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Umbra on protecting decks

Dear Chip, You may remember me; we met most recently at Jenny’s parents’ house for dinner when you all were here in New Jersey. Anyway, the reason I’m writing you is because I’m looking for some advice. Do you have any recommendations on environmentally conscious ways to protect household decks? Lori and I just bought […]

Two ships in the night

Despite being joined at the hip, the environment and development communities don't talk much. These Siamese twins -- separated at birth -- speak different languages.

While each community respects the other's gig, they don't play well together -- no one wants to be second fiddle. Some even see the environment and development agendas as opposing forces.

Efforts on the ground can bear that out. When conservationists set up protected areas without considering the people living in them, they seem more interested in "lovable huggables" than struggling locals.

On the other side, people-centered development often treats environmental issues as luxuries that only the idle Northern rich can afford. But the "develop now and worry later" approach ignores how much our health, food, economy, and livelihoods are dependent on a healthy environment and well-managed natural resources.

Despite the bad news, some people get it. While a few projects may be partnerships of convenience, others truly integrate environment and development (I won't go so far as to utter the hopeful words "sustainable development").

Post posting

In a lukewarm endorsement of John Kerry today, The Washington Post makes a fleeting, single-sentence reference to the environment and the candidates' environmental records:

Where Mr. Bush ignored the dangers of climate change and favored industry at the expense of clean air and water, Mr. Kerry is a longtime and thoughtful champion of environmental protection.

Oink, oink

Bush signed the massive corporate tax giveaway yesterday, though his handlers didn't make a big stink over it.  Perhaps they were hoping we little people wouldn't notice that it's an unconscionable $143-million-over-10-years pork smorgasbord for the oh-so-special interests, at a time of record deficits ($413 billion and counting).  Oh, and it's an environmental abomination too.  

Commentator Connie Rice of The Tavis Smiley Show on NPR -- who dubbed the bill the "Corporate Looting and Piracy Act" -- summed up just a few of its most stomach-churning provisions:  

Unlike the Leave No Child Behind bill, this corporate boondoggle is fully funded. ExxonMobil, Home Depot, cruise ships, corn farmers, coffee roasters, and makers of fishing tackle boxes, bows and arrows and ceiling fans all have special tax breaks specially tailored for their needs. And unlike the nation's children, who will be paying down our trillion-dollar deficit their whole lives, 60 percent of these corporations will likely continue to pay zero federal taxes, because their armies of lawyers will figure out how re-open newly closed loopholes that allegedly will pay for this bill. ... And get this: [Congress] also cut the charitable car donation deduction that middle-class people take, cut the child tax credit for the poor, blocked restoration of overtime for millions of workers, cut unemployment benefits, cut and then restored war veterans hospital benefits, and made it harder for regular folk to apply for bankruptcy.

As reported in The Washington Post:

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) dismissed [the corporate tax bill] as "a lobbyist's dream and a middle-class nightmare." Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) called it "the worst example of the influence of special interests that I've ever seen."

Fish ‘n’ Chicks

Study finds excessive mercury in 20 percent of women of childbearing age A new Greenpeace-commissioned study on the correlation between fish consumption and levels of mercury in the body has produced interim results, and they may cause you to think twice about your next order of a tuna-salad sandwich. The study analyzed hair samples sent […]

Cross Purposes

Prominent Brit bishop booted from enviro group for advocating nuclear England’s Reverend Hugh Montefiore — member of the Church of England, former Bishop of Birmingham, and long-time champion of the environment — has been forced to resign from the board of Friends of the Earth for arguing that nuclear power is the only viable way […]

That’s the Story of the Hurricane

Global warming could intensify hurricanes, some climate experts say After this year’s unusually devastating hurricane season, many folks who study hurricanes were quick to reassure the public (and Congress) that normal climatic fluctuations, not global warming, were to blame. But at a press conference yesterday, a group of climatologists, including several present and past members […]

They’re coming to eat your children!!!

Bush just debuted a new swing-state campaign ad called "Wolves."  You can watch it on his website. It shows a pack of wolves prowling through a dark forest, makes the usual bogus claims about Kerry cutting intelligence budgets (and fails to note that Bush's hand-picked new CIA head Porter Goss actually did propose huge cuts), and concludes that "weakness attracts those who are waiting to do America harm."  In other words:  A vote for Kerry is a vote for terrorists eating you.

The ironies are rich.  This comes from an administration that has pushed to downlist wolves from the endangered species list. If they see wolves as the terrorists of the wild, I guess it's no surprise. But I wonder where they found the wolves for the ad ... perhaps outsourced to Canadian wolves?  And were any harmed in the making of the ad? Where's Defenders of Wildlife when you need 'em?

UPDATE: Check out this hilarious follow-up from Wolf Packs for Truth.

UPDATE: Gary Wockner of the Colorado Wolf Working Group is not amused by this ad. At all. He says so here.

Kyoto one step closer

The lower house of Russia's parliament approved the Kyoto Protocol today.  All that remains for formal Russian ratification is approval by the upper house and the signature of president Vladimir Putin, both widely considered inevitable formalities.  Once Russia signs on, Kyoto will officially take effect.

Suffice to say, Putin's motivations were not altruistic.  His ratification of Kyoto -- and it is entirely his doing, as he has reduced the democratic checks and balances of Russia's government to almost nothing -- is part of a deal with the European Union.  He gives them this bargaining chip against the U.S., and they give him membership in the World Trade Organization.

Without U.S. participation, Kyoto will achieve nothing.  The hope in what Bush calls "the halls of Europe" is that once world consensus settles on the issue, strict emissions limits are imposed by member governments on industries (many based in the U.S.), and a market in carbon credit trading emerges, the U.S. will have no choice but to hop on the bandwagon.  Think it will work?

An interview with Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard

Yvon Chouinard, world-class mountaineer, diehard surfer, obsessive fly fisher — oh yes, and founder and owner of Patagonia, Inc. — is as famous for his brio and gutsy outdoorsmanship as he is for his visionary business strategy. A Maine-born blacksmith, Chouinard has built Patagonia, a purveyor of top-quality outdoor goods, into a $230 million company […]