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New Wired green issue goes a little overboard

The latest issue of Wired -- the "green issue," now de rigueur in the magazine world -- has Al Gore on the cover, and the story on his "resurrection" is fantastic. It's one of the best things I've read on his post-2000 activities.

Some of the rest of the issue, however, is irritating -- nothing so much so as this risible chart by Josh Rosenblum, a rating of various environmental groups based on a set of scientific criteria known as How Much They Agree With Josh Rosenblum. The more green groups collaborate with private industries and support (as far as I can tell, any) high-tech responses to environmental problems, the closer they come to Wired true north. Any tension with business, or reservations about nuclear power or coal gasification ... well hell, that's just hippie.

And speaking of hippies: the "Rise of the Neo-Greens" practically bursts a blood vessel admiring the clever young fashionistas "triangulating between the hippies and the hip."

Craig Williams took on the Pentagon to stop chemical-waste burning

“We’re a little outnumbered, and a little outspent,” says Craig Williams, “but we’ve turned around decisions by the biggest bureaucracy on the planet.” Williams, founder of the nonprofit Chemical Weapons Working Group and a cabinetmaker by trade, has been fighting for more than two decades to ensure that the U.S. military disposes of chemical weapons […]

PSA: Net neutrality

There's great hue and cry in the blogosphere lately over "net neutrality." I won't attempt to summarize it here, as it's fairly complex. The best way to understand it is for you (and your friends) to watch this short video.

It's not strictly an environmental issue, but in the sense it that it could degrade your access to information, it is a threat to any progressive cause. Don't let the telecom bastards get away with it.

(via Dymaxion World)

Green groups endorse Republican Lincoln Chafee; activists cry foul

The reelection campaign of Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee, widely considered one of the most vulnerable Republicans in Congress this year, has prompted a verbal blitzkrieg from progressive activists — not aimed at the candidate, but at the Sierra Club and League of Conservation Voters, two green groups that have endorsed him. “This may very […]

The Fume, the Crowd, the Berries

EPA withdraws plan to approve toxic fumigant methyl iodide After contriving to approve toxic fumigant methyl iodide for use in strawberry fields forever, the U.S. EPA has withdrawn the plan in the face of fierce opposition from California officials, labor unions, and enviros. The approval of methyl iodide was to be the culmination of a […]

Bungle in the Jungle

Critics say Peru pipeline is an accident waiting to happen Don’t get us wrong: Peru is a lush, gorgeous country, and you should certainly enter our sweepstakes to win an eco-trip there. (Seriously, what are you waiting for?) But like most countries, Peru has its environmental challenges. And today we bring word of one that’s […]

You Darwin Some, You Lose Some

One coral species found able to adapt to warmer waters; others screwed Last year, unusually warm Caribbean waters killed some 40 percent of the coral around the U.S. Virgin Islands and weakened much of the rest. This year, wouldn’t you know it, the waters are warming again. “It’s impossible to overstate how important this is,” […]

Let’s Baikal the Whole Thing Off

Russian president changes route of Siberian pipeline to protect lake Last month, we reported that a Siberia-to-Asia oil pipeline backed by Russian President Vladimir Putin was set to be built half a mile from the world’s deepest lake, home to hundreds of unique species. Well, we’ve been Putin our place: yesterday, the Russian prez ordered […]

We said, he said

The White House's scramble for microwave-ready neatly-packaged short-term fixes for the slow-cooking problems behind rising energy prices leaves us ... well, hungry.

But to his credit, the president did chuck aside one favorite conservative canard:

"This nation does not have to choose between a strong economy and a clean environment," Mr. Bush said in remarks at the Fuel Cell Partnership ... "We can have both at the same time."

Next time you hear complaints that progress with a green stripe will wreck the economy, quote Mr. Bush to the contrary.

Two canards down, lots to go

A new study done on behalf of the UK's Economic and Social Research Council is summarized as follows:

The role of radical activists and advocates of green technology has long been dismissed as out of tune with rational economic progress. Yet in practice they have often been a key source of ideas that have seeded new industries in areas like food production, housing and energy. Rather than dismissing such activists and their niche ideas as hopelessly idealistic, mainstream business and policy makers should recognise that they present a diversity of options for sustainability and learn from them.

Word.

Put it on the shelf beside the classic from MIT's Stephen Myer, "The Economic Impact of Environmental Regulation" (PDF), summarized as follows: