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Senate committee considers mining reform, not all that into it

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing yesterday on mining reform, indicating unwillingness to overhaul 136-year-old U.S. mining policy anywhere near as much as would a House of Representatives bill passed this fall. Senators seemed generally open to creating a cleanup fund and placing royalties on new mines, but key lawmakers from […]

Friday music blogging: The Avett Brothers

Last week I mentioned Southern rock as one of the things I’d spurned in my youthful rejection of my native culture, only to rediscover and appreciate it as an adult. A similarly inclined reader wrote in to recommend the Avett Brothers, a band out of North Carolina (not rock, per se, but quite Southern in […]

Scientists will study coral in this International Year of the Reef

If you were wondering what that odd smell is in the air, it’s because 2008 is the International Year of the Reefer. Oh, wait, we read that wrong. The reef — it’s the International Year of the Reef. Ahem. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) says that warming seas and increased hurricanes affected more than half […]

An interview with Rory Freedman, coauthor of vegan manifesto Skinny Bitch

It would be impossible to make it through an entire lunch with Rory Freedman without realizing this simple truth: The bitch loves food. Excuse my language — or actually, don’t. Freedman wouldn’t say it any other way. Rory Freedman (left), with coauthor Kim Barnouin. Photo: Tim VanOrden After all, she and former model Kim Barnouin […]

From Cool to Cooler

If this is thong, I don’t want to be right Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen is all wet … in a sandal ad that’s raising awareness about water use. She’s H2O-so-hot, that dress might evaporate right off her. What a waste. Photo: Ipanema Gisele Bündchen Out of the mouths of bags Couldn’t have said it better […]

McCain’s doubletalk express on global warming

If you think Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is a straight-talking, courageous politician on the issue of global warming, watch this jaw-dropping clip from last night's Republican presidential debate:

The transcript is online, so we can go through McCain's entire Orwellian answer to moderator Tim Russert. [Note: This was following a question to Giuliani about the global warming threat to Florida and his opposition to mandatory caps, which I'll briefly discuss at the end.] Russert said, correctly:

Senator McCain, you are in favor of mandatory caps.

And, as you've seen, McCain immediately answers:

No, I'm in favor of cap-and-trade. And Joe Lieberman and I, one of my favorite Democrats and I, have proposed that -- and we did the same thing with acid rain.

And all we are saying is, "Look, if you can reduce your greenhouse gas emissions, you earn a credit. If somebody else is going to increase theirs, you can sell it to them." And, meanwhile, we have a gradual reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Orange County opens recycled-water plant

A sewage reclamation plant officially opened today in Orange County, Calif., and will, sure enough, reclaim treated effluent and turn it into drinking water. Recognizing that its growing population — currently 2.3 million — is likely to outpace its supply of fresh water, O.C. is relying on the facility to turn 70 million gallons of […]

Climate change is as much a social priority as an environmental concern

Climate change is a universal menace, threatening hardships for everyone. But it's not an egalitarian menace: everyone will not suffer equally. Perversely, those people and nations least to blame for causing it are most vulnerable to its impacts.

Climate disruption heaps misfortune on the less fortunate, whether in low-lying Bangladesh, the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, or the flood plains around Chehalis, Wash. In the aftermath of climate change, the less you have, the more you're likely to lose.

Groups sue for protections of giant lily-scented worm

Green groups have followed through on their pledge to sue the federal government to gain protections for everyone’s favorite three-foot-long, deep-burrowing, prone-to-spit, pinkish-white, lily-scented endangered species: the Palouse earthworm.

Details on the EPA chief overruling his staff on California tailpipe emissions

We have known for weeks that the EPA administrator overruled his staff when announced late last year that the EPA was denying California's application to regulate vehicle greenhouse-gas emissions.

Now we have the details of the PowerPoint presentation that the EPA's legal and technical staff made to Johnson, thanks to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). At the end, I'll reprint a letter from the Terminator (and 13 other governors) sent to the EPA. As reported today by the S.F. Chronicle:

In the presentation last year, EPA staffers wrote that California could clearly demonstrate "compelling and extraordinary conditions" -- the legal definition under the Clean Air Act that requires EPA to approve regulations set by the state.

"California continues to have compelling and extraordinary conditions in general (geography, climatic, human and motor vehicle populations -- many such conditions are vulnerable to climate change conditions) as confirmed by several recent EPA decisions," the staff wrote.

The staffers also told Johnson that climate scientists at the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had concluded California was at greater risk from the impacts of global warming than other states, which could justify the tougher rules.

"California exhibits a greater number of key impact concerns than other regions," they wrote. The staffers listed all the risks that could prove the state's case -- from potential water shortages to rising sea levels affecting coastal communities to health threats from air pollution.

"Wildfires are increasing," which could "generate particulates that can exacerbate health risk," they wrote. "California has the greatest variety of ecosystems in the U.S.; and the most threatened and endangered species in the continental U.S."

Nice to see the EPA staff gets this issue, even if their boss and the White House don't. The story notes: