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New safety guidelines for poultry producers won’t change much
(USDA photo) If you’ve ever fallen ill with a case of food poisoning, Big Food would like you to know that it’s probably your fault. A few weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued new safety compliance guidelines for the poultry industry. They’re notable for several reasons: they drastically reduce the allowable levels of […]
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Energy politics in the Senate: why Merkley’s oil plan matters
This morning Sen. Jeff Merkley will introduce “America Over a Barrel: Solving Our Oil Vulnerability” (PDF) [UPDATE: video below], a policy plan devoted to reducing oil use, at an event at the Center for American Progress. I think it could make a big difference in the debate. To understand why, let’s back up and have […]
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Ask Umbra wipes up the confusion on TP, pee rags, and bidets
Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, We’ve been using “pee rags” for a while now, but are trying to find a way to do away with toilet paper all together. The obvious option is washing, but is the impact of water use for washing close to or equal to the small amount of […]
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Enemies of the Earth
It is extremely disheartening that serious climate change policy appears unlikely to pass Congress this year, and may very well not be on the agenda for years to come (if ever). I blame Obama for not making comprehensive energy reform a serious priority, and not using the disaster in the Gulf to make a forceful […]
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Fight for the right to clean air and clean water
A new proposed initiative for the California ballot purports to defend the people of California’s unalienable right to air, water, energy, and natural resources by prohibiting the government from regulating the industries that exploit these common resources. This referendum is either an attempted shell game on the citizenry or a product of dire ignorance. If […]
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Friday music blogging: Ratatat
Ratatat is two guys in New York City, one who plays guitar, the other a synthesizer-bass-producer polymath. It’s hard to know exactly what to call their stuff. It’s got programmed dance beats like DJ music, but also guitar, strings, keyboards, and songs that actually sound like songs and not endless loops. One thing Ratatat has […]
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A takeout eater turns CSA shareholder
I’ve lived in New York for four years. Being a busy, free spirit in the city doesn’t lend itself to grocery shopping and meal planning. So, like many New Yorkers, I enjoyed living off the fat of the land. And by that I mean the takeout menu. Like many of my peers on the takeout […]
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The Climate Post: U.S. Senate gives a disapproving look
First things first: U.S. senators rose one after the next in support of or opposition to a measure that would strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its authority to declare heat-trapping gases pollutants. The piece in question, a “disapproval resolution,” was sponsored by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). In her floor speech, she skewered the Obama […]
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Rumor watch: Obama has a ‘secret’ plan to redirect the Mississippi River
Photo credit: the White House/Peter Souza Annie Lowery of the Washington Independent picked up this exchange between Anderson Cooper and historian Doug Brinkley: [W]hen President Obama comes to Florida and Alabama and Mississippi … that is holding BP responsible for the Natural Resource Damage Act, for the Oil Spill Response Act. And, by that, I […]
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Coal-fired power was the big loser in the economic downturn
There’s some interesting new data out on recent shifts in electricity demand and consumption, courtesy of the DOE/EIA. In 2008, total U.S. power generation was 4.1 million GWh. In 2009, that fell by 4 percent, to 3.9 million. That’s a 4 percent reduction — clearly the result of the economic slowdown. Nothing surprising there. What’s […]
