Articles by David Roberts

An interview with accidental movie star Al Gore

Al Gore is on the campaign trail again, and he actually seems to be enjoying it. Like Brad Pitt, but wonkier. Photo: Eric Neitzel/WireImage. For those who remember his ponderous, consultant-driven bid for president, the idea of Gore enjoying anything about campaigning may seem far-fetched. But this time, the campaign’s not about him; it’s about […]

‘Eco-terrorism’: Motive matters

Seattle Times reporter Hal Bernton had an excellent story on "eco-terrorism" in Sunday’s edition. Most of it will be familiar to readers of my obsessive blogging on the subject, but a couple of tidbits were new (to me). There’s this: In making its 2003 recommendations, the FBI Office of Inspector General said that funneling those […]

The spread of Wal-Mart

Yeesh. Here's a short video of Wal-Mart's spread in the U.S. It accompanies a paper called "The Diffusion of Wal-Mart and Economies of Density" (PDF) by the University of Minnesota's Thomas Holmes.

(via Kottke)

Density is political destiny?

The Poor Man is one of my favorite blogs, but I rarely get a chance to link there, since they rarely discuss green issues.

But this post offers an ingenious (albeit largely wishful thinking) argument. It begins with this delightful 'graph:

OK, so, I'm not saying that this country won't devolve into a fascistic hellscape of race warriors and man-eating rats, disintegrating beneath the weight of its own reactionary isolationism. But even through the first six years of "WPE: The Quickening," I've been able to remain relatively sanguine about our long term prospects for one reason: if you're a Republican, demographics are against you.

("WPE," as PM fans know, is Worst President Ever.)

The argument goes like this: