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Electric bike triumphs and travails

Rode my bike to jury duty last Wednesday. It was pouring rain and the winds were gusting into the 50s. I had my trailer hitched up because I was hauling a laptop, magazines, and a battery charger with me. I don't think I could have done this without the electric motor.

However, at one point, a gust -- accelerated by the venturi effect of two skyscrapers -- stopped me cold. I jumped off and cowered in a nook where I found another guy hiding with the remains of his umbrella. I managed to drag, not ride, my bike the last block in a veritable deluge.

‘The Medieval Warm Period was just as warm as today’–Repeating this point does not make it true

(Part of the How to Talk to a Global Warming Skeptic guide)

Objection: It was just as warm in the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) as it is today. In fact, Greenland was green and they were growing grapes in England!

Answer: There is no good evidence that the MWP was a globally warm period comparable to today. Regionally, there may have been places that exhibited notable warmth -- Europe, for example -- but all global proxy reconstructions agree it is warmer now, and the temperature is rising faster now, than at any time in the last one or even two thousand years.

‘It was warmer during the Holocene Climatic Optimum’–This period was not global and not like today

(Part of the How to Talk to a Global Warming Skeptic guide)

Objection: It was warmer during the Holocene Climatic Optimum than it is today -- without any human influence.

 

Answer: Though some temperatures during that period were in the same range as today, they were confined to the northern hemisphere and the summer months.

The strangest biofuel sources you’ve never heard of

Sure, you’ve heard of corn and switchgrass as potential sources of biofuel. But those are rendered totally boring in light of the potential of trash, dead cats, and human fat to meet our energy needs. Make your engine purr. Photo: iStockphoto Surprising sources abound in the world of biofuels, with researchers probing the farthest reaches […]

And me

The war just got a great deal more personal for me: my little brother left today for the Middle East, first to Kuwait and then to multiple locations in Iraq.

Not to shoot anybody -- to play piano.

He's in the Army Chorale band, and volunteers to go on these USO tours with Al Franken and a motley assortment of country music stars, WWF wrestlers, and professional cheerleaders. Yes, really. On the first one, shortly after the invasion, he got to stay in Saddam's palace. He's amused by it all and always brings back hilarious pictures and stories.

But the mess over there has only gotten messier, and now it looks like Bush might double down. Asshole.

Anyway, if you're the praying type -- I'm not, but days like today I wish I were -- throw the Big G-Man a shout-out for the USO tour staying safe.

And just to make this somewhat environmental, let's ponder yet again what kind of ...

• improvements to the nation's electricity grid,
• development and deployment of electric cars,
• development and deployment of high-speed rail,
• R&D for renewable energy

... we could have gotten for $2,000,000,000,000.

What Brazil can teach the U.S. about energy and ethanol

In 2006, Brazil officially achieved “energy independence” — that is, its oil exports came into line with imports and cancelled them out. No longer beholden to foreign suppliers for its energy needs, the nation theoretically has no stake in costly Middle East military adventures to secure access to oil reserves. Grain alcohol? Haven’t touched the […]

Freaky deeky deer

A Wisconsin man struck and killed a seven-legged, hermaphroditic deer, according to Associated Press reports. Which kind of makes me fear for what else is running around in the northern forests of the United States.

Rick Lisko, a hunter from Fond du Lac, hit the young buck with his pickup truck. He said he believes the legs were functional before, well, before he killed it. He described them as small and pincher-like.

"It was definitely a freak of nature," Lisko said. "It's a pretty weird deer."

Critic turns up in book as kiddie rapist

When Michael Crichton released State of Fear, a book portraying global warming as a vast conspiracy of leftist nutsos, I wrote a highly critical review. But Grist is pretty small-time in the grand media scheme of things, so he probably never read it.

And it's a good thing too. I could have ended up a child rapist in his latest book!

They say they care, but they never call in the morning

There's lots of buzz in the progressosphere about a new poll in Iowa -- site of a pivotal Dem primary -- showing John Edwards in the lead.

Another poll of Iowa Dems commissioned by Environmental Defense also found some interesting stuff:

• A 72% of majority of Democratic caucus-goers say they consider global warming to be extremely (32%) or very (39%) serious -- while another 15% say it is fairly serious. Only 11% dismiss it as just somewhat (9%) or not at all serious (2%).
• Among a separate poll of Democratic county chairs and vice chairs, 77% think global warming is extremely (37%) or very (40%) serious -- plus 14% who say it is fairly serious.

Perhaps even more interesting, voters don't know which candidates are best on the issue:

Sequel to End of Suburbia is coming in March

I imagine most of you have seen The End of Suburbia, the cult fave 2004 documentary about the end of oil and the craptacularity of suburban sprawl.

Well, brace yourself for the sequel: Escape from Suburbia, coming in March 2007.

Here's the trailer: