Uncategorized

A review of Wangari Maathai’s autobiography Unbowed

October 2004 was an exciting time to be a tree-hugger in Wangari Maathai‘s home country of Kenya. When she was announced as winner of that year’s Nobel Peace Prize, many of my environmentally inclined friends and colleagues were eager to help her figure out what to do with the giant megaphone she had just been […]

BP factory accident traced to cost cutting

The Wall Street Journal:

Federal investigators said cost cutting at oil giant BP compromised safety at a Texas refinery and helped cause a deadly explosion at the plant in March 2005, in findings that significantly raise the legal and financial stakes in the disaster for the London-based oil giant.

An article on volcanoes and global warming

An article in this month's Scientific American titled "Impact from the Deep" has prompted me to write my first article on global warming. I avoid the topic because it is already covered practically every day by other commentaries. The article posits a theory that chronic and heavy volcanic activity caused some of the mass extinctions of the past, explaining how it happened along with some supporting evidence.

Today, we don't have thousands of volcanoes spewing forth massive amounts of CO2, but what we do have are billions of point sources of CO2 emissions. To give you a feel for the magnitude of our oil, coal, and gas burning, think back to the Gulf War and the thousands of oil wells that were set on fire. Look at that picture for a moment and ponder that cars in the U.S. alone emit five times more CO2 per day than those fires did at their peak -- and our coal- and gas-fired power plants emit twice as much as our cars.

No demand for Iceland’s whale meat

Two weeks ago, Iceland announced it would defy the 20-year-old worldwide whaling ban and resume its commercial whale hunt. They sure didn't waste any time! Two whales have already been caught, leaving 37 more kills to go.

Iceland claims this decision is all about business, so let's take a look at the business side of what they actually are doing. For those of you who slept through this lesson in high school, I'd like to tell you about a little thing I like to call "economics."

Let’s Talk About Rex, Baby

Senators ask ExxonMobil to stop funding climate-change deniers ExxonMobil should “end any further financial assistance” to climate-change-denying lobbyist groups, say Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) in a scathing letter sent to ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson on Friday. According to an upcoming report from the Union of Concerned Scientists, the oil behemoth funded […]

Goodbye Kitty

Japan struggles to save threatened Iriomote wildcat As Japan seeks to make amends for long prioritizing industrialization over environmental safeguards, the case of the Iriomote wildcat is proving that redress isn’t easy. The cats, suspected to number less than 100, live solely on the 110-square-mile island of Iriomote. But, as a mascot for the green […]

A Stern Talking-to

Ignoring climate change far more expensive than fighting it, says British report Some folks worry that restricting greenhouse-gas emissions could hurt the economy. Turns out that’s a bit like worrying that a tracheotomy will hurt a patient in anaphylactic shock — yeah, it’ll sting, but without it the patient will croak. (Yes, we watch way […]

Billie Karel, advocate for pesticide alternatives, answers Grist’s questions

Billie Karel, Pesticide Education Project (PESTed). What work do you do? I am program coordinator at the Pesticide Education Project (PESTed). What does your organization do? We advocate for alternatives to toxic pesticides in North Carolina and empower people to make sound decisions about their health and environment. We do this through popular education, organizing […]

Now it will cause drought in Australia

AUSTRALIA'S crippling drought will worsen if the Howard government succeeds in its push for nuclear power, Queensland Premier Peter Beattie has told a conference.

Addressing the New Zealand Labour Party conference in Rotorua today, Mr Beattie said an independent study commissioned by the Queensland government showed a nuclear power station would use 25 per cent more water than a coal-fired power station.

(...)

"Many towns and shires in our state are struggling to get enough drinking water, let alone enough to satisfy the amount a nuclear station would need to guzzle."

It just gets better and better, doesn't it?

Bashing carbon emissions just makes sense

I understand Jason's intent in his post about ideologues, and I agree (almost) without reservation that environmentalism needs to stay firmly in the realm of reality, facts, and evidence while eschewing fantasy, whims, and delusional optimism -- or, for that matter, delusional pessimism.

However (you knew that was coming) ...