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Chop Revenuey

China creates new taxes to curb timber and energy use China has announced an array of new “green taxes” on diverse goods — from throwaway chopsticks to golf balls to SUVs — to try and rein in deforestation and skyrocketing energy use. Chinese nibblers use around 45 billion pairs of disposable wooden chopsticks a year, […]

They Got Seoul But They’re Not Eco-Soldiers

South Korean Supreme Court rules in favor of eco-damaging seawall In a bitter defeat for a worldwide coalition of environmentalists, the South Korean Supreme Court has ruled that construction can continue on what will become, if finished as planned, the world’s longest seawall. Begun in 1991 and about 90 percent complete, the 20-mile-long wall will […]

No, No, We Said Hit the Road, Gale

In parting gesture, Norton paves way for more roads on federal lands Yesterday, as a Cruella-De-Ville-esque parting shot, Interior Secretary Gale Norton issued a new policy that enviros warn could allow local and state governments to build hundreds of roads on national parks, wildlife refuges, and other federal lands in the West. At issue is […]

Hansen on 60 Minutes

A while back, famed NASA climatologist James Hansen appeared on CBS' 60 Minutes to talk about global warming and the Bush administration's attempts to suppress climate-change science. Now Crooks & Liars has the video. Check it out.

(via A Few Things Ill Considered)

Update [2006-3-23 10:28:46 by David Roberts]: That reminds me: Rick Piltz, who worked for years coordinating climate research programs at NASA, the U.S. EPA, and the National Science Foundation, quit last year and started talking to the press about administration interference in science. He's interviewed in the 60 Minutes piece, and has also started a fantastic blog about media-related climate science issues. Bookmark it.

As the world swelters

Judging from this quip recently overheard in New York at the West 4th Street subway station, the Environmental Defense + Ad Council's new Fight Global Warming ad campaign can't start soon enough:

Girl: ...I mean, who doesn't like being warm? It's not like they call it "Global Sweltering"! So who cares?

A virtual walking tour through Wisconsin’s Sokaogon Chippewa community with Tina Van Zile

Like many tribal lands across North America, the Sokaogon Chippewa reservation in Northern Wisconsin faces environmental perils that threaten not only the land, but also the livelihood and culture of the people who live on it. The Sokaogon spent close to three decades battling one of those perils: the proposed reopening of a nearby zinc […]

Kolbert blogs!

Hey, speaking of Elizabeth Kolbert, I was googling around and found this week-long blog she did for Powell's book store. It's far more breezy and conversational than her New Yorker writing -- lots of fun. Check it out.

It may not be as eco as you think

The Cornucopia Institute, an organic watchdog organization, has released a report (PDF) on the "organic-ness" of 68 dairy name brands and private labels. While cow-conscious consumers might assume that the word "organic" on the label means that their milk mustache comes from a happy cow grazing in non-pesticide-laden pastures, that's not always the case; guidelines for organic certification can be variously interpreted, and the USDA is lax on enforcing regulations. Says the Cornucopia press release:

[The report] profiles the growth and commercialization of organic dairying and looks at the handful of firms that now seem intent upon taking over the organic dairy industry by producing all or some of their milk on 2000- to 6000-cow industrial-style confinement dairies.

The report finds that while the majority of name-brand organic producers do hold to high legal and ethical standards, 20 percent garnered a "one-cow" substandard rating (out of a possible five).

A booming, lucrative $15 billion market for organic food and a severe national shortage of organic milk are two factors that industry observers mention as driving the "get organic milk from any source" philosophy.

The top companies -- Aurora Organic Dairy and Dean Foods, which owns Horizon Organic, Organic Cow of Vermont and Alta Dena -- did not respond to the survey that Cornucopia sent out, for which they received a score of no cows. The two producers control 60-70 percent of the organic dairy market.

Read a New York Times article on the report or search for your favorite organic dairy provider on this alphabetical list.

Me and Elizabeth Kolbert

Elizabeth Kolbert is the author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe, based on three well-received articles she wrote for the New Yorker (the articles are no longer available online, but you can read an excerpt from the book here; Grist reviewed it here.) It's a journal of her travels to various parts of the world being directly impacted by global warming, along with a clear-eyed assessment of global-warming politics in the U.S. It's probably the best single book on climate change to date.

I'll be chatting with Kolbert tomorrow. What should I ask her?

The Mustache and Lugar

Chip mentioned The Mustache's latest column here. A couple of people wanted to see excerpts, as it's hidden behind the $elect subscription wall.

The basic point of the column is that "Dick Cheney and Big Oil" have taken control of the energy debate by defining "realism" with ...

... this patronizing, pat-you-on-the-head view about alternative energy -- hybrids, wind, solar, ethanol -- which goes like this: "Yes, yes, those are all very cute and virtuous, but not realistic. Real men know that oil and fossil fuels are going to dominate our energy usage for a long time, so get used to it."

But, he says, there are signs of strain in the Republican coalition. More groups on the right are coming to realize that leaving oil behind -- and fast -- is the only "realistic" option if we want to avoid serious pain down the line.

Mostly, though, the column amounts to, "hey, look at Lugar's speech!" Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) makes the same points more eloquently. I'm including a long excerpt below the fold, but I encourage you to read the whole thing.