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Why CAFTA sucks: Reason #82

Daphne Eviatar spells it out nicely in a Washington Post op-ed:

Science wars

Great column by Chris Mooney on the science wars of the 90s and the 00s, respectively.

Drunken forests and sinking houses

See climate change in action in a series of photos from the Anchorage Daily News (login: mehlman@mailinator.com, password: misteree). They accompany a lengthy article by Doug O'Harra about permafrost warming in Alaska and all heck breaking loose.

Earth frozen since woolly mammoths and bison wandered Interior steppes has been turning to mush. Lakes have been shrinking. Trees are stressed. Prehistoric ice has melted underground, leaving voids that collapse into sinkholes.

Largely concentrated where people have disturbed the surface, such damage can be expensive, even heartbreaking. It's happening now in Fairbanks: Toppled spruce, roller-coaster bike trails, rippled pavement, homes and buildings that sag into ruin. And the meltdown is spreading in wild areas: sinkholes, dying trees, eroding lakes.

These collapses bode ill: They are omens of what scientists fear will happen on a large scale across the Arctic if water and air continue to warm as fast as climate models predict.

And if O'Harra's article doesn't quench your thirst for news of drunken forests and sinking houses, read Elizabeth Kolbert's fascinating, in-depth New Yorker piece from May on climate chaos in Alaska and beyond.

Rob Elam, biodiesel buff, answers questions

Rob Elam. What work do you do? I’m a cofounder of Propel Fuels, a biodiesel services and distribution firm. Biodiesel is a vegetable-oil based fuel for diesel engines. Using it significantly reduces greenhouse-gas and particulate-matter emissions. What does your organization do? Our mission is simple: fill tanks with biodiesel. We’re approaching this in three ways: […]

Do hybrids have to get beefier and sacrifice mileage?

So I'm flipping through a magazine this morning and stumble on a glossy ad featuring a muscley sports car. The tag line:

THE CHARGER HYBRID -- IT BURNS GAS AND RUBBER

Sigh.

Anyway, speaking of hybrids, I have a question. As everyone's noticed, the hybrid market seems to be moving toward performance-based cars that boost power without doing much to boost gas mileage. Greens no doubt view this as a disaster. But lots of auto-geeks think that, as this Autoblog post puts it, the "honeymoon is over" for hybrids in terms of fuel economy, what with constant reports that their real-world mileage doesn't approach their advertised mileage.

So, are hybrids making a necessary shift to preserve their expanding market? Or are performance-based hybrids a reflection of the greed and perfidy of automakers and autobuyers alike?

Better Off, Dead

Eco-burials on the upswing We’re all gonna die! Eventually, anyway. If you’d like your demise to contribute to a greener planet, reserve a plot at Forever Fernwood, a northern California cemetery specializing in “eco-interments.” About half of Fernwood is devoted to burials that use environmentally friendly practices: hemp-silk blend shrouds, biodegradable coffins, low-key grave markers […]

Lakes and Pains

Great Lakes beset by myriad threats This weekend, The Detroit News published a massive series on the latest threats facing the Great Lakes — and we mean massive: close to 30 articles. The lakes, which hold a fifth of the world’s freshwater, were once emblematic of America’s environmental malaise, choked with algae and pollutants. While […]

That’s Some Commitment

Bush administration cuts protections for Pacific salmon habitat In a move it says reaffirms its “commitment to salmon recovery,” the Bush administration on Friday slashed critical habitat for Pacific salmon facing extinction. The National Marine Fisheries Service announced that federal protection for salmon habitat in California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington would be cut from 167,700 […]

Umbra on true hybrids

Dear Umbra, I read the New York Times article that reported auto manufacturers are using hybrid technology to boost power rather than improve mileage. It specifically mentioned the Honda Accord, claiming that the mileage difference between the six-cylinder and the hybrid is minimal. What are the facts here? Is there a hybrid that really, actually, […]

Same paper, same day, two claims

Saturday's LA Times features two articles about the effect of high gas prices on the choices that commuters make. One asserts that the recent run-up in gas prices is prompting more people to use public transportation. Another article, however, claims that changes to driving habits come in the form of choosing more efficient vehicles or just driving less.

In the interest of full disclosure, the first article is filed under the opinion section. And the claims of the two articles are not entirely opposed to one another. Both articles acknowledge that ridership is up; however, the second article notes that only half of the transit riders who considered trains a way to cut costs were still riding six months later. The convenience factor of cars, it seems, is just too great.

Also in the court of differing opinions: the second Times article's statement that "riding a Metrolink train also is more of a 'lifestyle choice' made by professional workers who have more flexibility with their schedules" v. Lisa Simpson, describing buses as "the ride of choice for the poor and very poor alike."