Articles by David Roberts

Who will advocate for green measures that don’t make anyone money?

So, when pondering Bush's upcoming SOTU speech -- specifically, the energy proposals contained therein -- I had a thought (stop the presses!). It's not an original thought, but it's worth discussing in a general way.

What smart greens would like to see happen is a balanced program of changes. A move to clean, renewable energy from an array of decentralized sources, perhaps with some bridging technologies to buffer us until we get there (clean coal, nuclear, etc.). Eventually, electric cars run by renewable power. Also, less driving, more public transit, more compact communities, more sustainable agriculture, more application of the precautionary principle in manufacturing, dramatically improved energy efficiency in all areas of the economy. Etc.

Here's the problem, though: Out of that grab bag of changes, there are two kinds. One kind has the backing of large financial interests. The other doesn't. I fear that difference, rather than any particular suitability to the problems at hand, will decide which are implemented.

Iran and oil

If you're interested in the energy implications of increasing tensions with Iran, Big Gav has an insanely comprehensive roundup of various discussions of the matter.

While you were away

I never remember to look at site stats, so I have no real empirical backing for my suspicion that no one reads the blog on the weekend. Nonetheless, that's my suspicion, and since we had lots of good stuff this weekend, I thought maybe I'd do a Monday-morning round-up.

There's been a plethora of good reporting on climate change and related mattersh lately, and I pointed to some from Andy Revkin, Juliet Eilperin, and Jane Kay.

We also recently welcomed two new authors into the Gristmill family (group hug!): Don't miss the first post from Tom Andersen, author of This Fine Piece of Water: An Environmental History of Long Island Sound, and the first post from Christina Larson, managing editor at Washington Monthly.

Word.

Ladies and gentlemen, your president

"... I want to see different kinds of cars on our road that don't require upon crude oil from overseas, but we have got a serious problem, and now is the time to fix it, and I'm going to address it again at the State of the Union."