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Bush is working with a much stronger consensus

One argument in defense of George W. Bush's lack of action on climate change is some variation of this: "Bill Clinton wasn't any better ... he never sent the Kyoto Protocol to the Senate."

This is true. But it also ignores one important fact.

The science of climate change has improved dramatically since the mid-'90s. In its 1995 report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) summarized our knowledge about climate change by saying ...

... the balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on the climate ...

This is weak brew, and given the mixed evidence connecting human activities with warming, it was not at all clear exactly how much action to address climate change was warranted.

It’s hard out there for a skeptic

After 20 years of disproportionate media coverage, climate contrarians have started being ignored. It would be impossible to overstate the depth of my sympathy. Impossible, I tell you. Update [2007-4-19 16:17:10 by David Roberts]: As an addendum: actual climate scientists think coverage is already “too balanced.” And by balanced, I’m pretty sure they mean “balanced.”

Good stuff

I’ll leave it to Gar to judge if the targets are sufficiently aggressive, but either way I’m happy to see new legislation on energy efficiency being proposed in Congress. This stuff isn’t sexy and doesn’t garner much media attention, but — as we keep saying — efficiency is the low-hanging fruit. Time to eat some […]

… before nature does it for us

Following a recent study forecasting permanent drought in the southwest U.S. in coming decades comes this news in today's Salt Lake Tribune. It's a proposal being floated to pipe some of the already dwindling Lake Powell reservoir (currently just half full) in a new direction, to three thirsty counties in southern Utah. Living Rivers' End Lake Powell Campaign says that draining Powell would actually add water to the Colorado River system, given the evaporative losses the lake suffers every day, but federal and state agencies are so far blunt to good logic, which is a shame, when restoring natural flows and water tables along the length of the river would benefit both humans and ecosystems. Seems like nature is going to drain the lake for us, so why not get on with it?

This is what we’ve come to

This article is just plain bizarre — a great illustration of how skewed and narrow the mainstream energy dialogue has become. It’s allegedly about the new "war on oil" in the U.S. (Oh good, another war.) Apparently, though, that war consists of firing away wildly with exactly one weapon: ethanol. Here’s the frame the author […]

Pros and cons

John Moe, at McSweeney’s, on the pros and cons of the Dem candidates: AL GORE Pro: Knows how to get to the White House, where to park, location of restrooms. Con: Wants to accomplish something meaningful. (h/t: Yglesias)

Sign a petition

The issue regarding certification of organic farmers in the Third World continues to gain steam. Equal Exchange, the organic and fair trade coffee group, has a petition drive (scroll to bottom of page) to block the USDA decision that would decertify organic 'grower groups' such as coffee co-ops.

Grist had a spirited discussion on this previously.

The cosmetics company will pay offsets through CarbonFund.

Carbon neutrality is popping up in more glamorous places than Yahoo's headquarters, Al Gore's mansion, and The New Oxford English Dictionary these days. Cosmetics giant Lancome will start paying for its pollution and funding green power projects through the nonprofit CarbonFund. But Lancome isn't greening all its operations; only four boutiques, plus its four jet-setting spokesmodels (including Elettra Rossellini Wiedemann, Isabella's daughter), will buy into carbon offsets.

Earth Dinners keep cuisine and conversation flowing

This is the third installment in a series about connecting with friends and family over specific meals; the first was an introduction to dining co-ops, the second a celebration of Passover. At a recent dinner party, I pulled out my deck of Earth Dinner cards. The first one asked, “Who in your life really understands […]

Time to start welcoming rather than bashing eco-newcomers

Arnold Schwarzenegger is being offered up as an eco-hero, so naturally some folks in the green movement rush to point out that it’s all a big fraud. Why they do that — why progressives eat their allies — I’ll never understand. Let’s approach this through a semi-related phenomenon. I had the privilege of meeting Andrew […]