Articles by David Roberts

‘Eco-terrorism’: The scourge of flyer distribution

Laugh? Or cry? Hard to say. Here's a bulletin issued yesterday by the Department of Homeland Security. Among other things, it says this:

Attacks against corporations by animal rights extremists and eco-terrorists are costly to the targeted company and, over time, can undermine confidence in the economy. ... Although we have no specific, credible information at this time suggesting animal rights extremists and eco-terrorists are planning to target known corporations, we encourage private sector owners and operators to remain vigilant, report suspicious activity, and continue to enhance protective measures.

On the TPM Muckraker site, which is hosting the document, Justin Rood adds:

Such radical extremist groups may use several tactics -- each devastating in its own way -- including:

- "organizing protests"
- "flyer distribution"
- "inundating computers with e-mails"
- "tying up phone lines to prevent legitimate calls"
- "sending continuous faxes in order to drain the ink supply from company fax machines"

That's right. If the ink runs out of your fax machine, that means the terrorists have won.

Joking aside, though, Rood makes the relevant point:

From Bikes to Butte

Blessed are the two-wheelers What would Jesus drive? Please. Jesus would bike, bro! To vouchsafe this essential spiritual truth, New York City cyclists are gathering in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine on Earth Day to have their rides blessed and sprinkled with holy water, while they ring their bells and angels get their […]

Coal gasification: “clean coal” or subsidy-hungry boondoggle?

Governing magazine has an excellent, compact overview of current developments in coal. If you're hazy on gasification this, coal-to-liquid that, and Fischer-Tropsch the other, I recommend it.

With oil and natural-gas prices rising and coal in plentiful supply, it's more or less inevitable that coal's going to get used, so it makes sense that (some) enviro organizations are biting the bullet and joining the push for the cleanest possible applications.

There is reason for cautious optimism. Coal mining is destructive as hell, but in places like northeastern Pennsylvania -- where the article focuses, and where the first U.S. coal-to-liquid plant will be built starting this Spring -- there's waste coal laying all over the place, leaching acid into groundwater (the legacy of pre-regulatory coal mining). The plant will gather that coal as feedstock and replace it with solid waste covered in soil, thereby creating farmland or forest.

Greenzones.org

Good lord, it looks like a whooole lotta money went into this. The "about" page goes to an error, as does the "investors" page and the "press" page. Anybody know anything about it?

(There's probably a press release about it somewhere in my inbox, but I get about 50 a day and can't really keep up with all of them.)