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The End is Nigeria

Oil pollution, corruption contribute to hostage-taking in Nigeria In Nigeria, oil, corruption, pollution, and violence have produced a drama rich with 21st-century portent. Last week, militants in Nigeria’s oil-rich delta region took four Western oil workers hostage. Their demands include more local control of Nigeria’s massive oil wealth — the proceeds of which typically end […]

Can environmentalism be sexy, hip, and fun?

By the looks of this party, I say hell yeah! What am I talking about? ICInyc. From the press release [PDF]:

On January 25th, 2006 New York's eco-conscious elite will descend on the trendy LES hotspot Libation for a party held by ICInyc. The first party of its kind, ICInyc will bring these eco-chic revelers together for a simple purpose; to show the rest of the world that being fabulous and easy on the planet are one and the same.

...

The future-forward set is hungry for an ultra chic venue that speaks to its consciousness. ICInyc ("ici" is French for "here"), a roving celebration of front line visionaries blending fashion, design, media and the arts with the modest task of saving the planet, fills the void. "We created ICInyc as a spectacle, experiment and gathering place for the growing number of fashionable, design-savvy, eco-conscious urban dwellers," says Charles Heckman, one of the masterminds behind the event.

And eco-fashion (for the life of me I don't know why Grist hasn't interviewed her yet) hottie Summer Rayne Oakes should be in attendance.

And by the looks of the press list, this might be a serious event.

(Via TH)

Is recycling glass worth it?

A random call from a reporter piqued my interest: Does recycling glass really save energy? That is, after you take into consideration all the energy spent to collect glass from people's homes, truck the collected glass to a distribution center, route it to a glass manufacturer, and then melt it down for reuse, does glass recycling really save anything, compared with using virgin materials?

I was actually fearing the worst here. Obviously, given all the energy costs of recycling glass, it's conceivable that it isn't a very good deal for the environment. Plus the reporter was asking specifically because he'd heard some mention that the benefits of glass recycling were overblown.

As it turns out, though, I shouldn't have worried. From just about every serious analysis I dug up, it seems that glass recycling really does save energy, compared with using virgin material. Some handy citations: here, here, here, and this extensive lit. review (PDF).

But as with most things, there is a bit of a twist.

Conservative columnist says he was taken down by environmentalist conspiracy

Ah, seems environmentalists just don't know their own power!

Disgraced conservative columnist (and frequent biotech-booster) Michael Fumento -- recently canned by Scripps Howard News Service after revelations that he accepted grants from Monsanto, which he never disclosed to his readers or to Scripps -- says he's the target of a "witch hunt" run by [ominous music] the greeeens.

It's no coincidence, you see, that he came under fire after conservative Doug Bandow admitted he wrote columns for lobbyist Jack Abramoff in exchange for cash. Fumento mutters darkly:

Bandow was long a critic of environmental activists, and when he went down a light bulb lit up over their heads.

They realized they might eliminate more of their critics by simply accusing them of being paid corporate shills, and then siccing the media on them to see what they could dig up. They assembled an "enemies list," giving it to reporters at publications including the New York Times and Business Week. I have locked horns with green groups for the past 15 years and earned a spot on that list.

Close reading of the rest of the column reveals rather little -- and by "rather little" I mean "zero" -- evidence for the existence of the alleged enemies list, much less for the light bulbs and subsequent environmentalist conspiracies.

Perhaps he doesn't want to reveal too much. After all, they're watching him ...

Sigh

I wish, instead of being a poor writer, I was a rich writer. Then I'd build a house like this. (Check out the slideshow.)

Values

From what I've seen, everything Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus have produced consists of one part genuine insight, one part confusion, and one part banality, presented with a breathless air of revolution, an undertone of smug satisfaction, and a generous dollop of self-promotion.

Garance Franke-Ruta's long, dense piece in this month's American Prospect more or less confirms that assessment. It's not about the Death stuff, but a broader project to map the current values of the American public and help progressives figure out how to appeal to them. The reapers are opening an American branch of the Canadian consumer-research firm Environics -- bringing the extremely sophisticated research tools used by the private sector to the public sector (where conventional polling is woefully inexact).

The basic picture is this: For the past couple of decades, "values" have come to eclipse, and in many ways serve as a proxy for, issues of economic self-interest. This has left the Democrats out in the cold. So what are those values?

Here's the nut:

Global warming could wipe out the bottom of the food chain.

When you woke up this morning, did you thank [God, your lucky stars, the Big Bang] for plankton? If you didn't, consider adding it to your daily routine. Sure plankton are teeny-tiny and look like scary aliens, but they're also moderately important, in that sustaining-life sort of way.

Sadly, global warming could kill them off. The Independent wins my nomination for "Most Sinister Opening Paragraph o' the Day":

The microscopic plants that underpin all life in the oceans are likely to be destroyed by global warming, a study has found.

The article goes on to tell how this has "catastrophic implications" and is "potentially devastating," not just because the little critters are chow for bigger critters, but also because they absorb carbon dioxide in their wee bodies and take it with them when they die and sink to the ocean floor. Thanks for taking one for the team, plankton.

Of course this was entirely expected and scientists have been taking steps to resolve this imminent disaster, right? Uh, no.

Scientists had believed phytoplankton, which survives best at depths of about 100 metres, is largely stable and immune from the impact of global warming.

Whoops!

Without phytoplankton, the oceans would soon because marine deserts.

This is depressing, so I'm going to end this post with an exciting contest! Fun, fun! First person to name the band and song title of the following lyric wins a virtual high five from me!

"The ocean is a desert with its life underground, and a perfect disguise above."

Good luck!

It’s a rough winter down Russia way

Russia's energy woes -- and, by extension, Europe's -- continue as the country scrambles to deal with the coldest recorded weather since 1927.

As one story reports, cuts in exports "hit supplies across Eastern Europe and sparked criticism from both the European Union and the United States that Moscow was 'politicising' energy."

Um, takes one to know one?

Zoo Peeper

Jacko gets a pass on conditions at his private zoo If there’s one subject we like writing about more than cow poop, it’s the narcissistic hijinks of our celebrity overlords. If they are 90 percent synthetic, all the better. Speaking of: Seems Michael Jackson has been cleared of charges of mistreating the menagerie of exotic […]

Johnson Left Hanging

Six former EPA chiefs tell Bush to cap and cut greenhouse gases Six former heads of the U.S. EPA — including five Republicans — have blasted the Bush administration for failing to act on global warming. In an unprecedented united front, the ex-chiefs, gathered yesterday to commemorate the agency’s 35th anniversary, agreed that debating the […]