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Take That, Iowa

New Hampshire towns send climate-change message to feds The votes are in, and the message is clear: New Hampshire is peeved about global warming. Nearly 90 towns approved a nonbinding resolution at their annual meetings this week telling the feds to act on climate change and harrumphing that presidential candidates should make it a priority […]

Biodiversity loss accelerating

Mongabay has posted an interview with Dr. Peter Raven, one of the world's preeminent biodiversity experts. It's a real good read. Although too long for most American's to tolerate, Grist readers should have no problem with it.

The interview is at the bottom of the article. I suggest going straight to it. If you read the prologue first you may commit suicide before the interview, which is upbeat and hopeful. Then go back and read the prologue because it is informative.

Bush to cut funding for geothermal

The Bush administration wants to eliminate federal support for geothermal power just as many U.S. states are looking to cut greenhouse gas emissions and raise renewable power output. A comprehensive new MIT-led study of the potential for geothermal energy within the United States has found that mining the huge amounts of heat that reside as […]

Setting a standard for other candidates, perhaps?

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards announced this week that his campaign is going carbon neutral. “Global warming is an emergency and we can’t wait until the next president is elected to take action,” said Edwards in a press release. “Each of us can take responsibility in small ways to make a big difference. I encourage […]

A step closer to trains replacing plane journeys

A Morocco-Spain Chunnel will provide a land rail link between Africa and Europe.

John McGrath asks if a China-Africa link will follow, and then a railway across the Bering Strait.

Maybe in the long run we can link most of the world by rail, and save plane journeys for Australia, New Zealand, other islands, and major emergencies. That would be a nice end run around the difficult problem of air travel emissions.

Two things that aren’t green, but rule

Just to give you some respite from all the, you know, earth-this earth-that:

A new Gore idea

Short but intriguing: Former US Vice-President Al Gore called on Tuesday for Kyoto countries to bring forward by two years the start date of a new global warming treaty, to 2010, given the urgency of the global warming problem. ….. The United States pulled out of the pact on the basis of the possible costs […]

Public divided over whether costly steps are needed

From the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA):

An international poll finds widespread agreement that climate change is a pressing problem. This majority, however, divides over whether the problem of global warming is urgent enough to require immediate, costly measures or whether more modest efforts are sufficient.

Read the rest at their website. One data point: 39 percent of Americans think global warming is an important threat, 46 percent think it is a critical threat, only 17 percent think it is not important at all.

Umbra on oil and plastic

Dear Umbra, How much oil is used to make a pound (or some other comparable measure) of typical plastics? Melody Evans Paris, Ill. Dearest Melody, Ah, Paris. Is it as lovely in the springtime as they say? Yes, Ben, plastics … Photo: The Graduate (1967)/MGM Your question is a good and tricky one. Let’s start […]

A reminder

Grist.org seeks an enterprising, sharp-witted, D.C.-based reporter to track and break environmental news in the political and policy arenas. We are seeking to hire an outstanding candidate as soon as possible. Job description: Grist’s political reporter will combine the best of the old and new media. From the old media: a dedication to accuracy, double-checking […]