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The Talk of the Drown

Polar bears drowning as Alaska sea ice disappears OK, we’re trying to keep a positive outlook here, but … drowning polar bears? Seriously? And just when therapy was starting to work. In September 2004 (the year the polar ice cap receded a record 160 miles from Alaska’s north coast), federal researchers doing routine aerial surveys […]

More Pombo rumbling

Hmm ...

Stevens

Yesterday I posted some of an article from Congressional Quarterly about the mad rush by some Congressfolk -- particularly Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) -- to get Arctic Refuge drilling passed this year. They sense that this is their last chance.

I really encourage you to go read it if you haven't already. It's quite eye-opening.

Stevens is aiming to put Gulf hurricane relief and refuge drilling together in the same bill (either the budget bill or the defense appropriations bill), so lawmakers have to vote for both or against both.

"It's going to be awfully hard to vote against [hurricane aid]," Stevens said. "If it's in there, maybe people will vote with me on ANWR."

Take a moment and really think that over.

Stevens is talking about holding aid to desperately needy people hostage in order to shove through a drilling provision contrary to the repeatedly expressed preferences of the majority of Americans.

By now this kind of stuff barely raises an eyebrow -- Stevens obviously feels no shame openly discussing it -- but that doesn't make it any less venal.

Bill Gates bets on ethanol

I don't think Tom Philpott is going to be happy about this. Industrial corn, as far as the eye can see ...

Polar bears drowning

I thought this new Greenpeace commercial was kind of a cutesy joke. But no: Turns out polar bears really are drowning.

(Yeah, it's subscription only, so there's an excerpt below the fold.)

Interactive map identifies areas of imminent extinction

Researchers have identified 595 sites for species protection in a new interactive map. Representing more than a dozen major conservation groups, collaborators on the map were able to pinpoint areas where extinction is a question of when, not if.

Each spot on the map represents either the only place an endangered species is found or a spot where 95 percent of the species' population is found. Almost 800 endangered species are listed with the map's danger spots, though they include only birds, mammals, amphibians, conifers, and some reptiles, as others have yet to be studied or identified.

The map appears to be the first major project of the Alliance for Zero Extinction, a global coalition of biodiversity-minded organizations.

Ford kudos

Say what you will about the fuel-efficiency of their vehicle fleet -- it looks like Ford did the right thing this time.

The dynamics of Arctic Refuge drilling in Congress

A subscription-only article in Congressional Quarterly adeptly summarizes the complicated dynamics at work in Congress right now. Arctic Refuge drilling hangs in the balance. A long excerpt below the fold.

Is too few people the new “population problem”?

Alston wants your women. All’s quiet on the Alston front. Photo: www.visitcumbria.com. And not just any old hags, either — residents of this northern English town would prefer strapping young things who aren’t afraid to get dirty. “Quite frankly, old people are not going to give us the vitality that we need,” says Vince Peart, […]

Can China’s government balance an economic boom with environmental degradation and public protest?

By now it should be clear that China is the big story of the 21st century, in geopolitics generally and global environmental health in particular. Last week saw yet more news of grassroots protest in the country, this one "improperly handled" by police, who killed up to 20 villagers.

The general outline of China's story is one of rapid economic growth, rapid growth of environmental degradation, rapid growth of political dissent, and genuine uncertainty about whether the communist government can keep all these balls in the air without a) acceding to democracy, or b) imposing harsh, country-wide political suppression.

It's hard to overstate the degree of complexity and uncertainty involved here, or the stakes. Depending on where you look, you can find signs that economic growth will continue or run up against hard limits, that environmental degradation will accelerate or that the government will leapfrog past the woes of West's industrialization, that political unrest will spread out of control or calm down as prosperity spreads, that the government will lose control or manage the transition smoothly.

Nobody really knows, and as Gristmill readers will recall, the experts' predictions are no more likely to come true than those of a reasonably educated observer.

That said, I commend you to this post from Anne-Marie Slaughter (or rather, a unnamed friend of hers who lives in China and works in the environmental movement there). It's a great rundown of the role environmental issues are playing in China's political dynamic.

A long excerpt is below the fold, but you should, as bloggers are so fond of saying, read the whole thing.