Latest Articles

Attention Catholics

1. The pope is infallible. 2. The pope just had solar panels installed on the Vatican roof. 3. You must have solar panels installed on your house or you will go to hell. QED

Greenwashing our vegetable modifiers

A few weeks ago, I was having dinner at a renowned restaurant in San Francisco, when I noticed something a bit troubling on the menu. According to the description, the “Heirloom Tomato Salad” was made with a mix of Sweet 100 and Sungold tomatoes — both of which are hybrid varieties. OK, big deal, they […]

Cutting meat and milk consumption cuts CO2 emissions, study says

Happy World Vegetarian Day! Just in time for the festivities, a new study from the Food Climate Research Network finds that cutting down on meat and milk consumption can help cut greenhouse-gas emissions. The four-year study focused mainly on the U.K., concluding that dramatically cutting the average Briton’s weekly meat and milk intake could help […]

New California law aims to cut CO2 emissions by discouraging sprawl

A brand new law in California, signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) Tuesday night, aims to cut greenhouse-gas emissions in the state by discouraging sprawl. The influential California Air Resources Board will develop GHG-reduction goals for different regions in the state within the next two years and then regional planning agencies will compete for billions […]

Bad news for climate change

In August alone, loggers and farm interests leveled 300 square miles of Amazon rainforest, the Brazilian government reports (via AP). That’s a land mass larger than greater Chicago — taken out in the span of a single month. It also represents a leap of 228 percent over August 2007’s destruction. Two observations: 1) Higher soy […]

New study finds sun’s contribution to recent warming is ‘negligible’

Earth to deniers — global warming is caused by human emissions, not solar activity. The Naval Research Laboratory and NASA report that, “if anything,” the sun contributed “a very slight overall cooling in the past 25 years.” D’oh! The study ($ub. req’d), “How natural and anthropogenic influences alter global and regional surface temperatures: 1889 to […]

Why scientists aren’t more persuasive, part 1

Of all the talents bestowed upon men, none is so precious as the gift of oratory. He who enjoys it wields a power more durable than that of a great king … The subtle art of combining the various elements that separately mean nothing and collectively mean so much in an harmonious proportion is known […]

Letterman rages on global warming

I am (slightly) less pessimistic than David Letterman. If, however, it is indeed “too late” as he says, then he has certainly nailed the reason: “We have had no leadership.” But I’m going to view the glass as one-tenth full and take it as a hopeful sign that somebody relatively mainstream like Letterman would break […]

More Couric and Palin, on drilling and climate change

More excerpts from the Couric interview with Palin, on subjects including drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The trademark borderline-incoherence is in full effect: Here’s the transcript. Here’s the part on climate change, where she tries to back off or at least muddy up her skepticism: Couric: Is it man-made, though in your view? […]

It’s just that they keep talking about the causes of the problem …

It’s clear to anyone paying attention that much if not most of global warming “skepticism” is driven by political opposition to the solutions, but you rarely hear people slip up and admit it: “I do believe we need to be good stewards and I think we are, but some of the issues that I have […]