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Maybe get filthy rich

Now that the U.S. housing market has cooled off, American investors are looking to the Chinese coal industry. Another risky proposition, but for different reasons.

As China's appetite for coal is booming, American investors and businesses are cashing in.

American pension and mutual fund money is being invested in the Chinese coal industry ...

"In general, they're doing a very smart thing," said Mike Tian, an analyst with independent investment research company Morningstar. "That's where the money is."

Alaska oil-tax bribery scandal widens, may include members of Congress

For the last year or so, ugly truths about Alaskan politics have been oozing into the limelight as state and federal officials unravel a scandal involving cash bribes, an oil tax, bowling scores, and sleeping pills. Yes, you heard us right: an oil tax! The founder of an oil-field services company pled guilty this spring […]

Delusional Beltway optimism about energy

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a seminar hosted by several departments at the University of Texas on the topic of "peak oil." The occasion was the visit of David Sundalow of the Brookings Institution, who is hawking his new book Freedom from Oil. This was mutually convenient for him and the university, which is trying to carve out a position as an optimistic, rolled-up-sleeves, can-do problem-solver in the fields of energy and water.

I have no objection to that approach and am pleased to be somewhat distantly associated with it. That said, I did not leave the event with great enthusiasm for Sundalow's book. It was worthwhile in that it drew for me a sharp distinction between can-do optimism and unrealistic, delusional optimism.

I think a train wreck of development, energy, food, environment, and warfare, all driven by a hugely overpopulated planet, is going to be very hard to avoid. I think we can avoid it, and even when I am pessimistic I whistle a happy tune and act as if we can avoid it -- because without optimism there is no hope. Optimism is a moral imperative. That said, it needs to be reality-based optimism. Sometimes the things we want to work aren't the things that are going to work.

Priorities

Here’s a nice little graph showing U.S. R&D spending in various types of energy compared to spending in Iraq for 2007 (click on the image for background): This is what we, collectively, deem important.

Public transit will be necessary for CO2 reductions

At the end of October, both New Jersey Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg and, believe it or not, Mississippi Republican Senator Trent Lott, passed their cosponsored bill in the Senate to allocate $1.9 billion per year for six years to expand passenger rail in the U.S. According to Parade magazine (yes, the one that's inserted into Sunday newspapers), the main goal is "to develop high-speed, short-haul rail corridors modeled on the European city-to-city routes. They could run between Washington, D.C., and Charlotte, N.C.; Portland and Seattle; Chicago and Detroit; Miami and Jacksonville, Fla." In addition, the Senate wants to give Amtrak a solid long-term financial foundation. (Imagine!)

The same Parade article, entitled "A better way to travel," extols the benefits of rail:

Many transportation experts insist that the best answer to transportation gridlock is efficient intercity rail travel. Trains use one-fifth less energy than cars or planes ... Amtrak ridership was up for the fifth year in a row, reaching record levels -- despite the fact that a third of trains arrived late last year ... Severe weather will further add to the transportation turmoil, leading travelers to look for alternatives to air travel.

And what about global warming? The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) released a report in September 2007, "Public Transportation's Contribution to Greenhouse Gas Reduction" which directly addresses the issue. According to their calculations, public transit, use saves 37 percent of the CO2 that would have been emitted had private transportation been used (19.2 million metric tons, including traffic congestion) instead of public transit ( 12.3 million metric tons). And that's including a lot of diesel-powered trains and buses.

Thousands of gallons of oil spill in San Francisco Bay and Black Sea, and more

Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: Gnarly Sheen It Takes a Spillage to Raze the Wild The Suit of Damocles The Yay of the Land Barreling Ahead Capitol and Trade Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: It’s the Agronomy, Stupid Kitty Twister Smolder and Wiser

Six of world’s eight bear species under threat of extinction

Pop quiz: Can you name the world’s eight bear species? (Answer: American black, Asiatic black, brown, polar, panda, sun, sloth, and Andean. Gummy and Care are not acceptable answers.) Six of those eight are under threat of extinction, as the sun bear today joined four of its bear-ethren in the “vulnerable” classification on the World […]

My search for organic amber spirits turned up only Scotch

On Grist, we’ve written about organic beer, organic wine, and organic vodka. But what about those of us whose heritage has left them with a deep and abiding love of the amber spirits? Are there eco versions of Irish, scotch, and bourbon whiskey available to us green-minded drunkards? I decided to investigate a bit, and […]

Don’t let Big Meat slaughter the packer ban

Note: An earlier version of this post appeared briefly Friday. I pulled it down because of a misunderstanding involving a leaked document. I’ve deleted references to the document in this post, but hope to be able to post about it soon. In the debate over the Senate ag committee’s farm bill version, a key facet […]

Exercise can combat both obesity and global warming, says CDC

Americans facing the triple threat of climate change, obesity, and what-can-I-do-ness can tackle all three by walking or biking instead of driving — even if just for a half-hour per day — and eating less red meat. So says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is considering public promotion of everyday exercise as […]