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Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.)

Byron Dorgan Sen. Byron Dorgan says he wants to address climate change: “I think there is enough science out there to suggest something is going on.” But he opposes the cap-and-trade approach. “I’m in favor of taking action to reduce CO2 emissions and to protect our environment. But I don’t support the ‘cap-and-trade’ plan now […]

Friday music blogging: Wussy (again)

Wussy grew out of the remains of the Ass Ponys. (Lemme just pause a moment to savor writing that sentence …) The Ass Ponys labored at the fringes of indie stardom for years in the early oughts. After they flamed out, singer/guitarist Chuck Cleaver pulled together a new band called Wussy in 2005. Turns out […]

Regulatory czar Sunstein’s first days

Michael Livermore is right to suggest that environmentalists should be focused on Cass Sunstein’s first official day as regulatory czar for the Obama Administration. After months of delay over the Harvard professor’s eclectic and provocative writings, he will eventually take office if he can placate cattle ranchers concerned about his views on animal rights. Whatever […]

Chilean salmon industry plunges into an abyss of pesticides and antibiotics

Down on the farm: most salmon consumed in the U.S. comes from industrial aquaculture. Ninety percent of the salmon consumed in the United States comes from factory-style farms–most of it imported. Until very recently, our biggest supplier was Chile–whose salmon industry is in a state of collapse, ravaged by a virus called “infectious salmon anemia.” […]

Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio)

Sherrod Brown Sen. Sherrod Brown was one of just four Democrats to vote against moving the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act to a floor vote last year, but this year he says he won’t block climate legislation. “I’m not going to be part of a filibuster on climate change,” Brown said recently. Last year’s bill never […]

Damning look at Canada’s tar sands tops enviro journalism awards

Canadian journalist Andrew Nikiforuk won the top prize from the Society of Environmental Journalists’ annual reporting awards for his investigation of oil extraction in the tar sands of northern Alberta. Nikiforuk’s book — Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent — examines the high social and environmental costs of the process of […]

Antibiotic-resistant salmonella burgers, with a side of flame retardants

A Colorado company recalled the equivalent of 1.86 million Quarter Pounders. In Meat Wagon, we round up the latest outrages of the meat and livestock industries. ————————————— Sometimes I think I write a little too much about the meat industry. But the news it generates is so consistently grave, and so generally underreported, that I […]

Mary Landrieu (D-La.)

Mary Landrieu Sen. Mary Landrieu has been a thorn in the side of enviros for most of her 12 years in the Senate representing Louisiana, a big oil and gas state. Last year, the League of Conservation Voters added her to its Dirty Dozen list of the worst environmental offenders in Congress. During her bid […]

Sarah Palin, George Will, and Potemkin debates

While I was away on vacation (it was wonderful, thanks for asking), the Washington Post editorial page featured opinion pieces from Sarah Palin and George Will, two of conservatism’s leading, um, thinkers, revealing a great deal about the WaPo editorial page and the quality of conservative thinking. Rebuttal has been ably carried out by many […]

Climate-news poem: George Will edition

Photo: Chalky LivesGeez, I gotta shout!Every time I read aboutOp-ed columns in the PoRife with Willful mis-info.George is at it once again:Every time he dips his penWe are treated to a rantIntellectually scant.Luckily there do aboundLots of people who have foundInteresting ways to takeSwipes at comments that are fake.As they pointed out last time,Data truly […]