbestos-warning writer with suspension What if we said a federal agency was pressuring one of its own to weaken an environmental opinion? Crazy, right? But it’s true. Again. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a warning this summer that brakes could contain asbestos, putting mechanics at risk for mesothelioma, lung cancer, […]

You Give Hubris a Glad Name

Nuclear fusion gets a boost as 31 countries sign reactor agreement After years of debate, 31 countries have agreed to build the $12.8 billion International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor in southern France. (Ah, “experimental reactor” — was there ever a more comforting phrase?) Deemed “the victory of the general interest of humanity” by French President Jacques […]

What’s up with solar silicon?

... how come solar power may be stymied by a worldwide shortfall in key ingredient poly-crystalline silicon? Despite the growing momentum for alternative power generation, the Financial Times quotes analysts citing "unsustainable" price increases of 500% over 2004 levels in some "isolated" cases.

Global production of solar batteries grew by 47 per cent by volume during 2005, and the pace is believed to have quickened in 2006. One industry estimate suggests that between 2007 and 2009, the global polysilicon supply shortage will be about 9,000 tons a year, or about a fifth of current worldwide capacity.

So much for those reassuring supply and demand lessons in ECON 101.

Can Thompson become president?

I never got around to posting on this last week, but it seems Bush's old Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson is getting into the presidential race. The enterprise is already somewhat of a laughingstock in political circles, but what's remarkable to me is that Thompson seems to think he has a chance almost purely based on his long-standing support for and knowledge about ethanol subsidies -- oops, did I say "ethanol subsidies"? I mean energy policy.

Perhaps ethanol subsidies are the road to serious energy policy. But then again, perhaps "energy policy" is just a road to expanded ethanol subsidies. Which do you think it is? Leave predictions in comments.