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Who’s getting PAYD?

The Northwest's guru on pay-as-you-drive (PAYD) auto insurance and related transportation pricing innovations is Todd Litman of the Victoria Tranport Policy Institute. He provides a useful summary of who's doing PAYD in his newsletter, which I'll simply insert below the fold. The growth of PAYD programs is very encouraging, because PAYD is among the most powerful incentives for sound transportation and land-use patterns. There are rumors that a Cascadia locale could be the next place to host a PAYD insurance offering -- more on that, if it comes to fruition.

And more framing

It occurs to me that the two points in the post below -- that framing is deeper and more important than just tweaking terminology, and that the green pursuit of Lakoff is a waste of time -- might be seen to be in conflict, so a quick clarification.

Of course greens need to be cognizant of framing. Everyone does; even in a one-on-one conversation, it is helpful to be aware of the basic frames your interlocutor is bringing to bear, so that you can actually communicate instead of passing like ships in the night. That's the thing: Lakoff has not uncovered some super-top-secret political juju heretofore only possessed by the right wing. What he's done is helped clarify common sense. All you need to be "great at framing" is some empathy and a willingness to listen. (Try it at home!) It's great that he's brought some conceptual clarity to the area, but let's not lose our knickers over the whole thing.

Yes, greens need to frame their issues better. But -- much like, say, keeping your knees bent when you play tennis -- this is not an end in itself. You wouldn't go to a knee-bending camp, and you wouldn't pay someone $350,000 to show you how to keep your knees bent. Greens should be framing their issues well as a matter of course, as they go about doing other things -- like pursuing actual goals. What's been preventing them from doing so is a fairly complicated knot of issues: media access, well-funded disinformation campaigns by the other side, structural and cultural impediments in the way the movement operates, and -- let's not pretend -- some old, outdated, fusty, or otherwise unappealing positions on issues (you can't shine shit). What hasn't prevented them from framing well is some sort of arcane mystery about how framing works, or what frames are effective. An astute, empathetic observer of culture, backed by extensive poll data and personal experience interacting with those outside her immediate social/ideological circle, already knows how to frame the issues. The thing now is just doing it.

Route Scootin’ Boogie

Shell alters pipeline route to spare whale feeding grounds It’s one small step for environmentalists, one giant leap for endangered gray whales: Energy giant Royal Dutch/Shell has agreed to alter the planned route of a massive oil and gas pipeline off of Russia’s Sakhalin island by 12 miles to preserve the charismatic mammal’s feeding grounds. […]

All Your Base Are Befouled By Us

Military base closures leave behind toxic, uninhabitable land Military bases frequently serve as economic engines for the communities they inhabit, and with what could be the biggest round of base closures ever on its way from the Department of Defense, those communities hope that developing the land freed up by the closed bases will replace […]

Lice Age

Farmed salmon infect wild stocks with sea lice, study finds A new study of wild and farmed salmon in the Pacific Northwest reveals that farmed salmon breed parasitic sea lice that infect juvenile wild salmon swimming nearby and could affect stocks of other important commercial species. A Canadian research trio looked at some 5,500 young […]

Framing

Amanda's article on Lakoff reminded me of two things I've been meaning to say about framing.

In being popularized, the concept of framing has basically been reduced to the search for magical words. It's become synonymous with spin. Molly Ivins sums it up this way:

Cap and Tirade

States file suit against EPA over mercury rule A coalition of nine states has sued the U.S. EPA, claiming the mercury emissions rule it issued earlier this month will do less to protect public health than the Clean Air Act requires. The suit charges the EPA with breaking the law by exempting power-plant mercury emissions […]

Doom and Gloom With a Sense of, Uh … Doom

Comprehensive assessment of world’s ecosystems released; be very afraid The largest and most comprehensive assessment of the world’s ecosystems ever undertaken was released today, and the results constitute a “stark warning” that “the ability of the planet’s ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted,” according to the 45-member board of […]

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

The United Nations' Millennium Ecosystem Assessment was published today. I obviously haven't read it -- it's long -- but there's plenty of press coverage (though some of it is rather buried in U.S. papers). There's a nice summary on the MEA site, and you can dowload a full copy of the report there too (if you register). Here's the basic take-home message:

A landmark study released today reveals that approximately 60 percent of the ecosystem services that support life on Earth – such as fresh water, capture fisheries, air and water regulation, and the regulation of regional climate, natural hazards and pests – are being degraded or used unsustainably. Scientists warn that the harmful consequences of this degradation could grow significantly worse in the next 50 years.

I'm sure there will be much more to say, and much more said, about this in coming days.

Feebates, not fuel taxes, are key

Thomas Friedman's usually pitch-perfect commentary on energy and security hit some high notes Sunday, but it also went off key twice, in disappointing ways.

First, the sweetest passage from his New York Times column:

By doing nothing to lower U.S. oil consumption, we are financing both sides in the war on terrorism and strengthening the worst governments in the world. That is, we are financing the U.S. military with our tax dollars and we are financing the jihadists--and the Saudi, Sudanese and Iranian mosques and charities that support them--through our gasoline purchases. The oil boom is also entrenching the autocrats in Russia and Venezuela....Finally, by doing nothing to reduce U.S. oil consumption we are only hastening the climate change crisis.

Now, the ear splitters: