Articles by David Roberts

Bush and Crichton

Todd Gitlin brings us this quote from Frank Barnes' Rebel-in-Chief: Inside the Bold and Controversial Presidency of George W. Bush:

Though he didn't say so publicly, Bush is a dissenter on the theory of global warming....He avidly read Michael Crichton's 2004 novel State of Fear, whose villain falsifies scientific studies to justify draconian steps to curb global warming....Early in 2005, political adviser Karl Rove arranged for Crichton to meet with Bush at the White House. They talked for an hour and were in near-total agreement. The visit was not made public for fear of outraging environmentalists all the more.

Sigh.

My review of Crichton's book is here.

Back to switchgrass

According to a guest op-ed in today's NYT, switchgrass is the road to world peace. And a pony.

I'm ready to be convinced about this stuff. If switchgrass really flourishes on marginal land, soaks up pesticides, absorbs CO2, looks great in floral arrangements, and -- this is key -- could eventually be scaled to compete with the abundance and price of corn, count me a cheerleader.

I think biofuels will be only a small part of the long-term energy solution, but low-impact crop fuels are necessary and comparatively unobjectionable as a bridge technology.

Good grief

James Hansen says NOAA is also stifling its scientists.

White House knew about breach of levees

So yeah, I know you've got scandal fatigue, but if you can squeeze just one more in, here you go.