Latest Articles
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Friday music blogging: Fleet Foxes
The headline from The Stranger‘s feature story on Fleet Foxes tells the story: Fleet Foxes Are Not Hippies Don’t Let the Floppy Hats, Jesus Beards, and Five-Part Vocal Harmonies About Rivers, Trees, and Sunshine Throw You Ha. The first time I heard the band, they came up on shuffle and I thought it was the […]
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The agency cravenly stops measuring the poisons used in U.S. farming
The USDA’s “Agricultural Chemical Use Database” is a wonderful thing. With a few clicks, consumers, researchers, and anyone else kind find all manner of information on pesticides, broken down by crop and by state. As an agriculture writer, I have an interest in industrial corn, by far our biggest crop. With a simple search, I […]
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Coal industry launches full-scale attack against climate legislation
Originally posted at the Wonk Room.
The coal-industry front group American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity has launched a major lobbying campaign against the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act. ACCCE claims it is opposed to Lieberman-Warner because it "does not adequately embrace" their "principles" and raises "just too many unanswered questions."Principles: ACCCE's 12 principles [PDF] for federal legislation boil down to demands that they be allowed to construct new, uncontrolled coal-fired power plants until taxpayers pony up unlimited amounts of money for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology. That's not a statement of principles -- it's a ransom note.
Lieberman-Warner, named for its two co-sponsors Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John Warner (R-Va.), would allow the United States to join the rest of the world in combatting climate change by setting a firm limit on carbon emissions while providing support to low-income families. However, the bill also makes significant concessions to polluters, particularly the coal industry:
- The bill calls for reductions in greenhouse emissions that are insufficient to avoid climate catastrophe.
- The bill gives a windfall of emissions permits to polluters, instead of auctioning all permits [PDF].
- The bill promises over $300 billion directly to coal polluters.
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Jason Mraz sings the praises of a simpler life
Jason Mraz is strumming up support for sustainability. Jason Mraz may still be the geek in the pink, but these days, the pop-rock-rhymer is hoping to distance himself from his cigarette-puffin’, girl-chasin’ past and move toward a simpler, more sustainable life. Since returning from his Mr. A-Z tour two years ago, Mraz has focused his […]
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From Oprah to Okra
The color green Oprah Winfrey has gone meat-free, and she’s using the “V word.” No, we’re not talking “vajayjay” … we’re talking “vegan.” Consider this news tops on our list of Favorite Things. Photo: E. Charbonneau/WireImage.com Meat lovers need not apply Single green seeking same for two awkward minutes of eco-chat over generous doses of […]
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CO2 released from disappearing permafrost must be factored into climate projections
What is the point of no return for the climate -- the level of CO2 concentrations beyond which catastrophic outcomes are virtually unstoppable?
No one knows for sure, but my vote goes for the point at which we start to lose a substantial fraction of the tundra's carbon to the atmosphere -- substantial being 0.1 percent per year! As we saw in my last post, frozen away in the permafrost is more carbon than the atmosphere currently contains (and much of that is in the form of methane, a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide).
What is the point of no return for the tundra? A major 2005 study ($ub. req'd) led by NCAR climate researcher David Lawrence found that virtually the entire top 11 feet of permafrost around the globe could disappear by the end of this century.
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Stop the presses!
A report put together by the National Coal Council finds that coal is essential and it’s not going anywhere and reducing coal use would mean the widespread death of puppies and cute children but the full-scale use of all available coal will lead to a country infused by pony spirits!
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House passes Defense authorization bill, includes various climate-related elements
The House passed ($ub. req’d) the defense authorization bill for 2009 last night, and there were several climate and energy-related components included. One amendment modifies part of last year’s energy bill that forbids federal agencies from purchasing alternative or synthetic fuels that have higher lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions than conventional petroleum. Amendment sponsor Rep. Dan […]
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Snippets from the news
• Super-acidic ocean water found near coasts. • Sunscreen threatens coral. • U.S. and Canada make deal on salmon. • Germany bans pesticides after honeybee deaths. • Disney recalls sleeping bags, magic wands over lead paint. • America’s ten most imperiled wildlife refuges. • San Francisco green-building plan said to be costly. • E.U. to […]
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A video on the great coal myth
The new but already-going-gangbusters Washington Independent has teamed up with the also new and also gangbusters American News Project to put together a video called "How clean is clean coal?" Good stuff:
