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Greening the U.S. tax code gets sadly little attention from green groups.

This morning the Brookings Institution hosted a forum on "Tax Reform and the Environment." Along with the usual suspects singing the economic and environmental praises of ending subsidies and tax breaks that harm the environment as well as levying some that would help was one William Frenzel -- former Member of Congress and current member of the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform.

Mr. Frenzel noted that out of the hundreds of submissions from the public to the panel a grand total of three could be generously described as support for "greening" our taxes as part of a reform package. It's been nearly 20 years since the last tax reform happened, and I know that in the current DC climate it's hard to imagine a green shift in taxes, but come on people. Don't we need to at least try?

As far as I know, no environmental group has set up a generic e-mail for their members to send to the panel. This surprises me. But you can take matters into your own hands by submitting your own suggestions.

According to Frenzel:

Choosing the healthiest place to raise your kids can be a complicated matter

Two new reports in British medical journals suggest that choosing the right place to raise your children can have a major impact on their health and well-being.

"Duh," you say. But let's look at the details.

One study says living within 650 feet of a power line may significantly increase a child's likelihood of developing leukemia, the most common type of childhood cancer. It's a question that's been debated for a while now, and some researchers say the link is still weak.

Another study says exposure to aircraft noise may impair reading comprehension, while road traffic noise may actually improve (!) memory recall abilities in schoolchildren. However, a combination of both aircraft noise and traffic noise was associated with additional stress and a reduced quality of life.

So, to recap: living near power lines = bad; living near a busy airport = bad; living near a busy road = good (?); living on busy road near airport = bad.

Below the fold, tips on finding environmentally friendly communities:

Joel Makower summarizes the many options for those seeking climate-neutral driving.

You've probably heard about "green tags," whereby businesses -- or events, or rock bands, or whatever -- can offset the carbon emissions of their activities by paying for clean energy credits (debits?). As the preceding sentence (doesn't) make clear, it's not entirely easy to explain exactly what a green tag is, or what it does, or how to get one.

Now a whole host of websites have popped up offering to let you offset your own personal CO2 emissions -- that is, your driving. But the services of said websites work with different figures, cost different amounts, and produce different results. What's a confused, eco-conscious driver to do?

Fear not. Joel Makower has just written a fascinating and comprehensive summary of the whole "climate-neutral driving" schtick. Get thee and read it.

Ferry Godfather

Architect shows that reusing discarded materials can be chic Greens have been going on for years about the need to reuse society’s refuse. Now, a high-end modernist San Francisco architect named Olle Lundberg is showing that scavenging is not just for the poor and idealistic. The rich can play too! For instance, Lundberg lives on […]

The Bad News Forebears

Study suggests toxins’ effects may be passed down through generations A pregnant woman’s exposure to toxic chemicals may cause harmful effects not only in her children, but in her grandchildren and theirs, a surprising new study suggests. For some time scientists have known about “epigenetic” changes: chemical modifications of DNA that affect the way it […]

The Sawn Remains the Same

Massive Amazon illegal logging ring busted Eighty-nine people were rounded up by Brazilian authorities this week as part of a massive crackdown on illegal logging in the Amazon rainforest, causing a rare outbreak of hope among conservationists that the country’s government is finally taking the problem seriously. (The sweep came just weeks after the latest, […]

CNN founder says the network needs more environmental news, less trash

CNN founder and legendary loudmouth Ted Turner marked the 25th birthday of the pioneering cable news network this week by patting its back, but also telling staff, "I would like to see us return to a little more international coverage on the domestic feed and a little more environmental coverage, and maybe a little less pervert of the day. I mean, there's a lot of perversion around, I know that, but is it really news? I mean, some of it is. I guess you've got to cover Michael Jackson, but not three stories about perversion at the lead of every half-hour."

A "little more" environmental coverage? Does that imply that there's some already? Did I blink and miss it?  

Freedom is messy

Kind of hard to focus on amidst the daily slaughter, but Iraq's environmental situation is horrible and getting steadily worse.

Here we go

Expect to see many more stories like this.

Foreign corporations spend big to influence U.S. environmental law

Cold, hard, foreign cash. Lobbying has become as much a part of American culture as apple pie, blue jeans, and monster trucks, but it’s not just U.S. companies playing the game. Increasingly, foreign corporations are spending big bucks to push their interests in Washington, D.C., many with the intent of weakening environmental protections — from […]