Latest Articles
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Oxygen
I was driving home from my father-in-law's house in Tacoma this evening: the wife and kids were asleep, the wind was cool, my head was clear. One of those nice highway moments.
I was thinking about the overwhelming odds against creating a humane, sustainable culture out of the chaos and violence gathering around us. Just then, a song called "Oxygen" by Willy Mason came on. I'd heard it dozens of times, but for some reason this time it spoke to me, reminded me that all I can do is what I can do -- be the best person I can be, and tell the truth as I see it. You too.
Song and lyrics below the fold.
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Stockholm congestion tax
Interesting story from Alan AtKisson about a traffic congestion tax in Stockholm that was tried, succeeded, and was discontinued.
I wonder if we could get one of these going in Seattle.
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Electric Car director on Daily Show
Chris Paine, director of Who Killed the Electric Car?, appeared on The Daily Show last night, and did pretty well.
Video below the fold.
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Beanies and the jets
Get out your propeller beanies, folks. I'm going into full-on geek mode.
On Monday I mentioned that -- despite my family's best efforts to cut back on our CO2 emissions by reducing how much we fly -- the world has conspired to defeat us. Sure, we're flying less, but the rest of our extended family is flying more as a consequence.
One commenter asked if I shouldn't forget all the personal sacrifice folderol, and just work to convince Boeing to build more efficient planes.
Oh, if only it were so easy ...
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As China’s exports boom, its farmland shrinks and food imports rise. Coincidence?
The philosopher Slavoj Zizek once remarked that the United States does still have a working class -- it's simply in China.
With the U.S. manufacturing base shriveling (Ford Explorer, anyone?) and imports from China booming (set to surpass a quarter trillion dollars this year), it's hard to contradict that trendy Slovenian academic.
China's manufacturing miracle means (among many other things) that even in a period of stagnant wage growth, U.S. consumers can march into Wal-Mart and fill their carts with lots and lots of stuff.
The most famous environmental impact of China's boom has to do with crude oil: As China's economy surges (it grew at an annualized 11 percent in the second quarter), it burns more and more crude, burdening the environment with greenhouse gases. While we ramble from strip mall to strip mall in SUVs stuffed with Chinese goods, Chinese factory smokestacks send plumes of black gunk into the air.
But here's another way to look at the situation: While China expands its industrial base to supply the world with everything from mops to electronics, it's cutting drastically into its farmland. Might some wag soon be moved to remark, "China does have farmers -- they're just in Brazil"?
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Idle hands …
Does anyone care about Marc Morano's hack blasts any more? He's now flinging lies at Bob Herbert's wan little column on global warming, which to me gives the distinct odor of busywork.
Maybe if we all just ignore him, Inhofe will put him to work doing something else. Hey, I hear the pesticide industry is in need of some FUD.
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Seattle’s papers catch up with electric cars
Here in Seattle, we have two daily papers. They're embroiled in a seemingly endless joint-operating dispute. I don't know the ins and outs of the deal, being a relative newcomer to the city, but I do know this: every morning at the bus stop, as I review the front pages displayed in the papers' side-by-side machines, I marvel at their attempts to tell the same stories in different ways.
Today, for instance, both front pages featured huge, splashy photos of our visit from the Blue Angels -- but with different headlines, people! Different headlines! And there, at upper left, each had a plug for an article on an electric car. The Times went with the Tesla, while the P-I featured the Zap! Xebra. (Both PDFs, sorry.)
Semi-funny, yes. But it's also an indication of how far we've come. This is the dawning of the age of the curious. Better to have two papers reporting on this kind of thing than none.
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Meet your meat
Meat.org has a new video. I've pasted it below the fold. Not for the weak of stomach.
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From Guzzlers to Greenlanders
Size does matter Fingering the Hummer H2 is so last year. The latest trend in Hummer humiliation? Video of die-hard haters humping the gas guzzlers. If a picture’s worth 1,000 words, this specimen is infinity squared. (Safe for work, but only if your boss has a sense of Hummer humor.) Photo: ihumpedyourhummer.com Damn those special […]
