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General Electric Slide

Leaked memo raises doubts about thoroughness of GE’s Hudson cleanup plan Remember the historic settlement announced last month between the U.S. EPA and General Electric? The one that would have GE clean up PCBs in the Hudson River, one of the largest industrial cleanups ever attempted? Yeah, well … don’t get your hopes up. GE […]

The Constant Guardians

African parks and preserves face complex challenges Conservationists struggling to protect Africa’s nature preserves face challenges ranging from pirate trawlers to locals hunting monkeys for food. At Conkouati National Park, a joint project of the Republic of Congo and the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society, oil company reps recently showed up accompanied by government officials […]

California is in trouble

I know you've all checked out our nifty map showing where the next likely "Unnatural Disaster" will take place. In the same vein, check out this L.A. Times editorial on a possible Cali earthquake and its consequences for the levees that hold the state's elaborate water infrastructure together. Grim.

Should a magnitude 6.5 earthquake strike the San Francisco Bay Area -- almost a certainty by mid-century, though it could happen today -- about 30 major failures can be expected in the earthen levees.

About 3,000 homes and 85,000 acres of cropland would be submerged. Saltwater from San Francisco Bay would invade the system, forcing engineers to shut down the pumps that ship water to Central and Southern California while the levees were being repaired. This would cut off water to the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project.

The [Metropolitan Water District] has a water reserve of six months set aside for such a crisis, and it also accesses water from the Colorado River. Multiple smaller water agencies south of the delta, however, have no such reserves or alternate sources of supply.

Think of it: 3,000 homes under water; 16 delta islands and 85,000 acres of cropland lost to flood; drought conditions in Central California, followed by drought conditions in Southern California as thirsty people drink up MWD reserves in the first six months of a 12- to 18-month reconstruction period. Nor would the MWD be able to tap into an increased supply of Colorado River water, these resources having long since been allocated to Nevada and Arizona.

(Hat tip to Ezra for editorial and to Tool for the headline.)

Beep Beep, Beep Beep, Yeah!

Car mileage testing will catch up with reality, EPA declares After years of criticism from greens and independent testing groups, the U.S. EPA announced on Friday that its rules for testing automobile fuel economy will finally be updated and revised. New standards should be in place for testing 2008 model year cars. It’s a move […]

FOX in thrall to Kennedy and Clinton?

Good grief, FOX's decision to run a special on global warming that accurately reflects the scientific consensus is really driving righties around the bend.

In the course of ranting about FOX's inexplicable capitulation to science radical lefties, Cliff Kincaid floats this theory:

Some observers think FNC turned its airtime over to [Robert] Kennedy [Jr.] because he may be in a position to help or hurt them. It has been reported that Kennedy wants to run for high office in New York, where FNC parent News Corporation is based. FNC is said to be cozying up to New York Senator Hillary Clinton for the same reason. 

Who, I wonder, are these "some observers," and why are they not named? And why must Hillary Clinton play a role in every single right-wing conspiracy theory, no matter what the subject?

Ah well. I leave it as an exercise for the reader to contemplate the full ramifications of this wingnuttery.

How did the comedy special on global warming do?

As discussed in Grist's interview with Larry David, last night TBS aired a comedy special about global warming titled "Earth to America!"

As I don't get TBS, I was wondering if any of you happened to watch. If so, how was it?

Based on the posts over on TBS's community forums, some people were disappointed and claim that the comedians focused more on politics than on the issue of global warming. Any truth to that?

One-stop shopping

Lots of good stuff stuff in Mike Millikin's week in sustainable transportation.

Chavez will sell oil to U.S. poor

Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela, has harshly criticized George W. Bush for his indifference to poverty in the U.S. Now it looks like Chavez planning to rub his face in it:

Venezuela will soon begin selling heating oil at discount prices to poor communities in Boston and New York, following up on a promise by President Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's state oil company announced.

Suffice to say, this is unlikely to warm their already-frosty relations.

New fuel-economy tests at EPA

The U.S. EPA will replace its much-criticized tests for fuel-economy by the end of the year. The current tests are said to dramatically overstate fuel efficiency. The new ones will take into account "faster driving, more idling in traffic, and more abrupt acceleration and braking."

Sierra Club Chronicles

From a Sierra Club press release, we learn:

"Sierra Club Chronicles," a new monthly television series produced by [Robert] Greenwald, captures the dramatic efforts of committed individuals across the country working every day to protect the health of their environment and their communities.

"All over America, there are inspirational, real life stories of women and men defending their homes, health and families from environmental hazards and threats," explained Carl Pope, Executive Director of the Sierra Club. "'Sierra Club Chronicles' will take viewers directly into those communities and provide a first hand look at these profiles in environmental courage."

The people and stories profiled in "Sierra Club Chronicles" come from diverse backgrounds: ranchers in New Mexico, emergency medical technicians in New York City, fishermen in Alaska, neighbors of a chemical plant in Mississippi, but all are united in a common cause: the fight to protect their families, communities and the lands and livelihoods they love from pollution, corporate greed and short-sighted government policies.

"Sierra Club Chronicles" consists of seven half-hour episodes that will launch on Link TV on January 12, 2006 immediately following the ACLU's original half hour program, "Freedom Files." One new program will premiere the second Thursday of each month at 8:30 PM Eastern and Pacific through July 2006. Link Satellite TV is on DirecTV channel 375 and Dish Network channel 9410. (www.linktv.org).

For more information, visit www.sierraclubtv.org.

[editor's note, by David Roberts] For those who don't know, Robert Greenwald is the director of Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War, Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism, and most recently, Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices.