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$144,573 a day

Speaking of newly retired Exxon chairman Lee Raymond, an analysis commissioned by the New York Times recently determined that he made $144,573 per day for the length of his tenure with the company.

Not bad.

Rhymes with unanimity

Basically everyone agrees: we're full of chemicals. Hooray, agreement!

Now what to do about it? Some California lawmakers are suggesting a program to monitor and catalog said chemicals in residents' bodies.

Senate Bill 1379 would create the nation's first statewide biomonitoring program to study levels of chemical contamination in blood, urine, fatty tissue, or breast milk.

Essentially it's a state-specific version of the CDC's National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals. Predictably though, powerful forces are aligning against it, fearing an educated, informed, environmentally aware public.

Renew US: Climate crisis averted … at least in the movie

Ah, finally a Flash movie I can get behind!

Renew US is ...

... a collaborative effort launched by Stonyfield Farm, Inc., a consumer products company founded in 1983 with the belief that the planet is everybody's business; Earth Day Network, an international environmental network dedicated since 1970 to empowering people to effect large scale positive environmental change, and Clean Air-Cool Planet, a nonprofit organization that educates industry, consumers and policy makers about the challenges and solutions to global climate change.

To mark its debut, the site is running a Flash movie called "Climate: A Crisis Averted." The premise is that it's filmed in 2055, after the threat of global warming has been overcome. Various people ruminate on how grim the situation was in 2006, and how everyone came together to act (thanks, ahem, to Renew US).

After you watch the movie, go here to learn how to buy clean power in your area.

Hope! Solutions! And clever, too. Let me know what you think.

(Small kvetch under the fold.)

Well this is a new one

Steve Forbes has a creative strategy for bringing down the price of oil: Attack Iran.

The Daily Grist Headline Battle Royale: Match 8

It is no surprise (to me) that last week's winner is "Enthuse Your Curbism" with 53% of the vote. What I do find surprising is that "Waddle They Do Now?" faired better than "Good Mennonite, and Good Luck". Go figure.

Also a little disappointing is the number of votes: 13 (an alltime low). I'd like to think you were spending all your time voting for us in the People's Choice Awards. If so, thank you, as Grist is currently kicking butt.

Anyhoo, here are the next batch of nominees:

1. Let's Make a Meal: Michael Pollan's new book digs into the mysteries of the U.S. diet
2. Oh No He Didn't: Chrysler official takes public potshot at oil companies
3. What a Tangled Webby We Weave: Grist nominated for Webby Award -- go vote for us!
4. Governor, May I Take One Baby Step?: Schwarzenegger calls for slow and steady climate action
5. RGGI or Not, Here They Come: Maryland senator chats with Grist about joining regional climate pact
6. Life's a Bleach and Then You Die: Caribbean coral reefs hammered by bleaching, disease

Vote!

The ghost of Ayn Rand reminds us that environmentalists want to KILL US ALL [cue music from Psycho]

We received this op-ed submission from the Ayn Rand Institute, for reasons I don't fully understand. Perhaps they didn't read the site too closely?

I dabbled with Rand when I was a bitter adolescent ... which is the appropriate time to dabble with Rand. When you don't grow out of that phase, well, you go to work for the Institute.

Anyway, I present, for your amusement and edification:

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To save mankind requires the wholesale rejection of environmentalism as hatred of science, technology, progress, and human life.
By Michael S. Berliner

Earth Day approaches, and with it a grave danger faces mankind. The danger is not from acid rain, global warming, smog, or the logging of rain forests, as environmentalists would have us believe. The danger to mankind is from environmentalism.

Terrain Johnson and Colleen Contrisciane of Earth Force answer questions

With what environmental organization are you affiliated? Terrain Johnson. Johnson: I’m a 6th grade student at Masterman Middle School in Philadelphia, and I work with Earth Force. Colleen Contrisciane. Contrisciane: I am a program coordinator with Earth Force, a national organization that aims to engage young people as environmental citizens. What does your organization do? […]

Coal: Totally, like, awesome

Advertisers and marketing types everywhere want to know: What common interest unites pre-teen African Americans and young white skateboarders?

Well, I've found the answer! It's American coal, which is abundant, affordable, and oh-so-clean! Why, it's so darn cool the skateboarder is "stoked" about it.

Learn more here.

(And PS, is that the kid from The Squid and the Whale?)

‘Eco-terrorism’: The not-particularly-interesting parts

The cover story of Pacific Northwest Magazine is about "eco-terrorism." It's decent enough on its own terms, but disappointingly cursory.

Moderately Bueno!

Mexico City air is a little better than it used to be Two decades ago, Mexico City’s air was widely deemed the worst on the planet. Today, while the city of 20 million is still one of the world’s most polluted, it’s no longer top dog. (Several cities in China now dominate the charts.) A […]