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A green-carpet report from the Environmental Media Awards

I adore pop culture. I live for the environment. But I rarely have a chance to indulge my two obsessions at the same time. So when I was invited to cover the Environmental Media Awards, I did an Ashlee Simpson-esque jig. Fashion! Hybrids! Great hair! Really, could a gossip-rag-reading, E!-network-loving enviro ask for anything more? […]

A report

I'm here in San Francisco at the Green Festival -- billed as the world's largest green expo. The San Fran convention center is packed to the rafters with booths, booths, booths.

It is somewhat verboten to say so these days, but the predominant vibe is still distinctly hippie. (As I wrote that, a small troop of people wandered by playing drums and tooting on flutes.) Dreadlocks abound. Tofu products are ubiquitous. The word "spirit" is deployed with alarming frequency. There's batik and tie-dye and didgeridoo honking and so forth. It's like an enormous Grateful Dead parking lot.

It’s time to move on

It's time for everyone to move past the Kyoto Protocol.

For those not familiar with the details, Kyoto imposes specific emission-reduction targets for each industrialized country over a five-year "commitment period" of 2008-2012. Targets were defined for total emissions of CO2 and five other greenhouse gases: the required emission reductions were 8 percent for the European Union and a few other European nations; 7 percent for the United States; 6 percent for Japan and Canada; and zero (i.e. hold emissions at their baseline level) for Russia and Ukraine. If all nations met their targets, the total emission reduction from these nations would be 5.2 percent below 1990 levels.

Boxer kicks out Inhofe as Senate Environment committee chair

Democratic victory in the mid-term elections means that Barbara Boxer of California will replace James Inhofe of Oklahoma as the chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works committee. According to Katrina Van Heuvel of The Nation, yesterday Boxer said:

"He thinks global warming is a hoax and I think it is the challenge of our generation. We have to move on it."

Voters like or don’t like, nothing more complicated than that

Amanda's article is good, but I tend to think that pundits and politicians vastly overinterpret election results. Everyone tries to figure out what "message" voters were sending, and just about everyone tends to find a message that, surprise, lines up with their own political predilections. For my part, I think the Dem victory on Tues. was a clear message from voters that I deserve a raise.

Really, though, I suspect the general public sends one of two messages in any given election: "eeennnh" (displeased) or "eh" (disinterested). Any interpretation beyond that tends to do little but reflect the interpreter's filter.

Dem wins good news for ethanol industry

Not all investors, CEOs, and lobbyists were sad to see the GOP lose on Tuesday. From Bloomberg:

Shares of Archer Daniels Midland Co. and VeraSun Energy Corp., the two biggest U.S. ethanol producers, soared on speculation that Democratic control of the U.S. House of Representatives will boost demand ...

"A Democrat-led House is likely to amount to a political net plus for the ethanol industry," Stanford Group Co. analyst Mark McMinimy wrote today in a report to clients. "The political climate for ethanol in the Congress will shift from an environment that was already favorable to one that is promising for ethanol-friendly legislation over the coming two years."

From Blanchett to Bon Jovi

The fellowship of the warming Of the thousands upon thousands who acted on International Day of Action on Global Warming, Galadriel Ms. Blanchett may have been the hottest elf protester of them all. But when it comes to convincing Aussie PM John Howard, Cate isn’t enough. Though if she’d taken that ring from Frodo … […]

In Toilets Is the Preservation of the World

U.N. study illuminates deadly global water and sanitation situation Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice — but it’s more likely to be lack of access to clean water that does us in. A U.N. report says dirty water is the second-leading cause of death among children around the world, […]

Bio Partisan

President Bush promotes energy independence, snuggles up to Democrats Word is President Bush will unveil an “energy independence” initiative to support ethanol and other biofuels — and to show the world that he’s, you know, down with the progressive agenda. (Which would be a lot more convincing if major ethanol investors didn’t include oil giants […]

A Dingell Ate My Maybe

Congressional Democrats’ energy priorities are a mixed bag Not so fast with the celebrating. The soon-to-be head of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. John Dingell (D), has declared no interest in raising U.S. fuel-efficiency standards — he’s from Michigan, natch — and he’s a nuclear-power booster. The Dems’ rise could also lead to […]