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The WSJ asks and answers

As home-appliance technology continues to move toward the energy-efficient (and brightly colored), more and more consumers are looking to replace their old appliances. But is it really an upgrade? No, says Jeanine Van Voorhees, who spent $1,000 on a new energy-saving washer only to find that it coughs up dingy, cat-hair-covered clothes. "I curse that […]

If you only read one book, pick this one

For years I've been looking for one book to recommend to people who want to get up to speed on what's happening in clean technology. I have finally found it: The Clean Tech Revolution: The Next Big Growth and Investment Opportunity, by Ron Pernick and Clint Wilder.

It is the only book I've seen that covers the whole gamut of the latest in clean energy -- including such cutting-edge areas as concentrating solar power and microalgae -- and isn't swept up in fads like hydrogen cars.

I was a bit worried when the index didn't have an entry for either "hybrids" or "plug-in hybrids," but that is only because the index is quite lame. In fact, the book "gets" plug-in hybrids, which I consider the acid test of any clean-energy book today.

YearlyKos: I’m ugly and boring

Hilarious. I was interviewed, briefly and randomly, by the Talking Points Memo guys, who were wandering around YearlyKos (and related parties) doing short video clips. Their video coverage is here. Apparently I was so boring I didn’t make the cut. Guess it’s true what they say: I’ve got a face for blogging!

Listen up

I thought, as a final post on Yearly Kos (about which I fear my posts are woefully inadequate — it really was a fascinating sociopolitical event, worthy of better analysis than I’m able to give it — read Ezra Klein’s wrap-up), I’d recap in somewhat more elaborate terms what I said at my global warming […]

Bush to host climate summit in D.C., and more

Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: Freight Fright Dream a Little Ream of Me Fencing Match We Could’ve Sworn Someone Was Already Working On That Prints: Not Charming Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: How Green Is Your Candidate? Desert Flowers Getting Sloshed Salt of the Earth

Cool commentary on a hot topic

Awhile ago I made a lame post pointing to a really cool page in Mother Jones that actually wasn't online yet. Well, it's up now, so if you were one of the two people who tried to see it, you can go visit MoJo now and check it out.

One more Grist layer on that fatty internet sandwich

Like the title says, Grist is now on the social music network Last.fm! We haven't gotten into releasing our own music (yet ... ) but our two most recent weekly podcasts are up there. More importantly, if you're a fan of Last.fm you should definitely scrobble the Grist podcast every time you listen to it. We want to see those listening metrics soar!

Have questions about Last.fm and Grist? Put them in the comment thread and we'll get back to you. And be sure to vote in the poll below the fold.

An interview with Bill Richardson about his presidential platform on energy and the environment

This is part of a series of interviews with presidential candidates produced jointly by Grist and Outside. Update: Bill Richardson dropped out of the presidential race on Jan. 10, 2008. Bill Richardson. Photo: Michael Millhollin via flickr Bill Richardson likes to play up his image as a horse-ridin’, gun-totin’ man of the Wild West, but […]

Where your dinner is mined

A friend sent me Tyler Cowen's thoughts on a new food book from Steve Ettlinger. I don't know who Tyler Cowen is, but he made me want to read the book:

There are entire companies which do nothing but break eggs open for other companies; the largest such egg-breaking company is based in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

That is from Twinkie, Deconstructed: My Journey to Discover How the Ingredients Found in Processed Foods Are Grown, Mined (Yes, Mined), and Manipulated Into What America Eats, by Steve Ettlinger. So far this is my pick for the best food book of the year.

I also learned that a Twinkie is about half sugar, sulfuric acid is the most produced chemical in the world, sugar is used to clean out cement mixers, phosphate rock and limestone make Twinkies light and airy, Twinkies' butter flavor is created out of gas, Twinkies contain only one preservative (sorbic acid), and the original 1930 Twinkies were filled with banana flavor, not vanilla.

Think again

This article in today's NYT highlights new research that shows that locally produced food in some instances may actually be more energy intensive than food imported from hundreds or thousands of miles away. While this may surprise many environmentalists, it shouldn't.

A lot of factors contribute to the total energy/carbon footprint of food, and the distance the food travels is only one dimension. But there are many other reasons to question the "local is always better" logic.

For example, importing grains can be an amazingly efficient way for areas lacking in water to conserve water resources. Dried grain is light, doesn't require refrigeration, and is nutritious. Areas like the Midwest that receive lots of rainfall are great areas for grain production, while deserts in California are not.

There is an added dimension as well. Many developing countries rely on agricultural exports to generate foreign currency so that they can buy medicines, cellphones, clothes, and all sorts of goods that help them improve their material standard of living. If everyone in the developed world suddenly stopped importing their food, they would be further impoverished.

None of this is to suggest that food miles are not something to be conscious of, but they aren't the only thing. One of the insights from economic analysis is always to focus on the root of a problem, because of the law of unintended consequences. If energy consumption or carbon emissions is the real problem, then policies aimed directed at energy or carbon costs are the best way to address the issue, not a secondary dimension such as food miles.