Latest Articles

Rebuilding: Fubar

So how's that whole rebuilding-New-Orleans thing going? The lede of this WaPo story says it all:

New Orleans can be rebuilt, or so they say.

Just ask the mayor's commission. Or the governor's commission. Or, wait a bit, and see if the congressman's commission flies. The city council's commission was even unveiled with something important missing: commission members. But it was trumpeted as a commission nonetheless.

As this once-flooded city is flooded anew by commissions and subcommittees and study groups, the operative question is becoming: Who the heck is in charge here?

Awesome.

From Frolicking to Fishing

Goodbye, gruel world A visionary pack of vegans plans to buy an island paradise where they can escape this mixed-up world. Among their requirements: low taxes, no zoning restrictions, and plenty of freedom to ask fellow beachgoers, “Is that a cucumber in your Speedo?” Stand up and be discounted From the world of weird protests: […]

Charlie’s Angles

Prince Charles sends veiled message to White House on climate change Britain’s Prince Charles has made it clear he views global warming as the direst problem facing the world community. The $6 million question has been: Would he say as much to the notoriously intransigent George Bush during a state dinner this week at the […]

Chances With Wolves

Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, may mean trouble for rare Alpine wolves Construction being done in the lead-up to the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in and around Turin, Italy, may be driving off the region’s rare wild wolves. Researcher Francesca Marucco has noticed a lack of lupine poop near the Alpine area hosting several Olympic […]

Better Dead Than Red-Legged

Bush admin plans to gut critical habitat for red-legged frog The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed slashing critical habitat for California’s threatened red-legged frog by over 80 percent, from 4.1 million to 737,912 acres. Why, you ask? It seems protecting the beleaguered amphibian just costs too darn much: The agency says projected economic […]

Criminal Negligee-nce

Protests target Victoria’s Secret, call for protection of boreal forest Activists took to the streets in more than 100 North American cities yesterday to protest logging of the continent’s boreal forest, a vast expanse of ancient trees that stretches from Alaska to Canada’s Atlantic coast. Demonstrators charged corporations with sacrificing the world’s third-largest intact forest […]

Mmm … sprawl …

Via kottke, a panoramic photo of suburban sprawl near San Ramon, California. Horrifying.

A seven-year-old writes a book on global warming

I love kids. I love how they think. I love how Ethan Khiem Matsuda, upon grasping the basics of global warming, immediately thought, "What's going to happen to Santa?"

Then he wrote a book about it.

In The North Pole is Sinking!, "Ice is melting in the North Pole, threatening Santa's workshop. Santa and his reindeer set out to investigate the cause. Can the children of the world save the day?"  

No, it won't freak your kid out to read a book about global warming -- the story is described as heartwarming, engaging, and hope-giving. Aww. Warm fuzzies.

Could chain stores actually be good for the environment?

To some environmentalists, the shoppers of the world have nothing to lose but their chains. If only people stopped spending at these awful big-box stores, the thinking goes, the earth might be saved — and local businesses would flourish. Shop to it! From an environmental perspective, there is in fact much to dislike about the […]

Republicans go to great lengths to avoid taxing oil companies

Recently, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, sent a letter to ten U.S. energy companies awash in big fat piles of cash. He asked them to voluntarily donate 10% of their recent windfall profits to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), a federal program that helps poor Americans pay their heating bills. (This winter, natural gas prices are expected to jump 61% in the Midwest, and heating oil nearly 30% in the Northeast.)

The Bushies don't think that's a good idea :