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Increased attractiveness of alternative energy is some consolation

Oil just passed the $106 mark, putting it well above the inflation-adjusted record set just a few days ago. In an earlier post, I predicted that the price of oil would go down. So far I have obviously been wrong, although I suspect that the price will decline by the end of the year since this seems awfully like a part of the greater speculative commodity bubble we are witnessing.

But putting that aside for a moment, there is one great benefit of the high price of oil that environmentalists should be celebrating: it is making alternative energy much more attractive, so much so that the high price may usher in a major wave of renewable energy projects that will, in turn, lead to greater scale economies and perhaps the mainstreaming of alternative energy. This would be a great thing.

Now for the bad part. First off, if politicians hadn't been so cowardly and short-sighted and had actually followed economists' advice for a carbon tax long ago, the high prices of energy could be funneled into tax rebates for us all or research and development for all sorts of green technologies. Instead, the money is going to the oil companies and the terrorists. Not good.

Second, the high prices of energy are leading to inflation, which is greatly complicating the Federal Reserve's ability to deal with the recession we're in (yes, it's a recession), and the effects are highly regressive, hurting the poor much more than the rich.

Overall, the high price of energy is doing some pretty bad things -- but if it can help tilt the playing field to alternative energy, this silver lining may end up being an amazing turning point in history.

Australia military will kill hundreds of kangaroos

Australia’s military will cull up to 500 wild kangaroos on a military base in the capital city of Canberra after authorities determined Friday that it would be too costly to relocate them. Officials say overgrazing ‘roos are endangering native grassland, a local lizard, and the threatened golden sun moth. A plan to shoot the animals […]

Bush raises taxes on hikers and campers, mysteriously leaving logging companies alone

Bush won't slash subsidies for raise taxes on oil companies, but he's happy to raise taxes on hikers and campers. But I'm sure Grover Norquist will hold him accountable for this apostasy.

Reeling from the high cost of fighting wildfires, federal land agencies have been imposing new fees and increasing existing ones at recreation sites across the West in an effort to raise tens of millions of dollars.

Additionally, hundreds of marginally profitable campsites and other public facilities on federal lands have been closed, and thousands more like overlooks and picnic tables are being considered for removal.

"As fire costs increase, I've got less and less money for other programs," said Dave Bull, superintendent of the Bitterroot National Forest here in Hamilton. The charge for access to Lake Como, a popular boating destination in the national forest, will be increased this year, to $5 from $2.

Since they're explaining this as fire-related, I'm sure Bush will charge the logging companies responsible for the fires for the damage they're doing to our forests and grasslands.

Solar-powered lawnmower cuts grass unsupervised

OK, it’s not really called a Lawnba. But it’s still cool: The zero-emissions Husqvarna Automower Solar Hybrid is the world’s first solar/electric hybrid robot lawnmower. … The lawnmower uses the same amount of energy as a standard light bulb and is made from 90 percent recyclable materials. … The mower cuts the grass with small […]

From Hook to Hooker

String theory Determined to save the world’s corals by hook or by slip stitch, these crafty folk are re-creating the Great Barrier Reef with yarn. Will their barrier method work? We’re on pins and needles. Photo: Alyssa Gorelick via Flickr China dolled This crackerjack artist takes broken, chipped, and otherwise unloved china and turns imperfections […]

San Francisco gets even greener

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom got jiggy with eco-measures this week. He signed into a law a requirement that the city’s taxi fleet be converted to low-emission vehicles by 2011; ordered all city departments to purchase 100 percent recycled paper and reduce overall paper use by 20 percent by 2010; and announced his support for […]

The Onion with another masterful satire

Oh, Onion. You make me laugh and want to cry: In The Know: How Can We Make The War In Iraq More Eco-Friendly?

Gary Hirshberg argues that his company is doing a lot to support organic dairy farmers

The following is a response to a post by Ed Maltby, executive director of the Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance.

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Londonderry, N.H.: These are difficult times for the organic dairy industry, and as we have demonstrated consistently for over a decade, we are deeply engaged in the effort to find solutions that balance escalating supply costs with the need to keep organic product prices within the average consumer's reach.

Stonyfield has consistently fought for farmers' interests, despite the pressures of the marketplace to reduce or hold prices for our yogurts. Over the past five years, the pay price we pay for organic milk has risen 34 percent, while Stonyfield has only raised the price of its 6-oz. yogurt 11 percent over the same period. We have endeavored to meet farmers' needs, while finding savings in other parts of our business.

The fact is, despite our supplier costs rising dramatically over recent years, we have worked hard to maintain an affordable price for the consumer. This is a very tough balancing act, but at the end of the day, the greatest thing we can do is to grow the organic segment that benefits all the players -- farmers, processors, and consumers. And Stonyfield has done just that, by converting 100 percent of our products to organic, increasing our purchases of family-farmer-supplied organic milk to over $60 million per year, and all the while investing in numerous strategies that will help our family farmers to thrive.

An interview with eco-certification expert Michael Conroy

Michael Conroy. Photo: Chris Conroy Photography As a shopper, you can’t turn around without running into some type of green label, from Fair Trade to FSC-certified. But what do they all mean, and where the hell did they even come from? Economist Michael Conroy digs into the history behind these increasingly common labels in his […]

Small-scale bike-share program to come to Capitol Hill

Thirty bicycles will be made available to government employees on Capitol Hill under a pilot bike-share program announced by U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) at a National Bike Summit Thursday. “You have such a huge concentration of people” on the Hill, he said, “and so much of the errand running doesn’t need to fire up […]