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Spinning Isn’t Everything; It’s the Only Thing

Alaska looks to controversial PR firm to promote Arctic Refuge drilling In the face of broad public opposition to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the Alaska legislature has … abandoned its push for drilling? Don’t be silly! No, the legislature’s hired a PR firm to sell the joys of drilling to a skeptical […]

Jumping the Park

Bush admin tells national parks to operate at 20 percent below budget You know what the problem with America’s national parks is? Profligacy. So says the Bush administration, which has ordered the parks to demonstrate that they can function with 80 percent of their current operating budgets. Bush is also proposing to cut about $100 […]

Wendell Berry on ‘economic development’

Right-wing critics of environmentalism lean heavily on a false dichotomy: "the economy" vs. "the environment." They pretend that human prosperity and "nature" are playing a zero-sum game. By, say, neglecting to mangle the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve for a year or two's supply of crude, we're somehow making a huge economic sacrifice. Mountaintop removal is unpleasant, the argument goes, but we need to get at that coal to maintain "economic development."

Wendell Berry, the sage of northern Kentucky, has made a career of obliterating such sophistries. Counterpunch.org has just published an interview with him. Check it out.

On an unrelated note, I declared in a recent post that "Environmentalists could intervene in the immigration battle by altering the terms of debate. But so far, they've been silent." As a correspondent pointed out, that statement "is not entirely correct." Andrew Christie of Sierra Club's Responsible Trade Committee recently published a piece linking trade with immigration. It's worth reading.

Shill news

On E Magazine, Jim Motavalli's done an interview with Frank Maisano, a guy who's spent his life as an extremely successful communications guy -- shill -- for polluting industries. Disturbingly, Maisano comes off as congenial, reasonable, well-informed. I prefer my evil people more evil, please.

Also -- I should have noted this weeks ago -- don't miss Mark Hertsgaard's piece from the recent Vanity Fair green issue. Most of it covers ground familiar to Grist readers, about how a well-funded campaign kept controversy about global warming alive long after the science was settled. What's new is the exposure of one Dr. Frederick Seitz, a former president of the National Academy of Sciences. According to Hertsgaard, Seitz helped lead an effort to produce research for tobacco companies to fight off bad publicity in the 70s and 80s. Then, in the 90s, Seitz smoothly transitioned to climate contrarianism. It's a fascinating tale.

On Tech Central Station, Nick Shulz calls Hertsgaard's piece a smear job. Eli Rabett read through the tobacco company documents and says that, no, Seitz really is a shill. Tim Lambert has a roundup.

If by ‘unparalleled’ you mean ‘suicidal and morally indefensible’, then yes, you are correct

The U.S. EPA released a new report on greenhouse gas emissions today.

From the press release, here's EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson:

"The Bush Administration has an unparalleled financial, international and domestic commitment to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson.

Can't argue with that. And don't get me started on their made-up-metric, "greenhouse gas intensity."

$144,573 a day

Speaking of newly retired Exxon chairman Lee Raymond, an analysis commissioned by the New York Times recently determined that he made $144,573 per day for the length of his tenure with the company.

Not bad.

Rhymes with unanimity

Basically everyone agrees: we're full of chemicals. Hooray, agreement!

Now what to do about it? Some California lawmakers are suggesting a program to monitor and catalog said chemicals in residents' bodies.

Senate Bill 1379 would create the nation's first statewide biomonitoring program to study levels of chemical contamination in blood, urine, fatty tissue, or breast milk.

Essentially it's a state-specific version of the CDC's National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals. Predictably though, powerful forces are aligning against it, fearing an educated, informed, environmentally aware public.

Renew US: Climate crisis averted … at least in the movie

Ah, finally a Flash movie I can get behind!

Renew US is ...

... a collaborative effort launched by Stonyfield Farm, Inc., a consumer products company founded in 1983 with the belief that the planet is everybody's business; Earth Day Network, an international environmental network dedicated since 1970 to empowering people to effect large scale positive environmental change, and Clean Air-Cool Planet, a nonprofit organization that educates industry, consumers and policy makers about the challenges and solutions to global climate change.

To mark its debut, the site is running a Flash movie called "Climate: A Crisis Averted." The premise is that it's filmed in 2055, after the threat of global warming has been overcome. Various people ruminate on how grim the situation was in 2006, and how everyone came together to act (thanks, ahem, to Renew US).

After you watch the movie, go here to learn how to buy clean power in your area.

Hope! Solutions! And clever, too. Let me know what you think.

(Small kvetch under the fold.)

Well this is a new one

Steve Forbes has a creative strategy for bringing down the price of oil: Attack Iran.

The Daily Grist Headline Battle Royale: Match 8

It is no surprise (to me) that last week's winner is "Enthuse Your Curbism" with 53% of the vote. What I do find surprising is that "Waddle They Do Now?" faired better than "Good Mennonite, and Good Luck". Go figure.

Also a little disappointing is the number of votes: 13 (an alltime low). I'd like to think you were spending all your time voting for us in the People's Choice Awards. If so, thank you, as Grist is currently kicking butt.

Anyhoo, here are the next batch of nominees:

1. Let's Make a Meal: Michael Pollan's new book digs into the mysteries of the U.S. diet
2. Oh No He Didn't: Chrysler official takes public potshot at oil companies
3. What a Tangled Webby We Weave: Grist nominated for Webby Award -- go vote for us!
4. Governor, May I Take One Baby Step?: Schwarzenegger calls for slow and steady climate action
5. RGGI or Not, Here They Come: Maryland senator chats with Grist about joining regional climate pact
6. Life's a Bleach and Then You Die: Caribbean coral reefs hammered by bleaching, disease

Vote!