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Pep Raleigh

Google gives out bikes to 2,000 employees across the pond We have a vague recollection that there was life before Google, but it must have been a sad, empty sort of life. Anyone recall? While you’re casting your memory back there, lord, we’ll update you on the latest from the altruistic search engine: they’re giving […]

You’ll Be Fine, Yogi

Yellowstone-area grizzly bears lose Endangered Species Act protection The U.S. Interior Department will remove Yellowstone-area grizzlies from Endangered Species Act protection, putting management of bears that live outside the park in the hands of state officials in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. And by “management,” of course, we mean killin’. The region’s bear count has swelled […]

Now We Can Watch Them Go Up

NOAA scientists unveil online emissions-tracking tool The U.S. might not be ready to cut its carbon emissions, but it’s ready to measure them. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has unveiled a nifty new online tool that tracks carbon dioxide levels around the world. And guess what it’s called? CarbonTracker. We’re in love! “This is […]

Really the last one, honest

Readers of this site may well be burnt out on talk of Gore’s testimony to Congress. But if not, do check out Brad Plumer’s wrap-up — it’s good. One point I think bears emphasizing. Almost all the analysis I’ve seen of the event — particularly with regard to the dust-up with Inhofe — discusses how […]

Personal ethics pledge my left foot

At the Environment and Public Works hearing yesterday, Sen. Inhofe (R-Okla.) displayed an amazing lack of understanding about energy as he tried to get Gore to make a meaningless pledge. Now the EPW Minority web page repeats the inane charge:

Former Vice President Al Gore refused to take a "Personal Energy Ethics Pledge" today to consume no more energy than the average American household.

But why should Gore take such a pledge? Gore is a champion of greenhouse gas reductions, not energy reductions. Gore explained he buys 100 percent renewable power and is planning to build a solar power system. Thus the electricity Gore consumes in his Tennessee home does not contribute to global warming.

Just doesn’t (or shouldn’t) make sense for conservatives

During his marathon live-blogging yesterday, David "Boss-man" Roberts wrote about the GOP love of nuclear power: "Why are Republicans obsessed with this? It's mystifying. Don't they have anything else to talk about?"

Well, they love clean coal too. The question to me has always been why alleged conservatives have so much time for nuclear when it doesn't align with one of their cherished principles: If "big-government nanny-state market interference" had a poster child, the cooling towers of a nuclear plant would be it.

Major reductions and a paradigm shift

Yes, a major reduction in fishing subsidies (currently in the tens of billions a year), the establishment of property rights over the ocean commons, a massive reduction in overall catches, and, as this amazing article in National Geographic makes clear, we need an entirely new way of thinking about the ocean. That is, we need a paradigm shift with respect to how we view marine ecosystems. Read the article and let the journey begin ...

An interview with Rep. Ed Markey about the politics of climate change

Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) received the chairmanship of the newest House committee — and, along with it, a turf war with one of the oldest and longest-serving Democrats on Capitol Hill, the formidable Michigan Rep. John Dingell. Rep. Edward Markey. The House voted to create the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming earlier […]

The Supreme Court considers an extortion suit against federal land managers

The Supreme Court heard argument in a curious case this week. No, I'm not talking about the celebrated "Bong Hits for Jesus" case. The second case on Monday's docket involved an Alabaman turned Wyoming rancher claiming that government bureaucrats had engaged in extortion by enforcing the letter of the law.

An appellate court in Denver, Colo., ruled that Harvey Frank Robbins (the rancher) could sue Charles Wilkie and other Bureau of Land Management employees under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (also known as RICO) -- a law used to prosecute mobsters involved in organized crime.

Now the chance for the Supremes to weigh in, and maybe hint at what they're thinking ...

FOX News on Gore’s testimony

Fox News on Gore’s testimony: Is it me, or does Brit Hume misunderstand science at a pretty fundamental level?