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Austin City Limits: zero energy code

The city of Austin, already host to the granddaddy of all green building programs, is stepping it up further: They are looking into "adopting a series of code changes that will make all new single-family homes built in the City's building code jurisdiction 'Zero-Energy Capable Homes' by the year 2015."

Go Austin!

Old amusement parks don’t die, they just … become condos

Mat Lindstedt was a typical 12-year-old growing up in San Jose during the 1970s. He spent his summers braving the runaway mine ride, paddling the Indian war canoes, and riding the lazy burros at Frontier Village amusement park. Riding an endangered species. Photo: iStockphoto But Lindstedt’s summers changed in 1980, when the owners of Frontier […]

Terry Tamminen leaving post in Schwarzenegger administration

Terry Tamminen, influential environmental advisor to California gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, is stepping down.

Ostensibly, Tamminen is quitting to campaign for Arnie and remind voters of the governor's green record (after which he will take a post in the private sector and publish a book).

Somewhat ironically, though, Tamminen's departure casts serious doubt on whether a second Arnie term would be as green as the first.

"Terry's departure leaves a big void in the governor's office," said Bill Magavern, senior representative for Sierra Club of California. "There now is nobody with experience in the environmental movement, and you have to think that's going to make a difference when they have their internal tug of war between the business interests and the environmental promises that the governor has made."

Don't believe Tamminen made a difference in that tug of war? Listen to this (and remember to use your Corporatist Decoder Ring to translate):

Bjorn Lomborg and climate change mitigation

Bjørn Lomborg was one of this site's first targets. We still get emails about that series. Suffice to say, not much love is lost between he and Grist.

Still, Lomborg is widely influential, and the project behind his Copenhagen Consensus makes sense: figure out the most effective way to spend money to save lives and improve the world. I disagree with his conclusions and think the methodology has deep flaws, but the idea behind it is laudable.

Lomborg's got a new book out: a collection of essays called How to Spend 50 Billion, in which economists present their Copenhagen conclusions. What follows is an excerpt, with an introduction by Lomborg and parts of an essay by William R. Cline comparing various global warming mitigation strategies. Give it some thought and share your impressions in comments.

Gristmill shameless product placement: Pagliacci Pizza

This weekend we ordered a pizza -- our usual: pepperoni, mushroom, and Kalamata olives -- from Pagliacci, the best pizza place in Seattle and one of the best pizza places in the country. When it arrived, there was a note sitting on top that read: "This one's on us! Thanks for being a great customer."

I heart Pagliacci.

Turns out Wal-Mart is greening

As I am contractually obliged to flag each and every story on Wal-Mart's greening -- and to mention that you should read my op-ed -- I should let you know that the Wall Street Journal has a short piece on the subject. Sounds like things are going pretty well:

Test-tube coral babies in the works

Twenty-eight years ago, the world welcomed (albeit with raised eyebrows) the first "test tube baby" into the world. Back then, in vitro fertilization (IVF) was considered a radical medical procedure. But after the success of a few hundred thousand IVF babies, it was only logical to take the concept to the next level. Enter coral reefs.

A team of University of Miami marine-science researchers is collecting coral eggs and sperm all this week during an annual reproductive ritual dubbed "coral spawning." They hope "test-tube coral babies" will take root to help restore a tract of reef ravaged by a 1984 ship grounding in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

Brace yourself for an even more radical idea to help coral reefs: not destroying them in the first place.

Gregg Small, director of the Washington Toxics Coalition, answers questions

Gregg Small. What’s your job title? Executive director of the Washington Toxics Coalition. What does your organization do? WTC works to protect human health and the environment from the impacts of toxic pollution. What are you working on at the moment? Photo: iStockphoto A top priority right now is our Pollution in People Project. For […]

Fear and environmentalism

For a long time I've had a post rattling around in my head about fear. I've had no luck writing the thing. But this great post by Alex, about a Cato Institute paper called "A False Sense of Insecurity" (PDF), finally spurred me to make the attempt. Bear with me.

What harms people in the U.S.?

Mainly heart disease and cancer, along with several other health ailments, accidents (mostly automobile), and suicide.

Homicide used to be among the top 15 killers, but it dropped off that list in 2003. Military attack on home soil hasn't happened since WWII. And terrorism? From the Cato paper:

AB 32 and Arnie’s ABC 32 (C is for “caps optional”)

As I said a couple of weeks ago after Arnie's eco-rendezvous with the British PM, the real measure of the governor's greenness will be in the passage of several bills being deliberated in Sacramento right now.

In the next ten days, assembly members will decide whether The Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32 [PDF])and the Clean Alternate Energy Act (Prop 87 [PDF]), among others, will arrive at Schwarzenegger's desk intact or as grossly watered-down versions. According to this story in the L.A. Times, business groups and even the California Chamber of Commerce are putting major pressure on the governor to reign in those legislators who would be so brash as to listen to their constituency (a poll conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California and released in mid-July indicated that 80% of likely voters support these climate change bills).

Schwarzenegger is indeed straddling a barbed fence: on the one hand, he can ill afford to alienate the businessmen who support his campaign, yet on the other, public opinion is strongly anti-global warming.