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Monster slash

I'm not really into these things, but lots of people love them -- witness the popularity of The Meatrix and the JibJab guys -- so if you are so inclined, check out Monster Slash, a Flash animation including a reinterpretation of the old song "Monster Mash," rerecorded by Bobby "Borris" Pickett, the very man who wrote the original.  You can probably figure out what it's about from the picture at left.

Your back yard

The super-wonks over at John Podesta's Center for American Progress have a nifty map on their site -- you can click on your state and find out statistics on environmental, health, and safety issues.  For instance, did you know that 1,160 people die every year due to power plant pollution in Texas?  Me neither!  Go check it out.

Don’t bet on Bush tackling climate change in a second term

RUSSIA MOVES TO RATIFY THE KYOTO PROTOCOL CALIFORNIA IMPOSES GREENHOUSE-GAS STANDARDS ON CARS NORTHEAST STATES TO IMPOSE GREENHOUSE-GAS CAP EASTERBROOK SAYS “SECOND-TERM BUSH WILL BE THE PRESIDENT WHO IMPOSES GLOBAL-WARMING CONTROLS” Could this man be a climate hero? Guess which headline is bogus? The winner gets a free transcript of the portion of the third […]

The Truck Stops Here

New electrical hook-ups at truck stops prevent diesel pollution Long-haul truckers, hardy though they may be, occasionally need rest. Traditionally they have pulled into truck stops and taken naps with their trucks idling, to avoid, you know, freezing to death. Unfortunately, idling diesel trucks produce emissions that likely cause asthma, bronchitis, lung cancer, heart disease, […]

The Traffic is Murder Out There

Traffic causes heart attacks Being stuck in traffic could substantially raise your chances of having a heart attack — and it’s not just the stress. The particulate pollution that hovers over traffic is the likely culprit, says a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine, though “we can’t exclude that there is an […]

Startling stats on Bush’s and Kerry’s energy agendas

$13.3 million — amount George W. Bush has received from the energy/natural resources, agribusiness, and transportation sectors during the 2004 presidential campaign1 $1.9 million — amount John Kerry has received from the energy/natural resources, agribusiness, and transportation sectors during the 2004 presidential campaign2 40 — number of recommendations made by Dick Cheney’s energy task force […]

Paper beating scissors

For those who despair about the environment, who wonder, say, whether the world will ever take sufficient action to counter climate change, I give you ... the 2004 Boston Red Sox.

Down 3-0 against their arch-nemeses, the New York Yankees, the Sox rallied tonight to win the seven-game series, becoming the first team in the history of Major League Baseball to overcome such a deficit.

To a lifelong Red Sox fan -- someone conditioned from birth to always dream but never achieve -- someone, um, like myself, coated in the scar tissue of the devastating losses of the past -- a victory like tonight's can't help but give one rose-colored glasses. (At least for a night.) Who says we can't tackle climate change? Maybe the solar revolution is upon us. This is the dawning of the age of Green-arius. I'm only partially joking.

As Tyler Kepner wrote in his piece posted on the New York Times website immediately after the Sox win:

It was actually happening. The nerd was kissing the homecoming queen. Paper was beating scissors; scissors were beating rock. Charlie Brown was kicking the football. The Red Sox were beating the Yankees for the American League pennant.

I heart Corby Kummer

The Atlantic Monthly is my favorite magazine -- every month a thick, satisfying helping of high-minded policy-wonk goodness.  I read it cover to cover, which is the equivalent of a longish novella every month.

Anyhoo, one of many reasons to subscribe -- or at least to subscribe to the website -- is the writing of Corby Kummer.

Nader haters

Speaking of former Nader allies jumping ship, a group of the advocates, actors, writers, and politicos who endorsed Ralph in 2000 will be unveiling an initiative on Friday called The Unity Campaign, which will urge Nader supporters to pull their heads out of their asses and "vote strategically, vote Kerry."  The group -- including enviros Wendell Berry, Ben Cohen, Paul Hawken, and Randy Hayes, well as other lefty luminaries like Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, and Barbara Ehrenreich -- plans to run a series of ads in swing states where the Nader contingent could make a difference.  (Some personal Nader bile below the drop.)

So whatcha whatcha whatcha want?

In the U.S., as with many other places, the industrial era saw a massive exodus from rural areas into cities.  The "information era" (or whatever buzzword you like) has seen a massive exodus from cities to suburbs and exurbs, with long commutes to work, sprawling colonies of large homes, strip malls, and cars, cars, cars.  Now, the mere fact of such a large exodus would seem to indicate that Americans prefer such a lifestyle (despite the fact that it may be killing them.)

But according to a new survey conducted by Smart Growth America in conjunction with the National Association of Realtors, it is not so.