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Biodiversivist

I’m back at the fairgrounds. One of my daughter’s roosters won first place. Her picture is hanging on his pen, braces reflecting the camera’s flash. As I sit here in the barn, I just watched her other rooster, the obnoxious and butt ugly turken, nail a guy who put his finger through the chicken wire (live and learn buddy). They are the largest chickens at the fair, which also makes them the loudest (WAV file, turn it all the way up). I’ll wager that the decibel level is outside OSHA limits. People turn their heads when one lets loose with a crow, and some toddlers even go running to mom. I can imagine what it would feel like to look eye-to-eye with a rooster your own size.

Can green biz bring environmental and civil rights communities together?

The folks at the Greenlining Institute sent along an issue brief they just produced, about how green business represents a chance for the environmental and civil-rights communities to partner with each other. It's somewhat schematic, but interesting, so I've reprinted it below. Lemme know what you think.

Jump on the plug-in hybrid bandwagon

Consider this an open invitation to get on the plug-in hybrid bandwagon. Plug-in hybrids, for those not in the know, are hybrids whose batteries can be recharged by the grid. By running in electric-only mode as much as possible, emissions are reduced and efficiencies gained.

The other week, I visited Prof. Andrew Frank at UC Davis, the popularly acclaimed father of the plug-in hybrid. Impressive stuff.

Among the many vehicles his students have built, he's got a Chevy Equinox -- a smallish SUV -- retrofitted with a 1.6L engine with a continuously variable drive transmission and a lithium ion battery pack that holds about 15 kWh of juice. It can go 60 miles on battery-only, and 100 mpg in all-day driving conditions. If you recharged every night, it could go across the country on one tank of gasoline (runs on e85). Performance? 320 horsepower, 0-60 in 6.5 seconds (vs 9.5 sec stock).

The benefits of plugging in are many.

Shrimpers’ bycatch a goldmine for shark hunters

The classic battle of man vs. fish has resulted in dozens of blockbusters and bestsellers. But the drama and adventure that make these stories great are noticeably absent from most fishing practices in this day and age. Take, for example, sharking.

A recent article in the Sun Herald outlines a simple three-step process for hunting sharks:

1. Follow a shrimp boat.
2. Wait.
3. Stick your pole in the water.

Shrimp boats, after pulling trawls throughout the night, collect their shrimp and then throw the rest of the catch overboard. This "bycatch" is a smorgasbord of dead or dying fish, and a "feeding frenzy" of sharks quickly ensues. According to the article's author, Al Jones, "fishing behind anchored shrimp boats can be an awesome experience once a feeding frenzy is under way."

Quint must be rolling over in his grave.

On AB 32 …

... Schwarzenegger and the business lobby are playing a perilous game of chicken with state Dems. Let's hope they don't collectively blow it.

Dem plan to fight global warming

Feinstein unveils it. It's not ideal, but it's pushing the bounds of what's currently acceptable, and that's about the best you could ask for.

Weak energy-efficiency rules flying under the radar

I wish enviros (and, hell, everyone else) would kick up more of a fuss about this kind of stuff. Energy-efficiency measures don't get enough attention, from the PTB or from the green movement.

The Bushies are lowballing these standards because, well, that's what they do: the minimal necessary to keep up appearances and still not bother their industry friends. If they discovered that everyone was watching, and a shitstorm would kick up every time they tried to skirt real, impactful rules on this sort of thing, they'd change their tune. As it is, they get away with it because everybody's attention is elsewhere.

States taking the lead

Colorado's the latest.

Diss Me Cate

EPA whistleblower says agency misled on health hazards of 9/11 dust A U.S. EPA whistleblower has gone public with accusations that the agency downplayed the health hazards of dust from the collapsed World Trade Center. EPA senior scientist Cate Jenkins — who has long clashed with her employer — says the agency relied on misleading […]

Stop Us If You’ve Heard This One

EPA must consult wildlife officials about pesticide use Yesterday a federal judge overturned a two-year-old regulation that allowed the U.S. EPA to approve pesticides without consulting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about toxic impact on rare animals and plants. Ruling in favor of nine environmental groups, U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenor declared that […]