Articles by David Roberts

It’s catching on in traditionally right-leaning exurbs

Bossman Chip forwarded me an interesting piece from the Michigan Land Use Institute: "Could Smart Growth Tip the Next Presidential Election?"

Having read through it, the headline seems rather, uh, optimistic. But there's some interesting stuff about the role smart-growth proposals played in the victory of Tim Kaine (D) in the Virginia governor's race, and the general lay of the political land in fast-growing exurbs:

What is terrorism exactly?

What is terrorism?

I've been skeptical about the talk of "eco-terrorism" because, to me, a crucial ingredient of anything worthy of the term is deliberate targeting of civilians for injury or death. Since the alleged "eco-terrorists" explicitly aim to avoid any harm to a human being, "terrorist" seems a misnomer.

But am I right about this? Is there a commonly accepted definition of "terrorism"?

I suspect the DOJ has one in mind, given Gonzalez's very specific language in his press conference: The perps "worked together with extensive planning to influence the conduct of government and private businesses through the use of coordinated force, violence, sabotage, intimidation, and coercion."

The Wikipedia page on the definition of terrorism is instructive:

State-level energy policy

The Bush administration's intransigence on climate change and energy use has been widely lamented. But part of me thinks it may turn out to be a good thing in the long run.

Why? Because it's driving states to innovate energy policy.

"In a way, the left is controlling that agenda," said Amy Myers Jaffe, associate director of the energy program at Rice University in Houston. "They're just implementing it at the community and state level."

Saying "the left" is slightly misleading, since although most states passing their own energy policies are blue, many have Republican governors -- indeed, many of the policies are being driven by Republican governors, including Schwarzenegger in California and Pataki in New York.

In fact, I'd guess that citizens of almost any state would welcome these sorts of policies; they are not, strictly speaking, "partisan." Energy policy becomes partisan at the national level through the influence of industry lobbies.

But as the states go, so eventually goes the federal government. It just takes time.

And has no chance of winning

Attentive readers of Amanda's column know that green groups are trying to take out Rep. Richard "Dick" Pombo (R-Calif.) in 2006. They don't have, you know, a candidate or anything ... but they have hope!

One such hope is that former Rep. Pete McCloskey -- a Republican about whom the adjective "maverick" is inevitably used -- would jump in the race, as he's frequently threatened.

Well, it looks like McCloskey's in.

Former U.S. Rep. Paul "Pete" McCloskey, a maverick Republican who opposed the Vietnam War and helped write the Endangered Species Act, said Friday he will run against Rep. Richard W. Pombo (R-Tracy), a leading critic of how the government has applied environmental protection laws.

Sounds like the Pombo camp is seriously worried: