Articles by David Roberts

Is this thing on?

If any more proof were required that nobody reads Gristmill, it came this week. You may recall that almost a month ago, I discussed the merits of Barack Obama's scheme to give the auto industry help with their healthcare costs in exchange for more research on fuel-efficient cars. Then last week, I posted Obama's speech on energy independence -- mere hours after he delivered it!

Days later, Kevin Drum discovered both the scheme and the speech via some shady fly-by-night "news agency" called Knight Ridder. "News agency"?! It's the age of blogs, dude. Look it up.

Then Matt Yglesias picks it up, also citing an old Prospect article by the Reapers on the subject -- and conspicuously failing to cite my response to said article. Then Oil Drum picks it up "courtesy of Kevin Drum" -- scarcely a grist or a mill to be found.

Clearly something is badly broken in the blog world. And that something is that I'm insufficiently famous and revered.

Blogging resumes

So yeah, I'm a bad blogger -- been almost totally AWOL this week. I have, however, been keeping myself busy.

On Monday, I sat down for a longish discussion with Rabbi Michael Lerner, who's leading the call for a spiritual movement from the "left hand of God" (yes, as opposed to the Right).

On Tuesday, I had a shortish chat with water experts Peter Gleick (head of the Pacific Institute) and ex-EPA head Bill Reilly about the state of play on global water issues.

On Wednesday, I had lunch with Richard Louv, whose new book about "nature-deficit disorder" is making waves.

All these will be on the site in coming weeks -- along with the long-rumored interview with Lester Brown, which is running Monday (a firm date!).

I shall now return to regular blogging, barring the appearance of more smart people in the Seattle area.

From Principles to Principals

A first: Rock musicians refuse Hummers All the cool bands, from heavyweights Smashing Pumpkins and Talking Heads to up-and-coming indie darlings Trans Am, The Thermals, and Four Tet, have given the official H2 salute to big-money offers from Hummer to license their music for commercials. Said Thermals singer Hutch Harris, “It’s just so evil.” Word. […]

A guest essay by Arthur Coulston

Posted below is an essay from guest author Arthur Coulston. He is the co-founder of Energy Action, a coalition of over 30 leading youth climate, energy, and environmental organizations.

(The essay represents Coulston's opinion alone, and does not constitute an official statement from Energy Action.)

-----

For over a year now, various rabble-rousers have been ringing the death knell for environmentalism, creating an uproar and prompting a series of rebuttals and hallelujahs that taken together raise the important question: "What were we talking about?"

But just in case the water was not muddy enough, I offer my own contribution. This is not a riposte to either the initial "Death of Environmentalism" or any of the specific responses made since. Rather, it is my own answer to what I believe is the central question in this important debate: "Why has environmentalism struggled to address the issue of climate change, and how might we become more effective?"

Our posterity: An open letter to environmentalists

It is self-evident that in a democratic political system the short-term interests of the present generation can pose a threat to the long-term interests of their posterity. Without a systematic or constitutional means of balancing these potentially conflicting interests, posterity is represented only as a tenuous secondary interest of a handful of citizens who must balance and blend their representation of future interests with their own present interests.