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GOP starting to face up to climate challenge

More signs that the tipping point on climate has arrived:

In a Christian Science Monitor article today: "The ground is shifting on the politics of climate change faster than I would have thought," said Alex Flint, GOP staff director of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, at a press breakfast sponsored by The Energy Daily and BP America on Friday.

And as The Boston Globe reports: "The chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, Pete V. Domenici, is considering whether to team up with a fellow New Mexican, Senator Jeff Bingaman, a Democrat, on [a] proposal that would cap [greenhouse-gas] emissions but allow companies to buy their way out if the cost of reducing emissions proves to be prohibitively high." (More on Bingaman's plan here.)

"We're thrilled at the interest being shown by Republicans at doing something that's achievable and doable," said Bill Wicker, a Bingaman spokesman.

U.S. mayors unanimously endorse climate-protection resolution

The nation's mayors have thrown their weight behind Kyoto (and thereby thumbed their noses at Dubyah). At the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Chicago yesterday, municipal leaders unanimously endorsed a resolution calling on U.S. cities to meet or beat the protocol's emissions-reduction targets. Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels spearheaded the resolution, as well as a more specific campaign that's gotten 164 cities (so far) to commit to taking steps to protect the climate. Grist's Amanda Griscom Little tracked Nickels down amidst all the hubbub this morning for an interview, which we'll publish later this week. Stay tuned.

As Eric pointed out yesterday, we're at a tipping point on climate change (finally, jeez). Can Bush possibly hold out for another 3.5 years doing nothing on this issue? I'm betting he cannot.

Update [2005-6-20 10:34:49 by Lisa Hymas]: Check out Amanda's interview with Nickels.

Chicago Climate Exchange paves the way for U.S. emissions trading

Forget the feds — we’ll make our own deals. The Oakland airport seems perfectly situated. Unlike many urban airports, which require an expensive taxi trip or hour-long train ride to reach the city where you thought you’d just arrived, downtown lies mere minutes away. Such convenience is possible because the runways sit on a former […]

One of my concerns about cities.

If it isn't already abundantly clear, I am a big fan of cities. If there's one thing that gets me a little concerned about them, though, it's the fact that they turn over so fast. According to Stewart Brand's recent lecture, cities replace at least 2-3 percent of their fabric every year, so every forty years or so they have been completely remade. Where does all that sheer mass go? And where do we get all that sheer mass? Regardless of where it goes, this doesn't strike me as a particularly sustainable way to go about things. The suburbs probably aren't much better in this department, but this is an issue that a good urban planner should have on her radar.

It's a minor quibble, really. I'll be back to the regularly scheduled praising of all things urban by tomorrow, most likely. And the Stewart Brand talk is just packed with great stuff; more on that surely to come as well.

Greenwashing at GE.

While we are on the MSM watch (which I just learned stands for "mainstream media"), in Sunday's New York Times, Ned Sullivan and Rich Schiafo of Scenic Hudson accuse GE of "dragging its feet" on the cleanup of the PCBs that it has dumped in the Hudson River. This is the same GE that recently started its "Ecomagination" campaign, giving Sullivan and Schiafo this powerful one-liner:

Only after G.E. uses its ecomagination to rid the nation's waterways of its contamination will these words ring true. Until then, its green campaign is nothing more than an eco smoke screen.

USA Today says the globe is warming!

Mark today in your calendars because USA Today's headline just made it official: "The debate's over: Globe is warming." My first reaction was astonishment. I kept scanning their website for other up-to-the-minute revelations. What's next? Are the Beatles really about to break-up? Is the Berlin Wall really going to come down?

But my second reaction was more optimistic -- and less sarcastic. I shouldn't scoff at USA Today's belated recognition as much as I should marvel that a tipping point is happening right before our eyes. The real news here is not that the debate is over -- it's been over, of course, for quite some time -- but that USA Today and other media like it have finally awarded a TKO to climate scientists and greens.

As it turns out, USA Today's conviction is because big corporations, utilities, Republican governors, and even religious groups are now demanding action on climate change. There really is increasingly broad-based recognition of the problem. Still, it's more than a little annoying that media evaluate critical issues based not on the overwhelming scientific evidence, but rather on the proclamations of Arnold and a few CEOs.

But on the other hand, if even USA Today says there's a consensus on climate change, then we're just about to arrive in a brave new world where we can actually begin to do something about it on a large and systemic level. Hold on to your hats: next week we'll find out that burning gasoline warms the atmosphere through something called the "greenhouse effect" ...

Heck, I’d cycle nude even if it wasn’t for a good cause

Speaking of naked protests: This weekend, hundreds of cyclists across the world rode in what is by far my favorite protest -- the World Naked Bike Ride. Riding against oil dependence, for cyclists' rights, or just to feel the breeze on all their parts while surrounded by a bunch of naked friends and/or strangers, protestors bared all in some 50 cities in 17 countries, including London, Chicago, Seattle, and Madrid. And what could be better? Naked cycling protests combine the energy and exhilaration of three already pretty exhilarating activities: public nudity, protesting in the streets, and cycling.

Seriously, if you've never ridden in one, pencil it in on your calendar for the same time next year -- they're a blast! Not surprisingly, I guess, shedding your clothes -- or at least, most of them -- really does seem to make a difference; people in cars are almost never as nice to cyclists as they are when they're in the middle of a rolling naked party. (There's a lesson in there somewhere.) The WNBR is like a titillating, slightly more focused Critical Mass, with once-a-year energy. So go on, cycle naked for a good cause when you have the chance.

And in case you're wondering, it looks much more painful than it is.

Umbra on finding the right green job

Dear Umbra, I am in the midst of getting my master’s in environmental science and policy. I am so sick of reading and researching — I just want to get out and do something. My thesis is on composting (of industrial and municipal wastes), but my true love is water. While I have a pretty […]

Matt Petersen, CEO of Global Green USA, answers questions

Matt Petersen. What’s your job title? President and CEO of Global Green USA, the U.S. affiliate of Green Cross International. What does your organization do? What, in a perfect world, would constitute “mission accomplished”? When founding Green Cross International, Mikhail Gorbachev presented a challenge: We must foster a value shift that reconnects humankind to the […]

And Squad Said, Let There Be Blight

Judge orders dam spills in Northwest; critics may call on higher power Just two weeks after ruling that the Bush administration plan to protect Northwest salmon was inadequate, on Friday U.S. District Judge James Redden issued an order for large-scale spilling of water at a number of dams that are hindering the ability of juvenile […]