Articles by David Roberts

Framing

Amanda's article on Lakoff reminded me of two things I've been meaning to say about framing.

In being popularized, the concept of framing has basically been reduced to the search for magical words. It's become synonymous with spin. Molly Ivins sums it up this way:

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

The United Nations' Millennium Ecosystem Assessment was published today. I obviously haven't read it -- it's long -- but there's plenty of press coverage (though some of it is rather buried in U.S. papers). There's a nice summary on the MEA site, and you can dowload a full copy of the report there too (if you register). Here's the basic take-home message:

A landmark study released today reveals that approximately 60 percent of the ecosystem services that support life on Earth – such as fresh water, capture fisheries, air and water regulation, and the regulation of regional climate, natural hazards and pests – are being degraded or used unsustainably. Scientists warn that the harmful consequences of this degradation could grow significantly worse in the next 50 years.

I'm sure there will be much more to say, and much more said, about this in coming days.

Species essentialism

As one-time student of philosophy, I'm always happy to see it pop up in my non-academic life. So thanks to Jon Christensen for pointing to this short essay about species in Philosophy Today.

But I found it somewhat befuddling. The question on hand is, "what exactly is a species?" Geneticist Massimo Pigliucci says this:

NYT-fest

My home computer is completely on the fritz, so I can't do my usual slavish weekend work (darn it). However, let me echo ironmanbretta's comment that everyone should browse the New York Times op-ed page. There's this piece by Beyond Oil author Ken Deffeyes, which points out that the debate over the Arctic Refuge is somewhat beside the point, since global oil production is going to start declining soon anyway, regardless. There's this piece by Thomas Homer-Dixon and Julio Friedmann, which urges exploration of "a combination of gasified coal plants and geologic storage." There's this piece by Oliver Sacks on how much he hearts his hybrid (mentioned by Chris the other day). And of course, as mentioned by Geoff below, there's this piece by Tom Friedman, revisiting his "geo-green" schtick. (Watch for an interview with Friedman in the pages of Grist in coming weeks.)

What should we take from all these? If nothing else, it appears that conventional wisdom is finally coming around to the notion that the age of oil is ending. Bush's short-sighted energy policy -- which is hurting this country's security, its economy, and its reputation -- is finally penetrating the Beltway Bubble's consciousness. Despite my occasional contempt for the cozy Beltway politico-media scene, this is an unambiguously good thing. Now it remains for the green movement to be smart about this, positioning themselves as ahead of the curve rather than on the sidelines shouting "not enough! not enough!" More on that later.