Climate Politics

Kvetch Hetchy

Schwarzenegger admin will consider undamming Hetch Hetchy To the surprise of, well, just about everybody, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s (R) resources secretary announced yesterday that he will pull together a thorough assessment of a project once considered entirely fanciful: tearing down O’Shaughnessy Dam and restoring Yosemite National Park’s Hetch Hetchy Valley. As attractive as the […]

The urban archipelago

My hometown alternative weekly The Stranger has an unbelievably good article running this week -- it's the first thing I've read post-election that actually felt authentic and hopeful to me. It says that relevant red/blue divide is not a matter of states but a matter of rural vs. urban. Cities vote Democrat. It's time to celebrate that, celebrate cities and the values of diversity, vitality, and imagination that make them run, and turn our attention to making cities ever more aesthetically, practically, and politically attractive.  My eye was particularly drawn to this passage:

And, as counterintuitive as it may seem to composting, recycling self-righteous suburbanites, living in dense urban areas is actually better for the environment. The population of New York City is larger than that of 39 states. But because dense apartment housing is more energy efficient, New York City uses less energy than any state. Conversely, suburban living--with its cars, highways, and single-family houses flanked by pesticide-soaked lawns--saps energy and devastates the ecosystem.

I recommend reading the whole thing.

Election serves as whack upside the head for environmental community

Post-election, enviros are thinking about values — and praying for a better outcome next time. The Bush victory dealt a devastating wallop to the environmental community, but some members say it also delivered a much-needed reality check to a movement struggling to find its soul. Understandably, many environmental leaders who jumped into the election fray […]

We Was Cobbed!

NAFTA panel says U.S. GM corn is invading Mexico A panel of scientists convened by NAFTA at the request of Mexican farmers and officials has concluded that genetically modified corn grown in the U.S., where it is legal, is crossing the border and contaminating crops in Mexico, where it is not, and that the contamination […]

The energy bill is alive — alive! — and that could be bad news for ANWR

A day after winning the presidential election last week, George W. Bush made this now-legendary — and, to some, menacing — statement: “I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it.” Without dwelling on the notion that conservatives are supposed to protect and grow capital, not fritter it away, […]

Terry on, My Wayward Son

Schwarzenegger promotes environmental advocate to Cabinet secretary California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) will elevate self-described tree hugger Terry Tamminen from his current position as environmental protection secretary to the more powerful position of Cabinet secretary, where he’ll serve as a liaison between the governor and department and agency heads. While Tamminen made decisions opposed at […]

See You Later, Regulator

Bush victory portends big and enduring changes in environmental regs U.S. EPA chief Mike Leavitt is touting last week’s election as “a validation of our philosophy and agenda,” and his agency and others that oversee environmental matters are expected to move aggressively to relax mandatory regulatory limits in favor of market-based systems and voluntary targets. […]

Rhymes with “ditty” too

The radio program "Living On Earth" had some hack from the Wall Street Journal editorial page on, along with Grist contributor Bill McKibben, to discuss what Bush's victory means for the environment.  It's interesting (and like Shalini, what I mean by interesting is "makes me reach for a noose").  You can read the transcript here.

Solution Dilution

Bush admin opposes recommendations in Arctic climate-change report Last week, details emerged about a comprehensive study on the accelerated and destructive effects of global warming on the Arctic, involving more than 300 scientists from eight nations and six indigenous tribes. Now some members of an eight-nation negotiating team are accusing the U.S. of working to […]

Cya-nara

State rejects attempt to repeal cyanide mining ban Voters in Montana decisively rejected Initiative 147, which would have repealed the state’s 1998 ban on open-pit cyanide leach mining, a highly destructive and polluting gold-mining technique that extracts small amounts of gold and silver diffused through large amounts of rock. Some 98 percent of the money […]