Climate Climate & Energy

Especially for dermatologists

Those who argue that increasing carbon dioxide is good because it's "plant food" should consider this article from the WSJ about poison ivy. It says:

Poison ivy, the scourge of summer campers, hikers and gardeners, is getting worse.

New research shows the rash-inducing plant appears to be growing faster and producing more potent oil compared with earlier decades. The reason? Rising ambient carbon-dioxide levels create ideal conditions for the plant, producing bigger leaves, faster growth, hardier plants and oil that's even more irritating.

Although the data on poison ivy come from controlled studies, they suggest the vexing plant is more ubiquitous than ever. And the more-potent oil produced by the plants may result in itchier rashes. "If it's producing a more virulent form of the oil, then even a small or more casual contact will result in a rash," says Lewis Ziska, a plant physiologist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Beltsville, Md.

Better than the redhead

So you want to get in on the solar boom, but don't have the cash to buy a manufacturing plant. What to do, what to do ... I know! Why not try the same place that got you a date with the redhead on the bus, your last apartment, and your '79 Mercedes that you'd run on biodiesel if you could ever get the damn thing to turn over?

Yes, Craigslist. They are having a sale on triple junction thin-film amorphous PV manufacturing plants.

Give it a shot. Maybe it will work out better than the redhead.

A Ruckus in Caracas

ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips leave Venezuela over oil dispute Say what you will about Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the guy knows how to keep things interesting. Tired of multinational oil companies having all the fun in his resource-rich country, he has pushed for state control of the Orinoco Belt, the largest energy reserve in the Western Hemisphere; […]

Because Encouraging Efficiency Is Too Hard

Department of Energy creates cellulosic ethanol research centers Cellulosic ethanol continues inching toward its time in the sun: the U.S. Department of Energy announced plans yesterday for three bioenergy research centers to open by the fall of 2009. Hoping to market new technologies within five years, the centers will focus on identifying microbes that can […]

Accuses us of ‘green imperialism’

More or less echoing what I said here, China is telling the West to shove its climate hectoring where the sun don’t shine: Asian business and government leaders have accused rich countries of hypocrisy, saying they run polluting industries with cheap labour in China and then blame the country for worsening climate change. “This is […]

Ethanol: the drunkard’s scourge

OK, ethanol, come on! You effed up the tortillas, you effed up the beer … now you’re effing up the tequila? Is nothing sacred?

Hastings Makes Less Waste?

Central Nebraska town wins greenest city in America contest We say “greenest city in America,” and you say — Portland? Seattle? Savannah? Try Hastings, Nebraska. The town of 25,000 beat out some 350 other cities to win a contest sponsored by Yahoo! as part of the portal’s “Be a Better Planet” initiative. Yes, we’re pretty […]

The latest from Kunstler

Jim Kunstler’s heard the latest data on oil exports/imports, and he sees trouble a’comin’: The implication in [the coming dropoff in oil imports] is that the activities that have become “normal” for us during the post World War Two era will very shortly become untenable. An economy based on suburban expansion and incessant motoring is […]

I’m sure whoever has the best argument will win, right?

There’s an interesting piece today in CongressNow on the debate over auctioning vs. giving away credits in a cap-and-trade system. (CN requires a subscription, which you can get for the low, low price of $1500 or so. I’m on the 10-day evaluation thing, so enjoy these pieces while they come, ’cause there’s no way Grist […]

It ain’t working

The Washington Post has a piece about Obama’s attempts to split the difference (thread the needle? straddle the fence?) on the subject of liquid coal. Y’all are probably sick of hearing me talk about this (watch for an op-ed soon!), so I’ll outsource the making of the basic point to Brian Beutler and Brad Plumer, […]