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Or: Fear and Environmentalism: Open mike night!

A post at The Oil Drum had this to say:

The power of peak oil as an external force, a geologically driven catalyst, to act as a wedge to force sustainability and conservation on a world hell bent on exponential growth and energy consumption is what caught my imagination and gave me a sense of hope several years ago when I first investigated this issue.

I've got more to say under the fold.

A subtle presidential bid?

Al Gore -- who's giving a major climate-policy speech today (more later) -- is writing another book, to be released in May: The Assault on Reason.

Two things are notable about this:

• It's a blessing that somebody other than low-level pundits is finally going to publicly acknowledge the increasing air of emotivism, unreality, and illogic that characterizes our national political conversation.
• As Ezra notes, this is extremely well timed to keep Gore in the public eye, just in case, you know, he decides to ... youknowwhat.

Japan eradicates dolphins as form of ‘pest control’

Every year environmental and animal welfare groups join forces to boo and hiss at (and work to oppose) Japan during the International Whaling Commission meeting. In 1986 the IWC instituted a moratorium on commercial whaling, and ever since Japan has been fighting to overturn it. This year, Japan and its allies came dangerously close to inhaling the sweet smell of success.

In the 20 years since the ban has been in place, approximately 27,000 whales have been slaughtered -- either accidentally or for "scientific" purposes. This is hardly a secret. But you probably aren't aware of the 20,000 dolphins and porpoises Japan kills every year.

A Beautiful Find

Scientists discover 52 new marine species near Indonesia Eight new species of shrimp, 20 new species of coral, and 24 new species of fish, including two types of sharks, have been discovered off the coast of Indonesia. And these aren’t your grandmother’s marine species: Male wrasse fish get sexy for their harems by flashing bright […]

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Malaria?

World Health Organization endorses controlled use of DDT to fight malaria Reversing a 30-year-old policy, the World Health Organization on Friday announced that the pesticide DDT, used indoors in moderation, is critical to fighting malaria, and argued that such use won’t harm people or the environment. Applied to the inside walls of dwellings once or […]

What to expect.

So, rumor's in the air about a new Bush climate policy. As Bart says, this is no doubt an authorized leak and, like everything the Bush administration does, done with politics in mind.

I imagine Rove sees the Gore cloud gathering on the horizon and wants to blow it away with some hot air before it gets too big.

How? By stealing Gore's signature issue. It's exactly what Turdblossom did in the 2000 election: Bush's promise to regulate CO2 was nothing but a successful bid to take the issue off the table, to dilute media and voter attention (same with "compassionate conservatism"). It immunized Bush.

Now Rove is trying to immunize the party, by changing its stance on global warming from "No!" to "blah blah blah." Voters understand No, and on an issue like this they'll come to see it as obstructionist. But they don't really follow the blah blah blah. They'll get the impression that both parties are addressing the issue; then it's six of one half dozen the other.

Will it work? Let's just say the last six years have encouraged me never to underestimate the charlatans or overestimate the voting public.

Now, let's turn to prediction. If it's true that Bush will announce a big climate plan, here's what I expect will be in it, from most to least likely:

He’s ‘preparing an astonishing U-turn on global warming,’ sources say

Today Britain's Independent amps up the rumors about a possible change of course from Bush on climate change, rumors that David first told us about last week. Reports Geoffrey Lean in the Independent:

President Bush is preparing an astonishing U-turn on global warming, senior Washington sources say.

After years of trying to sabotage agreements to tackle climate change he is drawing up plans to control emissions of carbon dioxide and rapidly boost the use of renewable energy sources. ...

Over the past few days rumours swept the capital that the "Toxic Texan" would announce his conversion this week, in an attempt to reduce the impact of a major speech tomorrow by Al Gore on solutions to climate change.

The White House denied the timing, but did not deny that a change of policy was on its way. Sources say that the most likely moment is the President's State of the Union address in January.

Another good source found for cellulosic

While I don't have NYT Select access and haven't read Friedman's recent column, I did see the Discover Channel special earlier this summer ("Addicted To Oil") in which he similarly pumped Brazilian ethanol.

We could argue until we're blue, green, or yellow in the face about the long-term viability of biofuels in the U.S. But the best and most thoroughly researched rundown I've seen is here. This article -- which is essentially a synopsis of the 2005 NRDC report "Growing Energy" embellished with other expert opinions -- says that even cellulosic ethanol stands a chance to meet our transportation energy needs only if the U.S. cuts fuel consumption by 50%.

Prius makes an appearance in Last Kiss

So I've just returned home from a showing of Last Kiss, the new Zach Braff flick -- which, PS, pales next to Garden State -- and I'm excited to report that not only does Braff's character drive a Prius throughout the movie, but the car actually gets mentioned in the first two lines.

As the film begins, the lens is focused knee-height at a number of women (with very nice legs) walking at a crosswalk. The camera then pans up very slowly to focus on the front of a black Prius -- Toyota logo very much visible. As the shot continues to move up, two main characters -- Michael (Braff) and Jenna (Jacinda Barrett) -- are seen seated in the car.

Jenna says something to Michael to the effect of "What are you thinking about?" And Michael replies, "I was just thinking how convenient it is for me that it's considered hip to drive a $20,000 hybrid car." Or something like that. I only managed to scribble parts of that second line on my napkin -- I didn't know I would be taking notes for a blog post! (Though I suppose now I can write the ticket price off on my taxes ... right?)

A short review

Last night I finally got around to watching The End of Suburbia.