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Bushies restore forest research funding

Man, journalism is hard! America is addicted to oil -- oh wait, no it isn't. Evangelicals aren't fighting global warming -- oh wait, yes they are. (And by the way, hallelujah!) The Bush administration has suspended funding for forest research that contradicts timber policy -- oh wait, no they haven't.

A federal agency restored funding Wednesday for a study that has provided evidence for conservationists opposing the Bush administration's policy of logging after wildfires.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management's decision to lift its suspension of the final year of a three-year grant to Oregon State University came a day after a congressman called for an investigation of the funding cutoff.

Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., had asked the Interior Department's inspector general to examine whether the bureau was punishing the researchers for their findings.

Hey, I'm not complaining. Keep the good news rolling in. I'm still waiting for the front-page headline "Climate Change Not Actually a Problem After All." Maybe tomorrow? Maybe The Day After Tomorrow?

Palm oil, that is

Any environmentalists out there who think biofuels cannot follow the same path as the petrochemical industry are deluding themselves. Biofuels have just as much, possibly more, potential to destroy our ecosytems than today's oil industry. A large percentage of biofuels being produced today are being grown on lands (the Amazon, Africa, Indonesia, Malaysia) that were rainforest carbon sinks just a few decades ago. In contrast, petroleum is pumped out of holes in the ground. The ecological damage caused by oil spills, and of course global warming, are well documented, and finding ways to stop pumping greenhouse gases into the air have to be found, but think a minute.

Exactly what is Kyoto trying to do? Is it trying to stop global warming or is it trying to stop ecological devastation? To be precise: It is trying to stop ecological devastation by stopping global warming. So, logically, any scheme to reduce CO2 that causes ecological degradation is self-defeating and should be made illegal. From the Epoch Times:

In the dim yet recent past Malaysia and Indonesia joined the Kyoto Protocol buoyed by their massive carbon credits in lieu of rainforest. The special waiver in the deal is that if palm oil forests replace rainforest, their Kyoto obligations remain the same.

In other words, it is acceptable under Kyoto to destroy rainforests to grow biofuels.

Derrick Cheater

Bush admin proposes drilling off Florida, Virginia, Alaska coasts When President Bush said “America is addicted to oil,” we thought … wait, did we say this already? Yesterday, the administration proposed new oil and gas drilling off the coasts of Florida, Virginia, and Alaska — including areas covered by a long-standing moratorium on offshore energy […]

A Woman Needs a Fish Like a Bicycle Needs … Oh, Never Mind

One in five U.S. women have high mercury levels, suggests new report You weren’t thinking of having children, were you? Good: One in five American women of childbearing age may have unsafe levels of mercury in their bodies, according to a new report by the Environmental Quality Institute at University of North Carolina-Asheville. In the […]

Gristmill exclusive!!!!!

Breaking news!

At my breakfast this morning with Lester Brown, the man ordered a ham and cheese omelet.

That's right. This alleged "environmentalist" is not ... a ... vegetarian.

Press inquiries may be directed to me.

Developing ...

It sucks

Sigh:

President Bush's latest spending plan is unlikely to substantially reduce US oil consumption in the short term because it slashes $100 million from federal programs promoting conservation and falls short of the commitment in last year's energy bill to make vast new investments in renewable and emerging technologies, like hydrogen fuel and solar power.

I can hardly bear to discuss the rest of this story -- though it is an excellent piece of reporting. You should read it.

To summarize: Bush's budget is de-funding and de-emphasizing energy conservation, very much deliberately ("Craig Stevens, a Department of Energy spokesman, said the White House's emphasis on new energy sources over conservation reflects the department's current priorities."). Renewables are getting less money even than they were promised in last year's energy bill. Most of the money for renewables is devoted to nuclear, specifically a "$250 million Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, designed in part to encourage developing nations to build nuclear power plants." He's increasing the Interior Department's budget for oil drilling, and assuming revenues from drilling in the Arctic Refuge. And on and on.

Everything Bush said about energy in the SOTU was a farce. Nothing has changed.

Buying hybrid SUVs allows car companies to sell gas-guzzlers

Oy. I used to think the introduction of hybrid SUVs was generally a good thing -- with perhaps even greater potential for saving fuel than hybrid cars. But this New York Times article brings up a point I simply hadn't considered: Buying a fuel-efficient SUV makes it possible for car companies to sell big gas guzzlers without incurring any penalties under federal CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) standards. From the article:

[E]very Toyota Highlander hybrid S.U.V. begets a hulking Lexus S.U.V., and every Ford Escape -- the hybrid S.U.V. that Kermit the Frog hawked during the Super Bowl -- makes room for a Lincoln Navigator, which gets all of 12 miles a gallon. Instead of simply saving gas when you buy a hybrid, you're giving somebody else the right to use it.

This is vexing, to say the least.

Mustache v. Cheney

I can't very well let a Tom Friedman column go by without comment, now can I?

Today the Mustache grasps the rear end of our Vice President, carefully aligns it, and then gives it a swift kick.

Well done.

The Present Future

Glimpsing the predicament of our moment, of "a human world newly and suddenly vulnerable to the forces of a changed planet," writer and artist team up to question the fantasy of human control over destiny.

That's the tag line for "The Present Future: Paintings for a very hot planet," a showcase of paintings by Alexis Rockman, accompanied by an essay from Bill McKibben, in the latest issue of Orion Magazine. Check it out.

WTO rules that Europe must accept gene-modified food

In other big news today, the WTO ruled that the European Union has to accept genetically modified food, like it or not. More specifically, it ruled that countries that have banned the import of GMOs have broken international trade laws, since such bans have insufficient "scientific basis." This is glorious news for the Bush administration, which is eager to pry open EU markets for America's copious output of GM crops.

I don't know all the ins and outs of the ruling; it's an incredibly complex issue. I believe/hope our resident food expert will be chiming in soon with some more informed commentary.

But on first blush, I tend to think Roger Pielke Jr. has it exactly right: