Latest Articles

Crap, another means of continuing business as usual failing to survive scrutiny

Important, albeit somewhat depressing, post about biofuels from algae on chemical engineer Robert Rapier's always excellent blog.

Here's his introduction to the article, which you should read in its entirety:

Dingell promises climate legislation

Next year.

Who says scientists aren’t funny?

RealClimate has an extended satire against climate denier use of false correlation=causation logic to argue for solar cycles as the main cause of global warming. As humor with extended charts and co-efficients of correlation go, it is quite funny. However, I must admit that an exchange between two commenters on the post was much funnier:

We shed a tear

Fundamentalist Christian minister Jerry Falwell is dead at 73. It’s probably churlish to use the occasion of someone’s death to point out that said person was a paranoid, avaricious, hate-spewing enabler of America’s basest lizard-brain impulses, so I won’t go there. I will, however, note that one of the proudest moments of my young career […]

And if not, why not?

A journalist of some renown called me last week to ask a question: would it be possible to do both a cap-and-trade program and a carbon tax? Al Gore famously urged that approach, but this journo had heard from other (reliable) sources that it’s not possible. My instinctive answer was yeah, sure, there’s no reason […]

When is pizza not a turkey sandwich?

What we have available to eat is controlled by different businesses in different ways. Whether they are responsive to our needs and desires is something about which Americans can and should be at lot more vocal.

We arrived at the boarding gate at George Bush Intercontinental Airport about an hour before the scheduled departure time, stripped of any liquids over 3.4 ounces not stored in a clear, quart-size, zip-top plastic bag. I went to the service desk to ask the airline rep what food would be provided on our flight. (This is the airline which runs TV ads boasting that unlike their competitors they offer food on their flights.) The airline's website establishes that economy passengers get a sandwich on a flight like this one. Here's what we got:

The Big Yapple

World’s mayors gather for climate-change summit in New York City Gone are the days when mayors chomped cigars and handed out keys to the city. Today’s civic leaders face a somewhat more monumental task: saving the planet. This week, mayors from more than 30 of the world’s biggest cities — from Bangkok to Berlin, Sydney […]

Trade in the Shade

Bush allows Democrats to attach eco-protections to trade agreements If the Decider isn’t careful, he’s going to become the Compromiser. Last week, President Bush and congressional Democrats worked out a deal that will attach environmental and labor protections to trade accords in the works with Colombia, Panama, Peru, and South Korea. The compromise will require […]

Trouble With a Capital B

Chemicals play a big role in breast-cancer cases, says report You know how Tammy Wynette said sometimes it’s hard to be a woman? Well, it just got harder: a new report finds a potential link between breast cancer and 216 chemicals, including 35 common air pollutants and 73 food or consumer-product ingredients. Racking up evidence […]

Remember When Driving Was Fun?

States sue over fuel standards, Bush announces emissions baby steps California Attorney General Jerry Brown held forth on the steps of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday, leading a group of 11 states suing the feds over “dangerously weak” fuel-efficiency standards. “The Bush administration has its head in the sand, and we hope […]