Latest Articles
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It’s coming soon
Technology Review has an article on thin-film solar, mostly focusing on First Solar. This stuff is very, very close to competitive with conventional solar panels and on a clear path to being competitive with traditional fossil-based electricity sources. It’s an exciting time. Speaking of solar excitement: A team at the Univ. of Delaware has just […]
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His new piece says so in downright shrill terms
Jeff Goodell (see Grist interview) is apparently incapable of writing anything I don’t love. The latest is a piece in Rolling Stone called "Ethanol Scam." It’s downright shrill! Here’s what Goodell has to say about the ethanol hype: This is not just hype — it’s dangerous, delusional bullshit. Ethanol doesn’t burn cleaner than gasoline, nor […]
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Pombo’s old hack buddy, still at it
At the behest of the U.S. delegation, the U.N. World Heritage Committee is taking Everglades National Park off its list of endangered sites, against the advice of the committee’s science advisors and the advice of the U.S. National Park Service. Who is the head of the U.S. delegation? Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior Todd […]
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Learn to look down the ballot — waaaaaay down
Here's a story that's all too common:
Right-wing dominated court; likes to pat itself on the back for being a "strict constructionalist" court that, regardless of its own justices' preferences, follows the commands of the legislature expressed in the plain words of the statutes. No "judge-made law" here, just the power of the people expressed through their elected representatives.
Except not.
Michigan's Environmental Policy Act gave "any person" the right to sue over environmental damages, allowing people to act as citizen attorneys-general because, as the pols in the 1970s recognized, elected AGs and appointed state bureaucrats often aren't actually all that interested in confronting contribution-wielding polluters.
So, this year, the Michigan Supreme Court GOP majority took off its strict constructionalist hat and donned its liberal interpretation hat to decide that, well, "any person" doesn't mean what you might think it means.
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Should we be surprised?
This post was written by Kari, the ClimateProgress assistant.
A year and a half overdue, the Bush Administration finally submitted its Climate Action Report -- 2006 (CAR) last Friday afternoon, with hardly any mention by government officials of the report or its shameful findings (like a 15.8 percent increase in U.S. emissions since 1990).
While the mainstream media has been either silent or blind to the report's release, major kudos are due to the blogosphere. The few adept, new media journalists to blog on the report include Kevin Grandia from DeSmogBlog and Rick Piltz at Climate Science Watch.
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Stupid on smart meters
Southern California Edison wants to distribute smart meters to its customers. That’s a great idea. Consumer group Utility Reform Network is fighting it. That is, as Kevin says, immeasurably stupid. Argh.
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Now that’s a 12-step program
A hopeful press release touting an even more hopeful (wishful?) report:
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How many are there in your state?
Via Modeshift, check out the Factory Farm Map, which shows the location of factory farms in the U.S. by state and by county. Here in Washington we have a relatively low eight. Sorry to all you folks in Iowa, where there are 3,876. That’s a lot!
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The latest from Congress
The Washington Post reports today:
Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) claims to have rounded up about 200 votes for an amendment raising fuel economy standards, while the Energy and Commerce Committee chairman, John D. Dingell (Mich.) and 50 other Democrats have signed on to a weaker version ... But yesterday, Pelosi said the bill was not likely to address fuel economy at all, postponing the issue until a conference committee reconciles House and Senate energy bills in September ...
Pelosi is eager to avoid a breach with the powerful Dingell, who opposes the Markey amendment and whose committee will handle many important pieces of legislation, including health care. The United Auto Workers union and automakers have also lobbied against the Markey measure.Unfortunately for the nation and the planet, Dingell is working to make fuel economy standards and serious action on climate as politically unpalatable as possible with a classic poison pill strategy:
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