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Friday music blogging: My Morning Jacket

The first few albums from My Morning Jacket were haunting, twangy gems that sprang from their Kentucky roots. The Tennessee Fire and At Dawn were so reverby and echo-laden they sounded like they were recorded in an abandoned grain silo … because they were. I had the band tucked away in my mental CD shelf […]

Science: Geo-engineering scheme damages the ozone layer

Science has published a major new study, "The Sensitivity of Polar Ozone Depletion to Proposed Geoengineering Schemes" ($ub. req'd). The study finds:

The large burden of sulfate aerosols injected into the stratosphere by the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 cooled Earth and enhanced the destruction of polar ozone in the subsequent few years. The continuous injection of sulfur into the stratosphere has been suggested as a "geoengineering" scheme to counteract global warming. We use an empirical relationship between ozone depletion and chlorine activation to estimate how this approach might influence polar ozone. An injection of sulfur large enough to compensate for surface warming caused by the doubling of atmospheric CO2 would strongly increase the extent of Arctic ozone depletion during the present century for cold winters and would cause a considerable delay, between 30 and 70 years, in the expected recovery of the Antarctic ozone hole.

Of course, this geo-engineering scheme has lots of other problems. An earlier study noted:

Amnesty International: forced labor in Brazil’s sugarcane fields

As the case for corn-based ethanol unravels, a lot of pundits and green-minded investors have settled on a new panacea: ethanol from sugar cane, which thrives in the tropics. Thomas Friedman has been blustering about it for years now; Richard Branson recently hinted he might start investing in it. Sugarcane is a deeply ironic crop […]

Obama & Clinton shill for coal in Montana

The Flathead Beacon in Montana pinned down interviews with both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton ahead of the state’s Tuesday primary. The paper asked questions on domestic oil and gas drilling, the preservation of public lands, and coal. The whole thing is interesting, but the candidates’ responses on coal were the most notable: Q: But […]

Obama says climate and energy would be top priorities at start of his admin

It’s a bit buried here, but Marc Ambinder notes that at a fundraiser in Denver on Wednesday night, Barack Obama said his first-100-day priorities would include sending a “signal to the world” on energy and climate change. Wish that were a bit more specific, but hey, at least it’s in there.

Snippets from the news

• Canada launches its first emissions-trading market. • Hybrid drivers worry about replacing the battery. • Nano-towel can soak up oil spills. • World Bank stepping up efforts to address food crisis. • Is water becoming the new oil?

Implications of the study linking childhood lead exposure and adult criminality

A study just published in the journal PLoS Medicine (and written up in the L.A. Times) suggests a link between childhood lead exposure and adult arrests for violent crimes. Studying 250 adults for whom they had prenatal and childhood blood lead level measurements, University of Cincinnati researchers found that each 5-microgram-per-deciliter increase in blood lead levels at age 6 was associated with a nearly 50 percent increased risk of arrest as a young adult (the risk ratio was 1.48).

The good news is that overall, U.S. children's blood lead levels have dropped dramatically since manufacturers started phasing lead out of paint and gasoline in the mid-1970s. The bad news is that 40 percent of the nation's housing still contains lead-based paint, and hundreds of thousands of children still have blood lead levels associated with neurological problems.

When we as a society consider whether to regulate hazardous substances, we need to remember that allowing their continued use can have severe consequences. The lead saga demonstrates that even when environmental and health advocates succeed in getting hazardous substances out of consumer products, the damage can be extremely costly and long-lasting.

WSJ: ‘Fungus strain menaces global wheat crop’

I hate to sound like a broken record, but remember in the winter, when a fertilizer magnate warned that the world faced the threat of famine if any major crop didn’t do well? The magnate was William Doyle, CEO of a company that has aptly been dubbed the “Saudi Arabia of Fertilizer,” Potash Corp. of […]

LCV urges prez candidates to be leaders on climate bill

The League of Conservation Voters just issued a statement on John McCain’s plans to skip out on next week’s voting on the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act. Spokespeople for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have said they aren’t sure whether the candidates will make it back to the Hill to vote. Here’s LCV’s official statement: “Surely, […]

More employees encouraged to telecommute, work short weeks

Employers across the country are offering workers the option to telecommute or work a four-day week to help cut down on fuel costs. Compressed work weeks are particularly attractive to employees who work in places without reliable mass transit — especially since a 10-hour day can mean coming in early and leaving late enough to […]