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Football’s biggest day will be carbon neutral

I don’t really like football, but I love the Super Bowl. Chips, dip, friends, commercials, man-hugging — it’s one of my favorite days of the year. And this year, it’ll be extra-super, as it’ll be carbon neutral. Thanks to the planting of hundreds of trees, the event might even be carbon negative, says the NFL’s […]

Utah middle schoolers send message to world

Almost two years ago, aerial artist John Quigley brought more than 500 community residents and several movie stars together to spell out the words “Arctic Warning” way up in the Arctic Circle. The event was documented by Everything’s Cool co-director Daniel B. Gold, and makes an appearance in the film. On Monday, Quigley arranged nearly […]

Organize a climate-change march in your community for April 14, 2007

  The Step It Up 2007 campaign is calling for people all across the U.S. to organize rallies in their communities on April 14, 2007, to demand action against climate change. The goal is to have gatherings in all kinds of different places, in every state: outside churches, along shorelines and riverbanks, in cornfields, in […]

Oscar talk

The fact that that the contrived, self-consciously "quirky" Little Miss Sunshine was nominated for Best Picture while Children of Men was relegated to the editing and adapted screenplay categories is just the latest testament to the travesty of aesthetic judgment that is The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. I will nonetheless, as always, […]

Geek out, friends

Really into the NYT interactive tool that lets you see how many times the president used certain words. Lets you catch up if you needed a bathroom break I guess, but this year’s speech was relatively unexciting on the drinking game front.

Coal is hardly renewable

Q: When is an alternative fuel not a renewable fuel?

A: When it is coal-to-liquids.

Lost in the call for 35 billion gallons of non-gasoline fuel was the fact that the president has expanded the definition of what fuels qualify for his mandate. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 established a renewable fuels standard. Tonight the president called for a vastly expanded alternative fuels standard -- one that would include "sources such as corn ethanol, cellulosic ethanol, biodiesel, methanol, butanol, hydrogen, and alternative fuels," a.k.a. coal-to-liquids.

Trading gasoline for liquid fuels from coal does not bode well for the future state of our union.

Decent

I thought Webb’s Dem response was good, though he didn’t really touch on the issues close to our green hearts. It was a strong populist and anti-Iraq-War speech, appropriately gruff and strong. I liked the last bit. If Bush does the right things, they’ll join him. If not, “we’ll be showing him the way.” Vaguely […]

Kind of a let down

Well, he mentioned climate change, sure enough: America is on the verge of technological breakthroughs that will enable us to live our lives less dependent on oil. These technologies will help us become better stewards of the environment — and they will help us to confront the serious challenge of global climate change. A couple […]

All the kids are doing it

The speech is starting. Here goes some live-blogging! Apparently Kucinich got a hug in. Hilarious. Graceful shout-out to “Madame Speaker.” “Democrat” majority. What a jerk. “Spend money wisely.” Har. Now, six years in, with a Dem majority in Congress, suddenly the dude cares about bipartisanship. Mm hm. (Wages aren’t actually rising for working people, George.) […]

What about buildings and industry?

As many have already dug into the particulars of the Bush climate-change non-plan, I'll take a different stab.

The President's Plan Will Help Confront Climate Change By Stopping The Projected Growth Of Carbon Dioxide Emissions From Cars, Light Trucks, And SUVs Within 10 Years.

Wait a doggone, oil-slugging, carbon-spewing minute!