Articles by Jason D Scorse

Don’t shoot the messengers

All social movements are susceptible to the "cult of personality." This is always dangerous. Not only are individuals invariably fallible, and never live up to the "purity standards" often imposed on them, but it is their message that is most important, not the messengers.

NRDC report on military and sea habitats

The interplay between the U.S. military and the environment is fascinating. On land, many military policies have actually been beneficial to the environment -- the military has been a good steward of many endangered habitats.

Out at sea, the reality is not quite as good. The sonar systems employed by the Navy are increasingly implicated as a source of major damage to marine mammals from whales to dolphins, as this new NRDC piece outlines. This issue will continue to heat up and should be watched closely.

Even with the proposal as low as 4 percent per year

This sad but predictable. The UAW has consistently been one of the most anti-environmental unions in the country. What excuse they can come up with now that climate change is an established fact and U.S. automakers are getting creamed by Toyota is beyond me. It is simply myopic thinking in the extreme. And Bush's proposal is only for a 4 percent increase in fuel efficiency per year! This is one of those issues that don't break down neatly across the political spectrum.

Not in hog heaven

This piece in the New York Times should be of particular interest to environmentalists, because the pig industry is one of the most environmentally destructive in the nation. In addition to the need for massive regulation of the seas of manure these factory hog farms generate -- which often end up in rivers and streams and foul the air for miles -- the animals are subjected to absolutely horrific conditions. We should demand environmental improvements and humane treatment in our nation's factory farms. I think the environmental community can reasonably get behind both of these measures.