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Mixed reports
Today in E&E Daily (sub. only), there's a chipper piece from Darren Samuelsohn about the prospects for action on climate change in the 110th Congress. Look, how exciting!
The 2006 election outcome may be less than a week old, but the pieces have started coming together for how the next Congress will tackle the global warming issue.
"Clearly, it's a sea change," said Emily Figdor of U.S. PIRG. "For the first time in a long time, Congress can finally get down to the business of what's happening."
Incoming Senate EPW Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said last week she would take a lead role for the Democrats. Speaking with reporters, Boxer said she plans to use California's new global warming law -- requiring a statewide cut of emissions of 25 percent by 2020 -- as a model in the drafting of federal climate legislation.Wo0t! Right?
But a few paragraphs later:
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Nike is recognized for sustainability, commutability
Swoosh, for those not hopelessly entrenched in American consumer culture, refers to Nike, and is not to be confused with the enviably-young-and-far-more-talented-than-I-will-ever-be Smoosh.
My point being:
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He would have us accept disaster
Robert Samuelson is fixated on pushing a simple point about global warming: we can't do anything about it.
Like so many pundits pushing right-wing talking points around economics, he pitches this stance as a kind of brave, hard-headed realism, in contrast to all those other deluded fools who think we can solve problems. Why anyone would want to spend his time on this planet explicitly and openly fighting progress on the biggest challenge humanity faces is beyond me, I'll confess. But to each his own.
I wrote about his defeatism in an earlier column, and now he's at it again. After some unsubstantiated bashing of the Stern report, he lists three reasons why the problem is hopeless.
With today's technologies, we don't know how to cut greenhouse gases in politically and economically acceptable ways.
This is ... what's the word? ... bullshit.
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Shark finning divisive issue
A few days ago I came across this post by Doctor Mark Hyman touting the medicinal properties of food. During his recent trip to China, the doctor was "treated" to the "delicacy" of shark fin soup, which he claims can help ease arthritis and possibly fight cancer.
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Umbra on travel mugs
Dear Umbra, I am putting together a fundraiser for the Environmental Law Association at the George Washington University Law School, whereby I intend to sell coffee mugs. If you saw all the paper cups that get thrown away at my school you would be in tears (at least two trips to Starbucks a day: double […]
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Final count in Ohio may take a while
Also on the "to be determined" front, Ohio's 15th district race between Republican incumbent Deborah Pryce (an LCV Dirty Dozener) and Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy. From AP:
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It kicked ass
The Grist reader party in San Francisco on Friday was a smashing success. Over 300 eco-glitterati packed into the art gallery, and they were resplendent: young, urbane, and utterly destructive to every caricature that's ever attached to the word "environmentalist." A reporter who was there researching a story on Grist, speaking afterwards, was moved to exclaim: "I can't believe how hot everybody was!"
Indeed.
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Race bitter to the very end
For anyone still paying attention, the race in New Mexico's 1st Congressional district continues. As of this morning, Republican incumbent Heather Wilson is about 1,487 votes ahead of Democratic challenger and state Attorney General Patrica Madrid.
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Julian Dautremont-Smith, higher-education sustainability advocate, answers questions
Julian Dautremont-Smith. What work do you do? I’m the associate director of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. AASHE has a staff of two, so I have a hand in almost everything the organization does. How does it relate to the environment? AASHE is a membership-based association of colleges and universities […]
