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Will it propel cycle-happy legislation?

While not quite a full-on velorution (there must be silent throngs out there waiting to usher in a full-on velorution, I'm sure of it -- bike-guard party, wherefore art thou?), this month's midterm elections in the U.S. have apparently greased the gears of the otherwise petroleum- and highway-happy lawmaking machine in the House in favor of cycle-friendly reps for the 110th Congress. Or at least, it's offered cause for hope.

Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., who helped author the 1991 law that opened the door to federal funding for bike projects, is in line to become chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., a one-time bike mechanic, expects to chair the surface transportation subcommittee.

And Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., founder of the Congressional Bicycle Caucus, will either hold a senior position on the transportation committee or move to the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee.

All three Democrats are strong supporters of alternative transportation who believe that bicycling can play an important role in moving people, particularly in dense urban settings, and in providing recreational opportunities.

Inhofe on Fox

Think Progress put up a video of Inhofe on Fox this morning.

I have to admit, I'm actually a little sad -- when he passes off the chairmanship in January, there will be so much less to make fun of.

Oceanographer Tim Barnet reveals the dollar amount, and other fascinating points

Tim Barnett, a leading oceanographer who just retired from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, this Monday gave a talk called Future Climate of Earth: A Sneak Preview [PDF] to a convention of fire ecologists in San Diego.

Barnett began by saying that he had seven grandkids, and he didn't like to think about the world they were going to inherit from us. He then went on to succinctly explain why we know global warming is human-caused.

Donate wild salmon instead of tuna

It's hard to believe that the holiday season is already upon us. Despite the mall stampedes, fruitcake overload, never-ending traffic jams, and hideous reindeer sweaters, I'm looking forward to spending the holidays with my family. I can almost taste my mother's mince pie, and I am ready to play backyard soccer and touch football with my daughters and my nieces and nephews.

Small steps made, but no real plan for post-2012

The international climate conference in Nairobi just wrapped up, and it sounds like it was a bit of a yawn. As expected, no exciting progress or big future plans.

Of course, progress is in the eye of the beholder, as we see in three different articles from MSM sources:

Alister Doyle and Gerard Wynn for Reuters:

U.N. climate talks keep Kyoto on track, but scant progress

Environment Ministers kept plans for widening a U.N.-led fight against global warming beyond 2012 on track on Friday amid criticism of scant progress in aiding Africa and confronting wrenching climate change.

After two weeks of negotiations in Nairobi, about 70 ministers agreed to review Kyoto in 2008 in what many see as a prelude to widening a 35-industrial nation pact to outsiders such as China and India in the longer term.

It also agreed to aid Africa obtain funds for clean energies such as wind and hydro power. But delegates had mixed views on the outcome of the talks.

From Say It to Spray It

Word. Beating out Sudoku, bird flu, and persistent vegetative state, the New Oxford American Dictionary’s word(s) of the year for 2006 is (are?) “carbon neutral.” Personally, we wonder what happened to lanced, santorum, and Maf54. Which is why they don’t let us write the dictionary. Photos: iStockphoto Tongue tried It’s a dream come true: a […]

Readers talk back about elections, ethanol, respecting our elders, and more

  Re: How Green Was My Election? Dear Editor: Things are clearly not as bad now as they were before Election Day. However, we should temper our celebratory mood by considering: 1. Nancy Pelosi, the next likely Speaker of the House, supported the war until her constituents in San Francisco made it politically impossible for […]

because of the country’s decision to resume whaling.

... because of the country's decision to resume whaling.

Ah, I love it when the market works! Bottom line: you want tourist dollars, then stop killing whales.

Failed by industrial food, farmers and low-income folk get together

"Edible Media" takes an occasional look at interesting or deplorable food journalism.

In Alabama, farmers are going broke, squeezed between low prices their goods receive in commodity markets and rising costs for fuel and other inputs. Meanwhile, obesity and diabetes rates surge among low-income African-Americans, whose food dollars tend to to flow to highly processed food.

In short, commodity food markets are failing both groups. In a piece in the latest Nation, Mark Winne shows (subscription wall) that smart public policy at the state level is helping farmers and low-income consumers buck the system, to the benefit of both.

The bill could affect most large construction in the city starting in 2012

In a preliminary vote, the D.C. city council unanimously decided to phase in green building standards that would apply to private as well as public development in the district.

The district is poised to become the first major city in the country to require that private developers build environmentally friendly projects that incorporate energy-saving measures.

By 2012, most large construction in the city -- commercial and city-funded residential -- would have to meet the standards, if the D.C. council gives final approval to a new bill next month.

Under the bill, within two years, all new district-owned projects, including schools, would have to meet the green standards, and in 2009, any building receiving more than 20 percent public financing would have to do the same. By 2012, every new commercial building over 50,000 square feet -- about the size of a medium-size retail store -- would have to meet the guidelines. The rules would also apply to affordable housing.