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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 […]

Dust Breathe

EPA seeks to rescind clean-air protections for rural areas A new Bush administration proposal would strip significant clean-air protections from rural areas. The U.S. EPA would exempt these areas from meeting federal standards for coarse particulate matter — essentially, windblown clouds of dust — and end federal monitoring of particulate levels in those locales. The […]

The Sound of One Hand Tapping

Greenpeace joins lawsuit against Bush admin’s secret wiretap program On Tuesday, a diverse group of individuals and organizations filed suit against the National Security Agency, asking a federal court in Detroit to declare the agency’s clandestine domestic eavesdropping program unconstitutional. The plaintiffs — ranging from Greenpeace to stalwart Iraq war booster Christopher Hitchens — have […]

An interview with swashbuckling climate scientist Lonnie Thompson

Lonnie Thompson has clocked more hours above 18,000 feet than any other person in history, and yet he doesn’t exactly like climbing mountains. A masochist? No, just a hard-driving climate scientist. The iceman cometh. Photo: Courtesy Lonnie Thompson. Thompson treks up the highest peaks of the tropics — including the Himalayas and Andes — to […]

We’re all going to die

Wow, well ... shit.

This piece in Fortune, adapted by Eugene Linden from his book Winds of Change, is a front-runner for the most depressing thing I've ever read. I don't see how anyone could read it and feel anything other than depressed paralysis.

I guess you should read it, if depressed paralysis is your thing. Me, I'm headed to Costco to buy some bottled water, canned food, and a rifle.

(hat tip: Bart A)

Umbra on choosing a laptop

Dear Umbra, I am buying a new laptop, and I was wondering if all computers are the same energy-wise, or if some brands are better for the environment? Aviva HorrowPhiladelphia, Pa. Dearest Aviva, You’re already off to a good start, as laptops consume far less energy than desktop machines — we’re talking over 50 percent […]

Friedman’s mustache of understanding yields more truth

It's too bad y'all can't read Times $elect, cause Tom Friedman (the Mustache of Understanding) is really waving the green flag for us. Last week was his broad call to arms -- "green is the new red, white and blue" -- and this week comes a narrow focus on a particular case: a Texas Instruments chip factory in Texas.

The challenge to the designers of the factory was explicit:

T.I. always wanted to keep its newest wafer factory near Dallas so it would be near its design center and ideas could flow back and forth. But China, Taiwan and Singapore were all tempting alternatives, offering low wages, subsidies and tax breaks. So the T.I. leadership laid down a challenge: T.I. could locate its new wafer factory in Richardson, if the T.I. design team and community leaders could find a way to build it for $180 million less than its last Dallas factory, erected in the late 1990's. That would make its cost-per-wafer competitive with any overseas plant's.

Say it with me: domestic jobs.

The T.I. design team partnered with Amory Lovins (also not too shabby in the mustache department) and pulled it off:

[Stupid aloha joke here]: Hawaii and the oil endgame

I'm a few days late on this, but it seems significant.

Hawaii's Republican (oops, did I italicize that?) Governor Linda Lingle has proposed a new bill called "Energy for Tomorrow." You can read the original press release (here as PDF; here converted to HTML) or a shorter fact sheet (PDF; HTML). The five major components:

• "Savings through Efficiency"
• "Independence through Renewable Energy"
• "Fuels through Farming"
• "Security through Technology"
• "Empowering Hawaii's Consumers"

It draws heavily on the Rocky Mountain Institute's Winning the Oil Endgame, and aims to make the state most dependent on fossil-fuel imports energy independent. Bold.

From a story in Renewable Energy Access: