Uncategorized

Lists and very alternative energy

Among the nifty things to read about in L.A. Weekly's List Issue is this:

"8 New Very Alternative Energy Ideas"

I particularly like the bit with the hamsters.

Who’s fired up about energy?

New York governor George Pataki (R) is delusional if he thinks he's going to win the Republican nomination for president. McCain might have a teeny tiny eensy beensy sliver of a chance. Giuliani, even eensier. But Pataki, no. The very things he's done to appeal to moderates in his home state will damn him irredeemably in the eyes of today's Republican base.

That said, he does seem set to run, and as peakguy on Oil Drum NYC says, his final State of the State speech may well be setting up one of the central planks of his strategy: independence from "foreign oil."

Not just here in New York, but across the nation, our reliance on foreign oil is hampering the financial freedom of our working families and their employers; it is hurting our economy, damaging our environment and enriching regimes that support, harbor and encourage the terrorists who threaten our national security.

You'll be hearing this kind of stuff from members of both parties. It will be pitched to sound tough on national security and bullish on the economy. Environmental messages will be muted at best.

I must say I'm skeptical about the electoral efficacy of energy independence, at least at present. While it is carefully calibrated to appeal across a number of demographics, I don't think anybody but environmentalists really feel fired up about it. Like most environmental issues, its appeal is broad but shallow.

We've had high gas prices this year, and that put oil on everybody's radar. And of course there's, you know, the Iraq war, which according to a new study may run this country up to $2 trillion. But most folks still don't connect that to oil.

Most people have not have their lives directly affected by our dependence on oil -- at least in ways they perceive as such. Most people are still living their comfortable, driving, suburban, middle-class lives just fine. It will take a huge, sustained price spike, I think, before "energy independence" gets any real traction as a campaign slogan.

It’s over

Well, damn. Kevin Drum stole my thunder.

I wanted to draw special attention to a post by John Quiggin, which announces:

More significantly, perhaps, 2005 saw the final nail hammered into the arguments climate change contrarians have been pushing for years. The few remaining legitimate sceptics, along with some of the smarter ideological contrarians, have looked at the evidence and conceded the reality of human-caused global warming.

He also makes this crucial point:

The science of cute

Ever wonder what makes some things (babies, puppies, the smiley-face emoticon) cute and other things (cockroaches, dinosaurs, Richard Pombo) not-so-cute? This New York Times article examines "The Cute Factor" -- science behind the characteristics such as roundness (think VW Beetle) and fuzziness that make an object worthy of the lovable, squeezable, I-want-to-eat-it-right-up-able adjective.

And cuteness is certainly not a concept lost on environmentalists. (See any plea from the World Wildlife Fund ever.) Listed in the article as ranking high on the cuteness scale are panda cubs, the stars of "March of the Penguins," and even the Prius. Now if only we could make carbon trading round and fuzzy.

Since U Been Overdrawn

California delta tapped for too much water, in ecological crisis The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in California is in ecological freefall. The 738,000-acre area supplies drinking water to millions and irrigation water for major agricultural producers. The delta smelt, a fish that’s an indicator species for the region’s overall health, is fast sliding toward extinction, […]

James Woolsey on clean tech

Clean Edge has an interview with James Woolsey (who Grist has also interviewed), past director of the CIA and now co-chairman of the Committee on Present Danger, about how Osama really does love your SUV.

Bob Baer's book Sleeping With the Devil discusses how terrorists taking out the sulfur-cleaning towers in northeastern Saudi Arabia could take six million barrels per day off the market for up to a year, which would wreak economic devastation on our country. The United States borrows about $2 billion per day to finance our consumption. One billion of that is money for oil, and the Mid East is home for two-thirds of that oil. We are living on top of a volcano as long as we are that dependent on foreign oil.

Is not!

Jonathan Adler defends Samuel Alito against the attacks of environmental groups.

Who put the bunk in debunk-a-bunk-bunk?

The latest global warming debunkery, debunked, as always by the tireless Tim Lambert.

‘What are we supposed to do, walk?’

Thanks to Kit Stolz for pointing me to an Onion item I missed:

"Public Outraged As Price Of Fast-Depleting, Non-Renewable Resource Skyrockets"

Eco-friendly building materials: The new black

The New York Times discovers that the market for green building supplies (flooring, paint, etc.) is booming. As usual with puffy trend pieces like this, there is frustratingly little actual information, just a series of mini-profiles. One thing the piece does make clear is that this market is still the province of wealthy suburbanites. But, you know, the promise of economies of scale, blah blah ...