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Hear a Grist clip of the Inconvenient Truth opera

Re: the Inconvenient Truth opera that will open in 2011. Hilarious: NYT‘s John Tierney shares a letter from opera composer Giorgio Battistelli to Al Gore about creative differences. Listen Play An Inconvenient Opera Hilarious-er: Grist’s own Tod(d) Hymas Samkara shares his vision for the opera (from the June 5 podcast). Huge thanks to Production Intern […]

A test of six green dish soaps

Clean for a day. Ah, dish duty. Who hasn’t ignored it, dreaded it, rock-paper-scissored over it? But there comes a time in each eater’s life when dishes must be done. Happily, today’s generation of eco-detergents makes it a less-toxic task than in the past — though not completely pure. When I set out to test […]

Yet another climate bill introduced in the House; greens applaud

Since climate change legislation failed to gather steam in the Senate this month, all eyes are now on the House. Energy and Commerce Committee Chair John Dingell (D-Mich.) has been promising a bill for months. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), chair of the Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming, put out an ambitious bill in […]

McCain calls for offshore drilling, renewables, and conservation in energy speech

Republican presidential candidate John McCain tried to pack something for everyone into a big energy speech yesterday, saying the U.S. needs more conservation and renewables as well as more oil drilling, oil refineries, “clean-burning coal,” and nuclear power plants. He called for ending a federal moratorium on offshore oil drilling, but reiterated his opposition to […]

McCain adviser on oil drilling in ecologically sensitive areas

McCain adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin held a press call with reporters tonight after the candidate’s energy speech in Houston. One particularly interesting question came up: A reporter asked why, if McCain thinks people who live in coastal states should decide whether to allow drilling off their shores, that view doesn’t extend to the Arctic National Wildlife […]

McCain’s free pass

Great post from Hilzoy over at Obsidian Wings, starting with McCain’s confused statements on climate change, moving out to McCain’s confused statements on other matters of policy, and asking: why is no one in the mainstream media covering this? Why is McCain allowed to get away with it?

Snippets from the news

• How do religious leaders address high gas prices? • Portland and New York City try out no-car zones. • U.S. supermarkets not doing enough to protect fish. • Tory leader David Cameron won’t back off the green. • Brazil environment minister backs Amazon soy ban. • Japan says carbon-emissions goals won’t be made at […]

White House decides to check in on environment

A mere 2,705 days after President George W. Bush was inaugurated, the White House has decided to check in on how the environment is doing. Four federal agencies have been directed to develop environmental indicators that will ostensibly be used to analyze national trends and evaluate policies. The first project, which won’t be released until […]

DOD slows condemning research into its polluting behavior

Back in April, a Government Accountability Office report explained how the White House Office of Management and Budget was holding up the EPA's Integrated Risk Information System assessments. According to GAO, the OMB started requiring an "interagency review" process allowing agencies that might be affected by the IRIS assessments to provide comments on the documents. As a result, some of these outside agencies can effectively block completion of IRIS assessments, which inform federal environmental standards and many environmental protection programs at local, state, and even international levels.

The GAO explained that this interagency review process came about because the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, and NASA were upset about how EPA was addressing "controversial" chemicals such as perchlorate, napthalene, and trichlorethylene (TCE). These departments and agencies view these hazardous substances as "integral to their missions." IRIS assessments could lead to regulatory actions that will require lots of protection and clean-up spending by the responsible agencies.

Last week, the House Committee on Science and Technology's Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight held its second hearing on the IRIS process. One witness was particularly vocal about DOD's foot-dragging on TCE.

The all-powerful talk-show host ends her vegan cleanse

Well, Oprah is no longer a caffeine-free, sugar-free, gluten-free vegan. She says her “21-day cleanse” has been “enlightening.” I will forever be a more cautious and conscious eater. That’s my commitment for now. To stay awakened. Hopefully along the way she’s also enlightened some of her million-bajillion faithful followers.