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For sale — on Mars

I'm all for space exploration, but maybe we should get our act together on this planet before we go mucking up others.

(Via Wired)

More on selective libertarianism

I stand by the sentiment expressed here, but acknowledge that Jerry Taylor was entirely the wrong target. (Something I'll acknowledge at greater length in a post I have brewing about libertarianism, energy, and environmental policy. Every time I try to write it it metastasizes to a length more appropriate to epic poetry. Concision, alert readers will have noticed, is not my forte. So ... stay tuned.)

Consider, for instance, the following two responses to the just-passed energy bill.

Wangari on a tightrope

The Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai is walking a tightrope on evictions of poor squatters from Kenya's few remaining forests. Over 50,000 have recently been forced out of the woods, often with little explanation and guns at their backs.

Maathai, who won the peace prize for protecting Kenya's forests from the plundering cronies of then-President Moi, now serves as deputy minister of environment in the very government doing the evicting. Read here where she supports the necessity of the expulsions to save what little remains of Kenya's forests, while condemning the way it is being done.

Grist coverage of her winning the Nobel Peace Prize is here.

Senate passes energy bill

The senate just passed the energy bill 74-26. You'll eventually be able to see the roll call votes here.

Prior to the final vote, Sen. Feingold offered a budget point of order. That failed 71-29.

To modify another biblical verse: Ana wept.

New nominees for top spots at EPA worry enviros

While the green community and the press fixate on the energy bill that’s finally wending its way to President Bush‘s desk, a changing of the guard under way at the U.S. EPA is sliding by virtually unnoticed. Who are these three jokers? When Stephen Johnson assumed his post at the head of the agency in […]

Frist brings science back into the mix

In potentially good news for science fans everywhere, Sen. Bill Frist has stepped up to support stem-cell research. The money quote on this one: "It's not just a matter of faith, it's a matter of science," (Dr.) Frist said.

All hail the new Age of Reason?

Black and White and Studio Head All Over

Hollywood studios see greenbacks in them thar flightless waterfowl The summer’s big hit documentary isn’t about the antics of political weasels, or children at spelling bees; it’s a nature film about flightless Antarctic waterfowl. French-made March of the Penguins, a heartstring-yanking saga about emperor penguins, cost $7 million to make. It’s already earned over $10 […]

A Slip of the Tungsten

Supposedly eco-safe ammo may actually contaminate soil “Green bullets” created to be environmentally safe — though not safe, presumably, for their targets — may not be so eco after all. At Camp Edwards in Bourne, Mass., the U.S. Army switched from lead ordnance to ammo made of tungsten and nylon, aiming (ahem) not to contaminate […]

Stricken of the Sea

Fish diversity declines in the deep ocean There are fewer and fewer species of big fish in the deep sea, putting overall ocean health in danger. Scientists have known for years that overfishing diminishes species diversity in coastal areas, but in a study published today in the journal Science, researchers report a drop in diversity […]

Shuffling the Deck

New nominees for top spots at EPA worry enviros The Senate last night confirmed President Bush’s pick for the No. 2 slot at EPA — Marcus Peacock, most recently a number-cruncher at the Office of Management and Budget, responsible for determining whether the cost of environmental regulations is justified by their benefit to the U.S. […]