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Austin City Limits: zero energy code

The city of Austin, already host to the granddaddy of all green building programs, is stepping it up further: They are looking into "adopting a series of code changes that will make all new single-family homes built in the City's building code jurisdiction 'Zero-Energy Capable Homes' by the year 2015."

Go Austin!

Old amusement parks don’t die, they just … become condos

Mat Lindstedt was a typical 12-year-old growing up in San Jose during the 1970s. He spent his summers braving the runaway mine ride, paddling the Indian war canoes, and riding the lazy burros at Frontier Village amusement park. Riding an endangered species. Photo: iStockphoto But Lindstedt’s summers changed in 1980, when the owners of Frontier […]

Terry Tamminen leaving post in Schwarzenegger administration

Terry Tamminen, influential environmental advisor to California gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, is stepping down.

Ostensibly, Tamminen is quitting to campaign for Arnie and remind voters of the governor's green record (after which he will take a post in the private sector and publish a book).

Somewhat ironically, though, Tamminen's departure casts serious doubt on whether a second Arnie term would be as green as the first.

"Terry's departure leaves a big void in the governor's office," said Bill Magavern, senior representative for Sierra Club of California. "There now is nobody with experience in the environmental movement, and you have to think that's going to make a difference when they have their internal tug of war between the business interests and the environmental promises that the governor has made."

Don't believe Tamminen made a difference in that tug of war? Listen to this (and remember to use your Corporatist Decoder Ring to translate):

Being exploited? Exploit them back.

Tomorrow, Alaska's primary election will include an important ballot measure that imposes new regulations and taxes on the cruise ship industry. For environmental protection, it includes beefed-up regulations that will hold cruise corporations more accountable to Alaska's strict pollution controls, as well as allowing civil action suits against violators.

For economic growth, it proposes a head tax on all cruise passengers coming into the state, the revenue of which will be used for services and infrastructure related to the cruise industry. Further, it will tax income from onboard gambling and force companies to pay corporate income tax. And it will require onboard tour sellers to disclose how much they mark up tours from the price offered directly from the tour operators on shore.

The Anchorage Daily News has a good piece about it here. Full text of the measure here (it's not that long). More below the fold.

Umbra on washing your car

Dear Umbra, What can I do about washing my car in a more eco-friendly way? Is phosphate-free soap enough, or should I just suck it up and go to the drive-through car wash every time? Katie North Carolina Dearest Katie, You are one of those fastidious people I see busily washing their cars on Saturdays. […]

Bjorn Lomborg and climate change mitigation

Bjørn Lomborg was one of this site's first targets. We still get emails about that series. Suffice to say, not much love is lost between he and Grist.

Still, Lomborg is widely influential, and the project behind his Copenhagen Consensus makes sense: figure out the most effective way to spend money to save lives and improve the world. I disagree with his conclusions and think the methodology has deep flaws, but the idea behind it is laudable.

Lomborg's got a new book out: a collection of essays called How to Spend 50 Billion, in which economists present their Copenhagen conclusions. What follows is an excerpt, with an introduction by Lomborg and parts of an essay by William R. Cline comparing various global warming mitigation strategies. Give it some thought and share your impressions in comments.

Gristmill shameless product placement: Pagliacci Pizza

This weekend we ordered a pizza -- our usual: pepperoni, mushroom, and Kalamata olives -- from Pagliacci, the best pizza place in Seattle and one of the best pizza places in the country. When it arrived, there was a note sitting on top that read: "This one's on us! Thanks for being a great customer."

I heart Pagliacci.

Turns out Wal-Mart is greening

As I am contractually obliged to flag each and every story on Wal-Mart's greening -- and to mention that you should read my op-ed -- I should let you know that the Wall Street Journal has a short piece on the subject. Sounds like things are going pretty well:

Test-tube coral babies in the works

Twenty-eight years ago, the world welcomed (albeit with raised eyebrows) the first "test tube baby" into the world. Back then, in vitro fertilization (IVF) was considered a radical medical procedure. But after the success of a few hundred thousand IVF babies, it was only logical to take the concept to the next level. Enter coral reefs.

A team of University of Miami marine-science researchers is collecting coral eggs and sperm all this week during an annual reproductive ritual dubbed "coral spawning." They hope "test-tube coral babies" will take root to help restore a tract of reef ravaged by a 1984 ship grounding in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

Brace yourself for an even more radical idea to help coral reefs: not destroying them in the first place.

Gregg Small, director of the Washington Toxics Coalition, answers questions

Gregg Small. What’s your job title? Executive director of the Washington Toxics Coalition. What does your organization do? WTC works to protect human health and the environment from the impacts of toxic pollution. What are you working on at the moment? Photo: iStockphoto A top priority right now is our Pollution in People Project. For […]