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Craig Sams interview

Check out Treehugger's interview with Craig Sams, founder of Green & Black chocolates. I particularly like this bit:

Yawn

Shorter Debra Saunders: I'm still able to dig up a few skeptics.

(hat tip: Katharine Mieszkowski)

Ah, to live in Norway

Billions with a B:

OSLO - Norway is setting up a 20 billion Norwegian crowns ($3.24 billion) fund to promote renewable energy such as wind and hydropower while spurring energy savings, the government said on Monday.

It said the cash would help Norway achieve a goal of raising available power by 30 terawatt hours (TWh) by 2016, compared with 2001, from renewable energy sources and by greater efficiency. Its previous goal was a saving of 12 TWh by 2010 versus 2001.

Norway's total power output, mostly from hydropower, is about 120 TWh a year.

"Bioenergy, windpower, hydropower, and energy efficiency will contribute to new possibilities, new jobs and new optimism over the whole country," Oil and Energy Minister Odd Roger Enoksen said in a statement.

Sigh.

Asia is effed

Lovely:

SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- Rapid global warming poses a variety of security threats to the Asia Pacific region that have been "seriously underestimated," a new study says.

The report, released Tuesday by a Sydney-based think tank, paints a grim scenario of disease, food and water shortages, natural disasters, territorial tensions and mass population movements threatening political stability in the region.

Chinese coal growth

NYT ran the latest in their "energy challenge" series on Sunday: "The Cost of Coal" looks at China's coal use and resulting pollution problems.

It starts off with a bleak portrait ...

One of China's lesser-known exports is a dangerous brew of soot, toxic chemicals and climate-changing gases from the smokestacks of coal-burning power plants

... and moves on down from there.

South Central Community Farm protestors evicted

It's official: the protestors at the South Central Community Farm have been evicted:

LOS ANGELES - Sheriff's deputies evicted people from an urban community garden to make room for a warehouse Tuesday, touching off a furious protest in which actress Daryl Hannah and others climbed into a walnut tree or chained themselves to concrete-filled barrels. At least 39 people were arrested.

Authorities cut away branches and used a fire truck lift to bring down the "Splash" actress and another tree-sitter, who raised their fists as they were removed. It was not immediately clear whether Hannah was under arrest.

...

At daybreak Tuesday, 120 deputies, some with batons and riot helmets, showed up to serve an eviction order that a judge signed last month. Deputies used saws to cut down the chain-link fence around the site.

And get this:

Disasters

From a press release:

Jetting off to global warming

This week's The Economist (paygate, although you may be able to get a "day pass") carries a special report on aviation's contribution to carbon emissions:

... flying a fully laden A380 [super-jumbo jet] is, in terms of energy, like a 14km (nine-mile) queue of traffic on the road below ... Aviation is a relatively small source of the emissions blamed for global warming, but its share is growing the fastest. The evidence is strong that emissions from jet engines, including the streaks of cloud (called contrails) they leave behind in the sky, could be especially damaging ... You can buy a hybrid car, switch to low-energy light bulbs in your house and eat locally grown organic food. But the dozen daily decisions on which you base your husbandry are trivial compared with the handful of yearly choices about that holiday or this business trip.

Even worse, air travel demand has grown by 75% since 1980 (my brief lifetime) and shows no sign of abating: Airbus projects that in 2020, just the increase in miles flown will equal all air travel worldwide in 1969.

Grist’s Webby acceptance speech

The Webby Awards ceremony took place last night, but since Grist "only" won a People's Choice award, we were not invited.

One amusing feature of the ceremony is that winners are allowed only five words for their acceptance speech. Arianna Huffington said, "Make blogs, not war." Prince, who won a lifetime achievement award, said, "Everything you think is true." Woah.

What should Grist's five words be?

Update [2006-6-13 12:37:51 by David Roberts]: Ah. I'm told we were invited to the ceremony, and just chose not to go. Maybe we couldn't think of a good acceptance speech!

World Naked Bike Ride, take three

The Third Annual World Naked Bike Ride hit cities across the world this weekend, bringing attention to cycling, cyclists' rights, oil use, climate change, and, well, nudity for a good cause.