Latest Articles
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Climate denier contradicts self, facts, remains famous
So Kansas state House member Larry Powell has sent a copy of Fred Singer's lame denier treatise, Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1,500 Years, to every Kansas legislator. Of course, he sent one to Governor Sebelius, who denied a permit for two large coal-fired power plants in his home county.
Since I've been blogging regularly on Kansas, Kansas reporter Sarah Kessinger called me Friday for my opinion on Singer's book and what legislators should do to become informed on climate. The book has been widely debunked -- see this post on RealClimate.The most absurd thing about the book is that ... wait for it ... the Earth wasn't actually in a warm trend -- unstoppable or otherwise -- 1500 years ago! (Yes, during the Medieval Warm Period, parts of the earth were a bit warmer, but that peaked [below current temperatures] 1,000 years ago.) I thought the reporter would like that fact:
"I don't think there's anybody in the scientific community who takes Fred Singer seriously," said Joseph Romm, a Washington scientist and author. Romm said the 1,500-year cycle theory isn't possible considering the earth wasn't in a warming trend 1,500 years ago.
Duh! I mean, seriously: Every book contains at least a few small errors, but most real scientists, heck, even most global warming deniers try to avoid putting egregious factual mistakes in the title of the book. That is a pretty good sign you can skip the contents.
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A picture worth many thousands of words
This ranks up there (and could have been included) with Bill Maher's terrific book, When you ride alone, you ride with Bin Laden.
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‘Green empire’ like ‘military intelligence’
Sustainability is not compatible with empire.
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Direct and value-added marketing in the farm bill
This is the last installment of a five-part series of farm bill fact sheets from the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. For additional information about the status of sustainable agriculture priorities in the House and Senate versions of the farm bill, please check out SAC's farm bill progress chart.
Farm Bill "conference" negotiations are underway at the staff level. Please call your Senators and Representative today and tell them what you want to see in the final Farm Bill!
Increasing consumer demand for healthy, sustainably-produced food and agricultural products from local and regional markets has great potential to improve farm income. However, tremendous challenges stand in the way of producers satisfying these consumer preferences, in part because federal policies and programs have been slow to respond.
A number of grassroots farmer and consumer organizations have been working to ensure that the final farm bill includes increased funding for direct market and value-added enterprise opportunities, and the removal of the prohibition on interstate sale of meat products processed in state-inspected plants. Greater federal support for these programs in the 2008 Farm Bill will help a larger number of consumers access good food and allow more producers to stay on the land.
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Floatovoltaics
Land is -- and will always be -- expensive. Which is why someone should take this, and combine it with this. They could even sell the electricity back to DWR, whic uses an incredible amount of it to pump LA's drinking water up and over the Tehachapis. And if DWR would allow project developers to monetize the water savings from avoided evaporative loss, project economics would be even better.
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Clinton and Romney win in Nevada; McCain wins in South Carolina
Hillary Clinton beat Barack Obama to win the Democratic caucuses in Nevada on Saturday, getting 51 percent of the vote compared to Obama’s 45 (and John Edwards‘ dismal 4). The economy was the top concern among Nevada voters surveyed, but the environment may have played a role too. Clinton tried to gain an edge in […]
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Your weekend in caucuses
CNN is calling Nevada for Clinton and Romney. South Carolina is still going, but early reports tell of a Huckabee surge. UPDATE: NYT sez of Nevada: Clinton 51, Obama 45, Edwards 4 (ouch); Romney 53, Paul 13, McCain 13, Thompson 8, Huckabee 8, Giuliani 5 (ouch). UPDATE: Buzz has it that Clinton won by overwhelming […]
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Coal front group pouring millions into targeted disinformation campaign
Speaking of reasons climate legislation is going to be impossible this year: It’s good to see the Washington Post pick up on the coal industry’s massive lobbying effort. The focus is Americans for Balanced Energy Choices (ABEC), which we’ve discussed before. WaPo’s Steven Mufson uncovered a few details. Right now, ABEC is spending $1.3 million […]
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Sonar gets presidential pardon, seas more violent
Citing national security, President Bush exempted the U.S. Navy from a judge's order to cease sonar use in areas frequented by marine mammals ...
... the National Marine Fisheries Service said that the Atlantic white marlin did not meet requirements to be included on the Endangered Species List ...
... a report by the U.K. Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership found that seas around the U.K. were becoming more violent, thanks to rising water levels and increased carbon dioxide ...
... a Japanese whaling ship detained two activists that were accused of throwing acid and illegally boarding their vessel ...
