Articles by David Roberts
David Roberts was a staff writer for Grist. You can follow him on Twitter, if you're into that sort of thing.
All Articles
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‘Eco-terrorism’: The not-particularly-interesting parts
The cover story of Pacific Northwest Magazine is about "eco-terrorism." It's decent enough on its own terms, but disappointingly cursory.
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Krugman on Raymond and Exxon
In today's New York Times, the Sultan of Shrill, Paul Krugman, takes a richly deserved swipe at outgoing ExxonMobil Chairman Lee Raymond.
Since it's behind the Time$elect subscription wall, here's a large chunk:
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Nuclear energy and power devolution
I just got done watching Eugene Jarecki's Why We Fight, a documentary on the American military-industrial complex (a term coined by Dwight D. Eisenhower in his extraordinary farewell address) and the enormous influence in exerts over our foreign policy. It's depressing, but still, I can't recommend it highly enough.
It got me thinking about the nuclear question again, and a post I wrote almost a year ago -- one of my favorites -- called "Renewable energy and the devolution of power." The idea was basically this: The kind of distributed-energy/smart-grid future greens envision would, if implemented, devolve political power outward from Washington. It would substantially increase regional self-sufficiency. This, as much as any technical debate, explains why the power elite has neglected to pursue it, and even fought against it.
It also, I think, explains Washington's love of nuclear energy. Nuclear is a familiar template for them: a large industry with one or two dominant corporations, with lobbyists that move in and out of government positions -- the usual chummy arrangement. It's something they can understand and control.
If regions create their own energy, they have much less need for, and are much less in thrall to, D.C. That has enormous implications. I'm not sure renewable-energy advocates have really thought it through.
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Too Hot Not to Handle
Pretty sure I'm the last blogger on the block to mention this, but tune to HBO on Earth Day (April 22) for Too Hot Not to Handle, a special on global warming exec. produced by -- who else? -- Laurie David.
HBO has a hard-hitting interview with David on their site, with such incisive exchanges as this:
