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The Sierra Club and Lincoln Chafee

A mini-imbroglio has broken out in the blogosphere over the Sierra Club's decision to formally endorse Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.). A similar dust-up took place late last year over NARAL's decision to endorse Chafee. Both endorsements were largely deplored by the progressive blogs, with a few dissenters.

I'm going to argue for what might seem a slightly odd position: NARAL made a terrible decision; the Sierra Club made a good one.

Start with this premise: For a variety of structural and historical reasons, party discipline has increased sharply in American politics over the last few decades. We more and more resemble a parliamentary system. So the relevant questions here have less to do with Chafee's own positions or votes than with party dynamics -- specifically, Republican party dynamics.

On both abortion and the environment, Chafee is an exception to the prevailing Republican position. But Republican party dynamics are vastly different on the two issues.

Pombo’s Earth Day message

The House Resources Committee -- headed by everyone's favorite Dick, Rep. Pombo (R-Calif.) -- has an Earth Day message for the masses.

To summarize: everything's great with the environment; environmentalists are hysterical fear-mongers; Ronald Reagan rulez.

(hat tip: reader C.L.)

Legislators and citizens are starting to catch on to the health and environmental consequences of Bi

New Mexico is the nation's seventh largest producer of milk. More importantly, it is the fastest growing dairy state, and, as of this year, home to North America's largest cheese plant, a facility that extrudes one truckload of processed cheese every hour.

In some ways the dairy industry is easy to forget about, even if you live here. Its activity is concentrated in the eastern and southern part of the state, sections of which are so remote that their only neighbors are Air Force bases and a weapons-testing range. But given the impact this industrial-scale production of nature's "most perfect food" is having on human, animal, and environmental health, it's worth keeping a close eye on.

Yahoo! also celebrates Earth Day

AOL is not the only Internet giant celebrating Earth Day. Yahoo! is as well. And while Yahoo! only has 10 ways to reduce climate change (to AOL's 11 planet-saving tips), Yahoo!'s dress-your-avatar-in-Earth-Day-gear trumps AOL's buddy icons. (By the way, check out the handsome virtual devil to the right.)

And all you Ask Umbra readers go make your momma proud: Yahoo! is awarding a trip to the FIFA World Cup for people who answer Earth Day questions, such as this one: Why does it matter if the seas rise and the ice caps melt? How will that affect my children and me anyhow?

And taking advantage of their acquisition of Flickr, visitors can check out a collection of environmental photos.

You hear that? Eh, it’s probably nothing …

Anchorage Daily News:

A pipeline leak-detection system sounded warnings on four straight days in the week leading up to last month's record North Slope oil spill, but field workers interpreted the signals as false alarms, a new investigative report says.

The report, prepared by a team of BP and state investigators, confirms that the leak from a large Prudhoe Bay oil field pipeline went on undetected for at least five days "and probably much longer."

Pussy Galore

The lynx returns to Colorado After a deluge of depressing news about dying polar bears and baby walruses (who we love and would never, ever joke about), finally some good animal tidings! The fuzzy-wuzzy lynx is endangered in Colorado and threatened in 47 other states, but a Colorado Division of Wildlife program is making progress […]

That’s Some Good Ship

Calif. plan would curb air pollution from shipping and cargo industries Yesterday, the California Air Resources Board approved a far-reaching plan to reduce air pollution by the cargo-moving industry to 2001 levels — no small feat, as the amount of goods entering California ports is expected to triple in the next 15 years. A combination […]

Careful, The Last Hunter Who Crossed Cheney …

Hunters, anglers fight Bushies’ efforts to sell or drill on public lands Bush administration plans to sell off big chunks of public land and open other parcels to drilling are meeting stiff opposition from a traditionally Republican constituency: the hook-and-bullet crowd. Hunters and anglers anxious to protect fish and game are being wooed by environmental […]

Global-warming glamour shots

Imagine you're a pro photographer with an unlimited travel budget and your editor says he needs some pics for a story on global warming.

Sure thing, you say. Just tell me the intersection and what time to show up. Well .... huh. Where do you go? Who do you look for? What's the most arresting and memorable way to depict an event that's both global and gradual?

Photographer Gary Braasch has the enviable job of trying to figure it out. His advice: People connect with images of large animals (ah, that explains the ubiquitious polar bears) and with photos that show humans already at risk. Don't hate him because his work is beautiful.

Braasch spoke today in Washington at the Center for American Progress.

Triumph

Triumph the Insult Comic Dog interviews four Republican Senators on the subject of global warming. Seriously.