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Not so much

Speaking of evangelical Christianity and environmentalism: In this midst of this unspeakably horrific story about Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas), the Congressional champion of evangelicals, comes this revealing passage:

Brownback is less concerned about the world being polluted by people. His biggest financial backer is Koch Industries, an oil company that ranks among America's largest privately held companies. "The Koch folks," as they're known around the senator's office, are among the nation's worst polluters. In 2000, the company was slapped with the largest environmental civil penalty in U.S. history for illegally discharging 3 million gallons of crude oil in six states. That same year Koch was indicted for lying about its emissions of benzene, a chemical linked to leukemia, and dodged criminal charges in return for a $20 million settlement. Brownback has received nearly $100,000 from Koch and its employees, and during his neck-and-neck race in 1996, a mysterious shell company called Triad Management provided $410,000 for last-minute advertising on Brownback's behalf. A Senate investigative committee later determined that the money came from the two brothers who run Koch Industries.

Brownback has been a staunch opponent of environmental regulations that Koch finds annoying, fighting fuel-efficiency standards and the Kyoto Protocol on global warming.

Whatever substance there is in the alleged growth of "creation care," it doesn't seem to have reached the upper levels of the evangelical movement -- the people who, you know, have power.

SOTU: The Mustache responds

Today Thomas Friedman does what he excels at: points out the obvious.

So here's my bottom line: I'm glad the president is changing his rhetoric on energy and says he is changing his funding priorities. It makes for a great headline. But he has to go much further if he wants to make a great difference. There's no pain-free solution.

But here's the best part:

And if he fails to carry through with this energy initiative, I'll be the first to rip him for it. In the meantime, I prefer to give him a new reputation to live up to. You never know. ... And by the way, pal, you got a better horse to ride right now?

I leave you with the image of Friedman ripping and riding Bush. You can thank me later.

From Bobby to Breeders

Do these pants make my opposition to wind farms look fat? Seeking to battle charges of out-of-touch, upper-class elitism, Kennedy scion Robert F. has taken up … modeling? Yup, he and his fam are featured in a new fashion campaign by sportswear maker GANT (in exchange for a “six-figure” partnership with RFK’s Waterkeeper Alliance). Tres […]

EPA program offers carrots to polluters and takes away sticks, enviros say

A U.S. EPA program that’s supposed to give recognition and flexibility to companies that are good environmental citizens may in fact be giving a free pass to some firms that are heavy polluters and even lawbreakers, according to a coalition of environmentalists. Come and get it! Photo: Clipart. The agency’s voluntary Performance Track program — […]

Tool Pigeon

Researchers will use birds to collect air-quality data for blog Pigs can’t fly, but soon pigeons will blog — about air pollution. UC-Irvine professor Beatriz da Costa and two graduate students are developing tiny Global Positioning System units, cell phones, and pollution sensors that can fit into little bird backpacks (cute!). Da Costa plans to […]

The Revolution Will Be Prefaced With a White Paper

New Mexico senators lay groundwork for federal global-warming bill Could the somnolent federal Leviathan finally be waking to the danger heralded so long by state and local Lilliputians? Could that metaphor be more baroque? New Mexico’s senators say they will introduce a bill this spring in the Senate that would mandate action on global warming. […]

And by “More Money,” I Meant “You’re Fired”

Federal renewable-energy researchers laid off as lawmakers divert funds In Tuesday’s State of the Union speech, President Bush called for more funding to develop alternative energy sources. Meanwhile, in the real world, scores of staffers at the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory are about to be laid off, and a pile of contractors […]

Fault Whitman

Bush appointee misled public on toxic air after 9/11 attack, judge says Federal judge Deborah Batts said yesterday that former U.S. EPA chief Christine Todd Whitman “increased, and may have in fact created, the danger” to people living and working near the World Trade Center towers in the weeks following the 9/11 attacks — behavior […]

Competing in new global markets … or not

A German company, SolarWorld, just became the largest manufacturer of solar-power equipment in the U.S.

And this despite Bush's Advanced Energy Initiative and his American Competitiveness Initiative! Didn't anyone tell SolarWorld about our initiatives?

Al Gore and electric car star in films unveiled at Sundance

At 25 years of age, Sundance is the country’s premier festival of independent film. But a lot has changed over that quarter century. Well, actually, one thing has changed: m-o-n-e-y. There’s a ton of Hollywood cash spent at Sundance, and I could see it everywhere I looked last week. The “VIP” corporate parties on Main […]