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Bush and Crichton

Todd Gitlin brings us this quote from Frank Barnes' Rebel-in-Chief: Inside the Bold and Controversial Presidency of George W. Bush:

Though he didn't say so publicly, Bush is a dissenter on the theory of global warming....He avidly read Michael Crichton's 2004 novel State of Fear, whose villain falsifies scientific studies to justify draconian steps to curb global warming....Early in 2005, political adviser Karl Rove arranged for Crichton to meet with Bush at the White House. They talked for an hour and were in near-total agreement. The visit was not made public for fear of outraging environmentalists all the more.

Sigh.

My review of Crichton's book is here.

Back to switchgrass

According to a guest op-ed in today's NYT, switchgrass is the road to world peace. And a pony.

I'm ready to be convinced about this stuff. If switchgrass really flourishes on marginal land, soaks up pesticides, absorbs CO2, looks great in floral arrangements, and -- this is key -- could eventually be scaled to compete with the abundance and price of corn, count me a cheerleader.

I think biofuels will be only a small part of the long-term energy solution, but low-impact crop fuels are necessary and comparatively unobjectionable as a bridge technology.

More evidence that individual purchases mean less than changes in the system

Apparently I didn't do such a good job in this post explaining why I found this New York Times article on higher-mileage, gas-electric hybrid SUVs so troubling. So I'll try again.

To recap -- the Times article claims that, under the system governing vehicle fuel economy in the U.S., selling a hybrid Escape lets Ford sell an additional Lincoln Navigator without running afoul of federal CAFE standards. In other words, while buying an Escape may mean that you're driving a more efficient vehicle, it doesn't mean that the average fuel economy of all the Fords on the road will change one whit.

A couple commenters over on my blog mothership said this is bunk. But I think the article is on to something.

Good grief

James Hansen says NOAA is also stifling its scientists.

White House knew about breach of levees

So yeah, I know you've got scandal fatigue, but if you can squeeze just one more in, here you go.

Media Shower: The inauguration

What do you get when a significant number of your posts are about the same topic? You're asked to write a weekly column! Thus, I introduce "Media Shower," whereby I'll shower you (ha ha) with musings on the intersection of media and the environment. While I'll focus on television, film, video games, and the internets, no medium will be off-limits. Specifically, I'll be exploring ways that TV shows, movies, etc. are being used to help the cause. To that end, I give you Jeff Skoll.

Kicking Toyota out of the country

Let's say you're threatened by hybrids. Let's say you're particularly threatened by hybrids coming into the U.S. from another country, and proving mighty popular. What might be a creative way to fix the problem?

Oh, how about suing for patent infringement? "If the International Trade Commission agrees with Solomon, [Toyota] could be banned from importing the systems and the Prius and Highlander hybrid models that they power." Stay tuned.

Gets national reforms on the basis of local violations

Can somebody with more knowledge and experience tell me if something extraordinary is going on in the office of Kevin J. O'Connor, the U.S. Attorney for the Connecticut district? It certainly seems extraordinary to me -- and deserving of wider notice and praise.

From Dreams to Desert

Girls. Crushing cars. We had a dream: Automobiles, being recycled. But first being crushed, slowly, by heavy machinery. All the while surrounded by skeezy dancing girls in bikinis. Well, we bring good news, brothers and sisters. The dream is real. The dream is real. Photo: Aachen Auto/Keith Bragg. Redressage in a bottle A lovelorn sailor […]

Readers talk back about ethanol, cell phones, home renovations, and more

  Re: Kernel Ganders Dear Editor: Thanks for covering the ethanol issue and our paper in Science. David Pimentel erroneously claims we didn’t include energy for farm machinery in our analysis, and unfortunately his claim, though false, has been repeated several times in the media. Your article also attributes to our study the claim that […]