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The Brits need power, quick

Blair is discussing the possibility of building more nuclear power plants. Some of the U.K.'s older plants will be going offline in the next decade or so and according to CarbonFree (a company betting on renewable energy schemes):

November was a bad month in the UK for advocates of power generated from renewable sources. There was a seven-day cold period during which temperatures hovered around zero; a lack of wind becalmed wind turbines and fog blinded solar panels. Panic over bird flu was replaced by concerns that gas producers in the rest of the EU were reluctant to pump natural gas into a pipe under the North Sea that supplies power stations and homes in the UK. Rumours circulated that this winter will see rolling power cuts, firms shutting down and old people shivering around candles.

Enviros need to get social, says activist-turned-sociologist Marshall Ganz

Most of us can probably name a grandfather or great-aunt who was active in a chapter of a national association. My own uncle was a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Yet how many of us can say the same about ourselves? Marshall Ganz. Photo: Harvard University/Justin Ide. As voluntary associations fade […]

From Yeehaw to Yoots

Heart your engines Tired of pretty-boy actors flashing their newfangled wheels? Here’s something grittier: hybrids may be coming to a Formula One track near you. It makes sense, says one rep, since “Formula One is all about efficiency.” Well, that and the fiery crashes. Photo: iStockphoto. All the smews that’s fit to print Some words […]

Small Wonder

Sales of some big SUVs drop by half It’s an early Christmahanukwanzakah present for the planet, and a chunk of coal in the stocking of Detroit’s Big Three automakers: The American love affair with huge SUVs seems finally to be on the wane. Really this time! Sales of once-hot vehicles like the Ford Explorer and […]

The Chemical Druthers

New Jersey becomes first state to require stronger chemical security New Jersey has become the first state in the nation to require security assessments for chemical plants — assessments blocked at the federal level by industry and Republican lawmakers. The new rules call for the state’s 140-odd chemical plants to evaluate potential security risks and […]

That’s Soil, Folks

Officials understating health risks in New Orleans, say eco-groups Louisiana state and federal regulators are not doing enough to warn the public about the health risks in New Orleans, say public-health advocates and enviros. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council and state eco-groups, soil in many parts of the city is contaminated — sometimes […]

Bye Catch

Over a fifth of all fish caught are killed and discarded, study finds The first comprehensive study of “bycatch” — unwanted fish caught and discarded by commercial fishing operations — has confirmed the worst fears of conservationists: Over a fifth of all fish caught by U.S. commercial fishers, around 1.1 million tons, are tossed out […]

Free Your Mind and the Tax Deduction Will Follow

Give to Grist, annihilate your angst Feeling burdened by your eco-sins? Did you nudge up the heat instead of donning a cardigan? Let the tap run while brushing your teeth? Drive all over town hunting for bargains on Black Friday? Don’t sweat it. Just buy a Grist Indulgence and wipe that slate clean. That’s right: […]

Thom Yorke to meet Tony Blair on climate change

Apparently, Radiohead singer Thom Yorke was asked by Friends of the Earth UK to meet with Tony Blair about climate change.

Uh, what?

And supposedly he wrote about it on his blog, although I can't find the entry there. I can only find it quoted in the press. Here's a bit of it:

Friends Of The Earth have asked me whether I would meet Tony Blair at Downing Street to discuss what our government is not doing about climate change. I don't know if this will ever happen for certain. It is rattling around in the back of my mind and concerns me a lot. I have no intention of being used by spider spin doctors to make it look like we make progress when it is just words.

...

Blair has been uttering nonsense lately about Kyoto and such, real la la stuff... looks like the American right have finally eaten his mind. Why on earth would I meet this man? Or perhaps that is exactly why I should. But i dont have powers of persuasion, i just have temper and an acid tongue.

The American right has finally eaten Blair's mind. Indeed.

In other news, damn I can't wait for that new Radiohead album.

The reapers are back, still too clever for their own good

Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus -- yes, yes, the reapers -- want you to know that environmentalism's not only dead, but possibly responsible for the coming apocalypse.

Noting that in Montreal the Bush administration has yet again derailed climate efforts, and the Blair government has yet again acquiesced thereto, the reapers pin the responsibility right where it belongs: on ... greens?

But the stalemate over addressing global warming highlights the failure of neither Blair nor Bush but rather of environmentalism and the politics of limits.

Picture me here doing a double-take-and-rub-eyes, a la Jon Stewart.