Latest Articles
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Drop in U.S. driving last eight months exceeds the 1970s’ total decline
June 2008 saw another sharp drop in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) according to the Federal Highway Administration’s monthly report on “Traffic Volume Trends.” Americans drove 4.7 percent less, or 12.2 billion miles fewer, in June 2008 than June 2007 — beating the record-setting drop of March. Since last November, Americans have driven 53.2 billion miles […]
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Snippets from the news
• California utility orders gigantic solar farms. • Bush signs bill banning lead in toys. • Cities desire streetcars. • Samsung unveils “eco-phone”. • Psychologists explore thinking green. • U.S. could halve fuel consumption by 2035.
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Jack Johnson is laid-back — except when it comes to being green
USA Today recently published a short feature on musician Jack Johnson. Although the focus of the piece (Jack’s a mellow surfer dude from Hawaii) = not news, there is this interesting bit (emphasis mine): Johnson’s contracts require that event organizers compost and recycle at least 50 percent of the waste generated at the show and […]
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Will Gore be veep?
I was just thinking to myself, "self, the time is rapidly running out for speculating about Al Gore running for president being selected as Obama’s VP! What fun will punditry be then?" Luckily, Bob Kuttner’s got our backs: Most folks have assumed that Gore is off the VP list, but he hasn’t been slotted as […]
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On energy, survey results show public favors supply, increasingly favors Republicans
New polling from Rasmussen confirms current D.C. scuttlebutt: Republicans are winning on energy. The reason can be boiled down to this: Voters overwhelmingly want prices brought down, they’re convinced that increasing supply is the way to do that, and Republicans are the ones most vocally calling for increased supply. There’s lots in recent survey results […]
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In Arkansas, a new GMO/herbicide solution to a problem created by an old one
I’ve written a couple of times about the rise “superweeds” in the Southeast and mid-South. In Arkansas, horseweed and Palmer amaranth now choke fields planted with Monsanto’s Roundup Ready cotton and soy — engineered to withstand heavy doses of Roundup, Monsanto’s broad-spectrum herbicide. Fifteen years ago, horseweed and amaranth weren’t problem weeds. </p Back in […]
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Nearly two-thirds of Americans support offshore drilling, says poll
Nearly two-thirds of Americans support offshore drilling, if a new Rasmussen poll can be believed (and considering the phrasing of past polls, that’s arguable). The recent survey shows 64 of Americans in support of drilling offshore and 20 percent against it. John McCain was originally opposed to offshore drilling but embraced it in June; Barack […]
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The internets weigh in on drilling
A few bits and pieces from around the internets on the drilling issue. Rick Hertzberg has a piece on his New Yorker blog about arguments against drilling. He points out that most of the opportunistic Dem arguments against drilling used thus far — it’s too far out; it won’t save us; it’s gimmicky — aren’t […]
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Oil geopolitics of the Georgia pipeline
I’d like to be a fly on the wall for the upcoming talks between Condoleezza Rice and the Russian leadership. From The New York Times, May 6, 2006: A day after chastising Moscow for its use of oil and natural gas as "tools for intimidation or blackmail," Vice President Dick Cheney visited Kazakhstan on Friday […]
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