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And yet the media isn’t reporting it

Global warming has long been predicted to make the weather more extreme. Wouldn't it be great if there were an official government index of extreme weather -- of heat, drought, rainfall, and hurricanes -- that would let us know if the prediction had come true?

Well, such an index exists: the National Climatic Data Center's Climate Extremes Index. As the figure shows, the most extreme year by far was 1998; 2006 was the second most extreme, followed closely by 2005. The fourteen least extreme years all predate 1981. The weather is becoming more extreme, as predicted:

Scientists weigh in

Sorry to post this on the heels of "Doom and gloom blowback," but this Daily Kos summary of a new study by Hansen et al is too well done to pass over. And do note that Hansen is trying to accentuate the positive.

The original paper, by the way, is called "Dangerous human-made interference with climate: a GISS modelE study" (PDF). And it's not locked down.

… but doesn’t let governments off the hook

So I'm a sucker. I can't walk by a newsstand where a magazine features a pair of innocent green cotyledons sprouting from a bed of industrial factories. It's this week's issue of The Economist, and what's inside the "Cleaning Up" issue is as alluring as the cover.

Although I've only just skimmed, the articles look promising, and they're all freely available online. Here's the rundown:

• "Cleaning up: How business is starting to tackle climate change, and how governments need to help"
• "Everybody's green now: How America's big businesses got environmentalism"
• "Trading thin air: The carbon market is working, but not bringing forth as much innovation as had been hoped"
• "Irrational Incandescence: People can't be bothered to make easy energy savings"
• "Fairfield vs. the valley: Two competing models for the clean-energy business"
• "Sunlit uplands: Wind and solar power are flourishing, thanks to subsidies"
• "Boom: As security and climate concerns rise, nuclear power may be coming back"
• "Dirty king coal: Scrubbing carbon from coal-fired power stations is possible but pricey"
• "The drive for low emissions: Car and fuel companies are investing in clean transport"
• "The final cut: Business can do it, with governments' help"
• Audio interview: "A discussion with Emma Duncan, Deputy Editor of The Economist"

Threatening local control in our food system

When the Democrats took control of Congress, a colleague of mine looked at me with a sigh of relief and said, "Isn't it great that we won't have to be playing defense against bad policy anymore?" If only that first impression were the case.

In a democracy, we shouldn't have to be constantly vigilant for bad legislative ideas that could hurt the public good. Our legislators are supposed to be the filter that guards against schemes that would strip rights and take choices away from people. Unfortunately, it seems to be the same politics, with the same money trails.

JMG's post yesterday touches on a topic I have been thinking a lot about, and I want to address it in more detail.

On the House Agriculture Committee website, summaries of all of the parts of the legislation being offered are posted. Under the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry there is a Title I Section-by-Section analysis. Section 123 is particularly problematic:

SEC. 123. EFFECT OF USDA INSPECTION AND DETERMINATION OF NON-REGULATED STATUS.
* Prevents a State or locality from prohibiting an article the Secretary of Agriculture has inspected and passed, or an article the Secretary has determined to be of nonregulated status.

What does this mean? Also known as "preemption language," this broad statement basically says that if the USDA says something is safe, a state or local government is not allowed to regulate it. For example, there have been a number of counties around the country that have banned genetically modified organisms from being produced within their borders. This preemption-style language, if it's passed in the Farm Bill, would void those local laws.

Trying to let go of the weekend

It’s been sunny, clear, and hot in Seattle. My shoulders are sunburnt! My weekend was capped by two great experiences yesterday. First, I got to test drive BioD’s new rig. Wow. You really can’t imagine all the new horizons an electric bike opens up until you’re on one — especially an electric bike with enough […]

Spotlight on Thomas Friedman

Thomas Friedman of The New York Times has been rolling in green editorials.

In mid-April he wrote a major piece called "The Power of Green," in which he made the case for his generation to follow the footsteps of the Greatest Generation to become the Greenest Generation. He writes:

We in America talk like we're already "the greenest generation," as the business writer Dan Pink once called it. But here's the really inconvenient truth: We have not even begun to be serious about the costs, the effort and the scale of change that will be required to shift our country, and eventually the world, to a largely emissions-free energy infrastructure over the next 50 years.

More recently, Friedman has weighed in on how to begin to change the environmental decisions our political leaders make -- it starts with the upcoming election. In "Turning the Election Green" Friedman proposes a presidential debate on the environment and energy. According to a poll Friedman cites, done for the Center for American Progress, a substantial percentage of Americans want policies to address global warming and redirect our energy policy.

Yesterday, Friedman had another piece, "Our Green Bubble." He writes:

Calling All Working Assets Customers

Your incessant gabbing can raise money for Grist As if the free pints of Ben & Jerry’s weren’t sweet enough, now Working Assets customers can get something even sweeter: the chance to earn money for Grist with the click of a button. Phone and credit-card customers can go to the Working Assets voting page and […]

With Protectors Like This …

Wildlife-trade regulators approve massive sale of ivory The world’s only body that can limit trade in endangered species kicked off a 12-day meeting this weekend with one hell of a bang: The Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, approved the sale of some 60 tons of […]

Must Be All That Hot Air In Crawford

Texas tops list of greenhouse-gas emissions by U.S. states Know what would make the climate debate even contentiouser? Some sort of ranking of which U.S. states produce the most emissions. Oh look! The Associated Press has analyzed a set of U.S. Department of Energy carbon dioxide data from 2003! Let the finger-pointing begin. It seems […]

Sounds Familiar

China releases first climate plan, says economic concerns are key China has released its first-ever national climate-change plan, a 62-page document that pledges to improve energy efficiency, increase the use of renewables, develop drought-resistant crops, and expand emissions-absorbing forests. But the country’s leaders emphasized that they don’t want to sacrifice economic growth. “We must reconcile […]