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Search for ‘global warming’ to no avail

Check out a post from James Annan, who details how, out of 438 documents on Whitehouse.gov the contain the phrase "global warming," only a single one is returned when using the Whitehouse.gov search engine.

Color me stupefied. It's almost like they are trying to hide something. On purpose even. Who'da thunk it?

[Update] As most of you probably know, this may be one of those "don't attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence" moments. (see more detailed update here).

I'd have to say that in analyzing the current Whitehouse policy on just about anything, figuring out which it is, malice or incompetence, is a black art.

Of course, the end result is one and the same, from Katrina to Iraq to fiscal policies to the environment to homeland security to international diplomacy to...

Another silly debate around the IPCC report

News stories have been reporting that the IPCC will make a statement about the relation between global warming and hurricanes:

During marathon meetings in Paris, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change approved language that said an increase in hurricane and tropical cyclone strength since 1970 "more likely than not" can be attributed to man-made global warming, according to Leonard Fields of Barbados and Cedric Nelom of Surinam.

The blogosphere is already awash with discussion about this (see here and here), and I expect all the usual suspects to weigh in on this soon.

Lots of stuff happening

Tom Whipple — as usual, ahead of the curve on energy issues — writes about the recent bustle of activity around electric cars. He concludes: Be it a Ford, a Chevy, or an Asian econobox, 2007 just might turn out to be the birth year for practical electric cars. URGE2, baby! (via EB)

It’s only natural

About twice a day, an email from a mystery man/unflagging anti-ethanol crusader named Ray Wallace appears in my inbox, chock full of excerpts from the latest ethanol slams and, on lucky days, choice quotes from politicos and the like sounding less-than-smart about the whole business. I'm not sure how I got on his listserv, and I can't quite say how you can (but if you'd really like to, let me know and we can probably work something out).

Anyhow (I'm getting to my point), I mention Ray so as to credit him for alerting me to this quote, contained in today's edition:

A primer

Over on E&E News, reporter Darren Samuelsohn has a fantastic special report on the much-ballyhooed "climate stabilization wedges" notion made famous by Princeton professors Robert Socolow and Stephen Pacala. This is something you’ll be hearing a lot more about in coming weeks and months; if you need a quick, digestible primer on what wedges are, […]

French NGO calls for 5 min. of darkness to protest against climate change.

This was just forwarded to me, concerning a grassroots protest that some European NGOs are trying to organize on the quick. It involves everybody dimming their lights between 7:55 and 8:00 P.M. tonight. I don't know whether they want everybody to do it at the same time (i.e., 19:55-20:00 GMT), or in their own time zones. In any case, it is novel.

Not well

The Fraser Institute, the Canadian version of ... I dunno, maybe the Heritage Institute, or a low-budget Cato, has had its response to the upcoming IPCC report leaked. Desmogblog has the details.

Apparently, the scientific consensus is "political." Stephen Colbert is right: the facts have a liberal bias.

Of course, I'd like to know how I, a mere dirty hippie, have provoked this response from big business.

The Illumi-nicey

New California bills would outlaw inefficient light bulbs As Thomas Edison adjusts his eternal resting position just a tad, two California state legislators plan to introduce separate bills that would effectively ban incandescent light bulbs in the state over the next decade. One of the bills, backed by California Assembly member Lloyd Levine (D), has […]

Merkel, May I?

E.U., Germany duke it out over auto emissions standards Once upon a time, the European Union proposed a carbon-dioxide emissions limit on all vehicles made or imported there. But Germany — home of Volkswagen, BMW, DaimlerChrysler, and Porsche — has yanked on the e-brake. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the country would not support a […]

Frankly, My Dear, We Don’t Want These Dams

Federal decision may be first step toward dam removal on the Klamath River Four hydroelectric dams along the Oregon-California border must ease fish passage to earn license renewal, says the Bush administration. The decision may spur the largest dam-removal project in history, as installation of fish ladders and other devices could cost far more than […]