Articles by David Roberts

Remember this?

Grist looks back at the WTF moments of the George W. Bush years

The Bush administration was hostile to government regulation and protective of business interests. That was their stated ideology on the campaign trail, and when elected, the president saw to it that his government acted on it. Fine. We get it. But the Bush environmental record is not entirely explicable through ideology. Some of the stuff […]

Inaugural opening ceremony/concert

Kate and I attended the opening ceremonies for Barack Obama's inauguration last night -- perched up in the press section right next to the stage, with a great view of, among other things, the first family.

You can read all about the event on numerous other sites. As you would expect, it was a spectacle, and like so much else in the Obama campaign, it treaded the razor's edge between absurd and inspiring.

There was little specifically green in it, aside from Jack Black (!?) reading inspirational quotes from Theodore Roosevelt about national parks. It was difficult to take too seriously, though, because Jack Black is funny even when he's not trying to be. (So was Steven Carell.)

There are a few memories that I'll take with me, though:

Goodbye to all that