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Details on Bush’s anti-efficiency budget

Bush's phony rhetoric from the State of the Union:

The United States is committed to strengthening our energy security and confronting global climate change, and the best way to meet these goals is for America to continue leading the way toward the development of cleaner and more energy-efficient technology.

His actual energy-efficiency budget, summarized by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute executive director, Carol Werner (my previous post on the budget is here):

Oregon coast coho salmon re-listed as threatened

Coho salmon off the Oregon coast have been re-listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Yesterday’s move was compelled by a court-ordered deadline mandating that the NOAA Fisheries Service reconsider its 2006 decision to delist the coho because it wasn’t based on the best available science. The Oregon coastal coho stock has been the […]

EPA set to kibosh Mississippi Delta boondoggle

Successive presidential administrations -- including the current one -- have tried to rein in the Army Corps of Engineers and its projects, which are mostly known for their tangy combination of high cost, arguable utility, and disregard for the environment. Tried -- and largely failed, thanks to the level-10 force fields erected by congresscritters who covet the flood of Corps project dollars into their districts.

So it's startling and welcome news that apparently, the EPA is initiating the process to veto a massive Corps project known as the Yazoo Pumps.

Chukchi Sea oil lease auction goes ahead, polar-bear concerns ignored

The U.S. Interior Department is auctioning off oil and gas leases on Wednesday to drill in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea, despite opposition from environmentalists and some Democrats in Congress concerned about the impact on polar bears. The Chukchi Sea, off Alaska’s northern coast, is prime polar-bear habitat and advocates worry that already-stressed bear populations will fare […]

The green take on Super-Duper Tuesday

Coming out of Super Tuesday’s primaries and caucuses in 22 states, the Republicans are looking ever more likely to nominate their most eco-conscious candidate, John McCain, who was the big GOP winner of the day. But green issues don’t seem to have played much if any role in the Republican voting, and McCain didn’t reference […]

Grist strives to be your #650,871st source of breaking primary news

OK, well … here we go! Consider this the Super Tuesday catch-all thread — share your news, opinions, brickbats, and whatnot in comments. Obama kicks things off with a huge win in Georgia. UPDATE: Obama has taken Delaware and Illinois. Clinton has taken Arkansas, Tennessee, Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey. McCain’s won Delaware, Connecticut, […]

The green tax credits are good ideas, but not good stimulus ideas

So, maybe you've heard: the economy looks like it might be headed for the tank. You may have also noticed that there's an election this year. That means it must be time for a stimulus package on Capitol Hill. No one up there wants to head into reelection with rising unemployment, a rash of foreclosures, and falling incomes on their hands, without at least looking like they're doing something about it. So there's a rush on the Hill to get a "stimulus package" out the door to help boost the economy ASAP.

Cynicism aside, I think this is a good thing. People are suffering, and if the government can do something about it, why shouldn't they? It sometimes seems like heresy these days, but I tend to think it's what we pay them to do.

The problem is that some of the stimulus proposals floating around, including ones by our green friends (see Josh Dorner's post for example), are not very good stimulus policies. It's not that any of these ideas are bad. Most of them are downright good. Excellent, even. The problem is that almost none of them can be remotely classified as stimulus.

Here's the problem, or at least one of them: Since World War II, the average recession has lasted just 11 months. Add the fact that it takes a fair bit of time (anywhere from 3 to 6 months) before we even recognize that we're in a recession. Add still more time to decide what to do about it, and more time on top of that for whatever we decide to do to actually have an effect, and you see the problem. Even for the quickest policy approach, we could be solidly 7 months into an 11 month recession before we can have any impact.

There is a very short window for policy to stimulate the economy. If we don't act fast enough, the policy won't take effect soon enough to help anyone. If we're late enough, the policy ends up hitting the economy when it's on the upswing, and instead of smoothing out the business cycle, we end up contributing to it.

Wind-power technicians are in high demand

As the wind industry experiences a huge boom, trained technicians are in high demand. Wind techs must have smarts in mechanics, hydraulics, computers, and meteorology — and, of course, not be afraid of heights. The relatively new industry’s oldest independent training programs aren’t even five years old, and the industry is hustling to support training […]

Don’t let Wal-Mart’s greenish diversions distract you

The following is a guest essay by Alex Goldschmidt, online editor at Wal-Mart Watch.

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Wal-Mart has been trying its hardest to distract its environmental critics. In a carefully orchestrated act of diversion, the company shows off its skylights and light bulb sales. In doing so, Wal-Mart has managed to draw attention away from the other, deeper environmental problems lying at the heart of the company's business model.

Wal-Mart's public relations efforts help hide the fact that despite all its talk, the company isn't any greener than it was in 2005 when it laid out a series of company-wide environmental initiatives. The fact remains that Wal-Mart's energy use is still rising. Until the company significantly reduces the amount of energy used to earn a dollar, its sustainability initiatives remain fundamentally flawed. Several aspects of the company's basic business model hinder this kind of comprehensive change:

How to green your love life

Skyrockets in flight … but is it an eco-friendly delight? Photo: iStockphoto Ahhh, the bedroom: an oasis of pleasure, a place where terms like “emissions reduction” and “off-gassing” should never intrude. Not that environmentalism and sex don’t mix. It’s just that lying back and thinking about things like CO2 and carcinogens isn’t exactly … hot. […]