Articles by David Roberts

To kill, you must know your enemy, and in this case my enemy is a varmint.

Sweet:

‘Eco-terrorism’: Arson v. satire

There's a lot of good stuff in Pat Morrison's op-ed on the overuse of the word "terrorism." Like this:

From the White House to the soccer pitch, "terrorist" has "cooties" and "your mother wears combat boots" flat beat as the top playground potty-mouth slur for the 21st century.

Who's surprised? The Bush administration has been scattering the word like ticker tape on a Manhattan parade. Old McDonald left the farm for the NSA, and now it's here a terrorist, there a terrorist, everywhere a terrorist.

I couldn't agree more about the politically driven cheapening of the word. But he also makes a good point about environmental activism:

Osama bin Laden has said that he fears mockery more than death. If eco-protesters want to do some real damage, they should give up arson and take up ridicule. Don't torch those SUVs; put a cardboard cutout of Bin Laden in the passenger seat of an H2, and one of Dubya in the driver's seat beside him, then alert the media.

Hm ... sounds like something I've heard before ...

(Some other good stuff on eco-terrorism from Renee Downing and Randy Serraglio.)

Newt and energy

Newt Gingrich is likely going to run for president in 2008. I hope and pray he wins the Republican nomination, as his defeat in the general would be all but a certainty, but it strikes me as unlikely.

Anyway, he describes his proposed energy policy on this page, and it includes a rather baffling misunderstanding that seems common in conservative circles:

The Bush administration's investment in developing hydrogen energy resources may be the biggest breakthrough of the next half-century. Hydrogen has the potential to provide energy that has no environmental downside. In one stroke a hydrogen economy would eliminate both air pollution and global warming concerns. Since hydrogen is abundant in the air and water around us, it eliminates both the national security and foreign exchange problems associated with petroleum.

Uh.

Offshore oil

The usual suspects in Congress are pushing hard for legislation that would end the ban on U.S. offshore drilling. It's the latest cause célèbre of the Fossil Fuels Forever crowd.

Over on Oil Drum, Dave (no relation) takes a long, close look at the claims made by proponents about available oil reserves. It's somewhat technical, as usual for OD, so if you want to skip to the end, here's the nut:

In conclusion, here in the United States we continue to fiddle as Rome burns.

Sigh.