Articles by David Roberts

“De-urbanizing” Yosemite

Think everything is going to hell? Well, you're right. But still, the fact that Yosemite National Park is undergoing something of a renewal is happy news nonetheless.

California contains multitudes

California, home to the most stringent auto-emission restrictions in the U.S., is also home to the most SUVs in the U.S., with 2.8 million (Texas, by comparison, has 1.8 million). But wait, you're saying, California has no snow and most people live in cities...

"In Southern California, image is important," said Arthur St. Antoine, an editor-at-large with Motor Trend magazine. "I think the big allure is how the SUVs make you look. Any number of people would be better served by a minivan. They have more room and are more comfortable for five, but they don't have that rough-and-ready 'I just got off the Serengeti' image."

So people are willing to screw the planet to improve their image. Fine. But perhaps more depressing is this:

Thousand Oaks mom Sue Short, who bought a Chevy Tahoe after her third son was born, said the first time at the gas pump was a shock. "Oh my God," she said as the price to fill up rose. "Oh my God."

"Your first time filling up?" a fellow SUV driver nearby asked her. She's since gotten used to the price and loves her SUV.

Burning bright

Congrats to the tiger.  According to a survey of more than 50,000 folks by the cable TV channel Animal Planet, the tiger is the world's favorite animal, narrowly beating the dog. One wonders, of course, if it is the world's favorite why it is threatened with extinction in so many of its natural habitats...

Without further ado, the top ten:

Friedman: pigs sure would look pretty with wings

I'm not sure if Tom Friedman is just a stubborn optimist or whether he has somehow, after years on the international beat, not been divested of a childish naiveté.

His latest editorial in the NYT deplores the fact that the Republicans just cut the National Science Foundation budget by 2 percent. He says what they ought to do instead is marshal the country behind a massive effort toward energy independence, like Kennedy's call to make it to the moon. Political reform would follow in trouble spots around the world. Birds would sing. The lion and the lamb would lie down together. A new day would dawn.

Well Tom, to quote my granddad, you can wish in one hand and piss in the other and see which one fills up first. Time to come to terms with the people in charge. Earnest idealists they ain't.