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Severe drought in U.S. Southeast leaves Atlanta water supply in question

A nasty drought in the U.S. Southeast that began in early 2006 has local politicians sweating and meteorologists and climatologists predicting more of the same. The situation is particularly notable around Atlanta, Ga., where the water source for some 3 million people, Lake Lanier, could dry up completely in as little as 90 days if […]

Chinese prez Hu Jintao promises eco-reforms in big speech

Chinese President Hu Jintao, in a speech to the country’s Communist Party Congress yesterday, promised environmental as well as economic reforms in the next five years. Shying away from specifics in his 2.5-hour speech, Hu said that China’s “ecological and environmental quality will improve notably.” He acknowledged that “[China’s] economic growth is realized at an […]

Activists threaten to sue Apple over chemicals in iPhone

Greenpeace claimed recently that Apple’s much-hyped iPhone contains dangerous levels of phthalates, chlorine, and bromine, and now another environmental group, the Center for Environmental Health in Oakland, Calif., has sent the company a formal warning claiming that Apple violated California’s Proposition 65, which requires companies to warn consumers of the risk of toxic exposure. “There […]

Al Gore’s commitment to public service in the face of cynicism

“Hey Crichton, won the Pulitzer yet?” Photo: Eric Neitzel/WireImage. I get accused of "hero worshiping" Gore, which I don’t think is right, but I do have immense respect for the guy, so I thought I’d say why. Even now, I don’t think people appreciate what a punch in the gut the 2000 election was for […]

Is the cure worse than the disease?

The ever-geekalicious Todd Litman of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute had a great take on traffic congestion a few weeks back on Planetizen.

As Litman explains, most congestion studies (such as this annual study, which always gets a lot of press) consistently overestimate the costs of congestion. But even using these relatively high estimates, the costs of congestion are pretty modest, compared with the comprehensive costs of owning and operating a car.

In fact, a quick scan of Litman's data suggests that congestion represents less than 5 percent of the total cost of car transportation.

A wonderful dinner celebrating Fergus Henderson at Manhattan’s Savoy

Fergus Henderson Photo: Savoy. To certain vegans — the sort who recently saw fit to flay a chef who supports small farmers in the middle of Iowa (see comments below Kurt Michael Friese’s wonderful piece in Grist) — Fergus Henderson will be an object of derision. Feeling "a little dented”? Henderson would prescribe a bit […]

China will relocate millions more people for Three Gorges Dam project

China may force another 2 million to 4 million people out of their homes over the next 10 to 15 years to make room for the reservoir building up behind the Three Gorges Dam — and that’s in addition to the 1.4 million citizens who have already been relocated. The “world’s biggest hydropower project” is […]

Introducing an ongoing series on the most undercovered aspect of climate change

((equity_include)) One aspect of climate change is overlooked by politicians, commentators, and big NGOs alike: equity. The suffering that climate change will bring is going to be visited primarily on the globe’s most vulnerable populations — the very people who have done the least to cause the problem. Any response to climate change that hopes […]

An interview with sustainable-food advocate Diane Hatz

Ever dreamed of eating your way across the country? This summer, Diane Hatz did just that on the Eat Well Guided Tour of America. Convinced there was more to the sustainable-food movement than met the eye (i.e., it ain’t just happening on the coasts), Hatz and her colleagues from Sustainable Table partnered with several other […]

The intelligentsia isn’t helping the public understand the urgency of the climate crisis

Why does the public largely lack a sense of urgency on climate? Maybe because most opinion leaders also lack that sense of urgency. To mark its 150th Anniversary, the Atlantic Monthly (subs. reqd) ...

... invited an eclectic group of thinkers who have had cause to consider the American idea to describe its future and the greatest challenges to it.

Now this one is real easy -- you don't have to be scientifically literate or read the work of James Hansen, you just have to have seen Al Gore's movie or maybe read Time magazine (reading the Atlantic itself is, however, no help, as previously noted).

By far the greatest challenge to the American idea (i.e., unlimited abundance, supreme optimism about the future, global moral leadership, and our special place in the world -- OK, that one's a bit tarnished already -- is global warming.

In fact, if we don't adopt something close to Barack Obama's extraordinary climate plan within the next few years -- and I suspect conservatives will block such an ambitious, albeit necessary, approach as too "big-government" -- then global warming will destroy the American idea, perhaps for a millennium or more.

Global warming means we move from great abundance to oppressive scarcity, from optimism to pessimism (especially if we cross carbon-cycle tipping points that cause an accelerating greenhouse effect in the second half of this century), and finally, as I wrote in my book:

For decades, the United States has been the moral, economic, and military leader of the free world. What will happen when we end up in Planetary Purgatory, facing 20 or more feet of sea level rise, and the rest of the world blames our inaction and obstructionism, blames the wealthiest nation on Earth for refusing to embrace even cost-effective solutions that could spare the planet from millennia of misery? The indispensable nation will become a global pariah.

The Atlantic assembled a who's who of the intelligentsia -- who in the main, though very thoughtful, just don't get it: