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More on Bush’s energy stuff

Alan pretty much covered the bases, but if you want more commentary on Bush's just-announced energy initiatives, Jeff has a roundup pointing to Ezra Klein and Mike Millikin. I'd also draw attention to John Carey and -- with delight -- James Wolcott. (I don't often get to link to Wolcott here, but trust me, you may find better insight other places, but you'll never find better prose.)

Meanwhile, professional smirker Jonah Goldberg floats the idea of a gas tax on NRO's blog, is immediately pilloried by his arch-conservative readers, backs off, and then basks in the glory of the whole episode. Oy.

It’s as bad as it looks.

Approaching the summer "driving season" when gas prices often spike, President Bush has pumped up a new set of energy proposals. Even the mainstream media regard them as window dressing. (Witness the Washington Post.) But I'll take the proposals as serious and comment.

1. The Bush administration proposes to allow oil refineries on abandoned military bases, claiming that limited refinery capacity is driving up gas prices and that it's hard to get permission to build new refineries. Military bases, as federal property, are exempt from most local regulations.

GOP to force Dems to release hold on Johnson?

Looks like the Senate GOPers may be looking to force a vote on Stephen Johnson's nomination to head the EPA.

As all the hip bloggers say:

Developing...

Walking the halls

You know, people bitch a lot about the mainstream green groups, but how many other people could write a blog post about the ongoing battle over the Arctic Refuge that includes this sentence?

So we are walking the halls, trying to strengthen the resolve of people like Congresswomen Nancy Johnson, and to find a way to persuade the few remaining leaners to come our way.

Good luck, Carl.

(See also Pope's longer post on Congressional shenanigans.)

Our fearless leader is interviewed; the masses swoon.

Our fearless leader Chip Giller is profiled and interviewed in the latest issue of Evergreen Monthly. If you can get past the slightly bizarre photo (he fairly glows with eco-goodness! or was it raining light...?), it's a good read.

DaimlerChrysler’s SMART division not doing well.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news.

Daimler-Chrysler, which manufactures the very chic SMART cars, posted some dodgy 1q earnings today. The bad news is that the SMART division (smart GmbH) appears to be struggling.

The press release doesn't say much:

Stuttgart/Auburn Hills, 04/28/2005 - First-quarter unit sales decreased by 7% to 247,000 vehicles, while revenues were 11% lower at 10.4 billion euros. The operating loss of 954 million euros (Q1 2004: 639 million euros) was affected by expenses of 800 million euros relating to the realignment of the smart business unit. At smart there was an operating loss from ongoing business activities.

...nor does this (subscriber-only) WSJ story:

Mercedes's results are also burdened by Smart, a unit of the division that has been losing money since it started churning out its colorful, two-passenger cars in 1998. DaimlerChrysler earlier this month announced a restructuring of Smart that includes a reduction of the unit's model line and the canceled development of a diminutive sport-utility vehicle. The restructuring is expected to cost DaimlerChrysler as much as €1.2 billion this year, the company has said.

More below the jump.

Umbra on whether to eco-retrofit an old car

My husband is an environmentalist. He wants one of the new alternative-fuel cars, but I have a dream to surprise him for his birthday with a 1970 muscle car (a Malibu or something like that) from his youth, which I would retrofit with a biodiesel or natural-gas engine. My questions are: 1. Should I put […]

Men pollute so they can take over the world

Men: Can't live with them. Can't overpopulate without them.

A new study of Swedish fishermen suggests that pollution alters the ratio of chromosomes in sperm. But the news isn't half-bad: those in the study -- which focused on exposure to POPs, or persistent organochlorine pollutants -- harbored more Y chromosomes than X. Which means, if any of them settle down with a Swedish fisherlass, they might just create more boys than girls.

Dudes, we're on to you. Pollute this place with your "mercury's good for you!" logic and feeble regulations. Mess with your own sperm. Then make more of you to inherit the earth.

Hell, you can have it.

You Just Keep on Pushing My Love Over the Borderline

Former Iron Curtain may become continent-spanning greenbelt The fabled Iron Curtain that separated Western Europe from the communist countries of Eastern Europe was once one of the most dangerous places on earth. But in the post-Cold War era, a coalition of conservation and community-development groups has ambitious plans to transform it into a string of […]

Access of Evil

Gas drilling limited by equipment, workers — not access to federal land To hear the Bush administration tell it, domestic energy production is limited by lack of access to federal lands. Vice President Dick Cheney is galled that “large parts of the Rocky Mountain West are off-limits.” But according to government records, industry experts, and […]