Latest Articles
-
-
Iceland Is Your Land
Last chance to enter Iceland sweepstakes OK, some of you are sick of hearing about Iceland, but others of you are sitting on your hands, bouncing a little, like the kid who had to pee in math class but wasn’t allowed to get up. Because you are dying to know if you’re going to win […]
-
Talkin’ Bout Microgeneration
Microgeneration may energize future With an energy crisis looming and national governments slow to adopt clean, renewable sources, some small communities are creating their own solutions — and their own energy. Case in point: Beddington Zero Energy Development in South London (BedZED for short), a carbon-neutral sustainable-housing estate employing “microgeneration,” or small-scale, local, renewable power […]
-
The Nukes of Hazzard
Utilities not as hot for new nuke plants as Bush is Not everyone is as cuckoo for new nuke plants as President Bush, not even the nation’s electric utilities. Though some power companies have shown some interest in planning for future nuclear power plants in the U.S., experts concede the stars are not aligned just […]
-
They Did It Norway
Norway’s high gas and auto taxes lead to lower gas consumption Americans, who view cheap oil as a divine birthright and throw a tantrum when gas prices exceed $2, would surely view Norway as a strange and alien land if they, ahem, knew anything about it. Despite the Scandinavian country’s huge oil reserves — it […]
-
Mike Millikin, publisher of green-car blog, answers questions
Mike Millikin. What work do you do? I am the publisher/writer of Green Car Congress, a site covering technologies, issues, and policies for sustainable mobility. What does your organization do? What, in a perfect world, would constitute “mission accomplished”? My mission is to build a company that offers a portfolio of media products providing detailed […]
-
Umbra on mulch
Dear Umbra, Spring is upon us and the season for spreading shredded bits of trees around our landscaping is here. How does Umbra feel about the utility of mulching, and what is the environmental impact of mulch production? OmarEllicott City, Md. Dearest Omar, Umbra feels excited about spring, I’ll tell you that much. Umbra is […]
-
Offering a balanced policy would mean admitting that some of the groups they’ve demonized are right
Via Ezra Klein , I see that periodically contrarian conservo-blogger John Cole has good post up about energy policy (also read through the comments on both posts -- there's some good stuff). Here's Cole's proposal for a balanced energy policy:
1.) Domestic drilling 2.) Research for alternative fuel sources other than the outrageous slush-fund known as ethanol subsidies, which should be exhibit A in any argument against having the Iowa Caucus first. 3.) Increased Cafe standards 4.) Radical improvements to Clean Coal 5.) Nuclear plant construction and research in storage of nuclear waste, as well as an administration and Congress with the political will to actually store the waste somewhere, rather than the rag-tag temporary storage everywhere in the country. 6.) Tax credits and incentives for fuel efficient vehicles, energy efficient appliances, energy efficient homes 7.) Increased refining capacity 8.) Increase oil exploration and smart extraction policies 9.) Conservation campaigns 10.) And for goodness sakes, end the tax loophole for SUV's. Are we out of our damned minds?
I don't agree with all of it -- in particular, drilling in the Arctic Refuge for symbolism's sake is just dumb -- but here's the thing: If a U.S. administration came out pushing for this policy, I would dance a friggin' jig (though not, perhaps, as Ezra says, " kill the goddamn caribou myself to help it pass").
-
New journal focuses cross-disciplinary work on sustainability.
I have a soft spot for titles that include the kitchen sink and lack what we'll call concision. It comes from regular attempts to bring together strange bedfellows with our Environmental Change and Security Project at the Woodrow Wilson Center.
So I was heartened and not put off when I received notice of a new open source ejournal Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy. As explained in an inaugural editorial by journal advisor and renowned biologist E. O. Wilson, "[t]he goal of the publication -- to establish a forum for cross-disciplinary discussion of natural and social sciences, practices, and policies related to sustainability -- is an important step toward creating achievable sustainable practices through buy-in and consensus."
Such forums at the science -policy interface are too few and far between. This one promises to have a chance to make a difference, even if reading the inaugural issue suggests it will err on the scholarly side of readability. The journal's private and public backers, CSA, the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII), and Conservation International (CI), bring some diverse ends and means to the table.
-
Some not-entirely-coherent thoughts on nuclear power.
I've been pondering the question of nuclear power, about which there is, as Gristmill readers well know, impassioned debate. Here are some random, rambling thoughts:
