Catch up post: replying to some comments

As promised, this is a catch-up post, wherein I belatedly reply to various comments.

Top ten student teams duke it out for cash, concert

As I reported last summer, mtvU, MTV’s 24-hour college network, and GE buddied up to get students to “green” their...

Only if you ignore fossil fuel emissions

(Part of the How to Talk to a Global Warming Skeptic guide)

Objection: The United States absorbs more CO2 into its land than it emits into the air. The world should be grateful.

Answer: As often the case, at the heart of this talking point is a grain of truth. But it does not serve the purpose for which it's been enlisted. According to the U.S. Department of Energy land-use changes in the U.S. between 1952 and 1992 have resulted in a net absorption of CO2. But this is only true of natural CO2 -- the natural flux of CO2 into and out of forests and peat bogs and soil, as well as carbon that's been sequestered as lumber and other wood products. These fluxes are actually much larger than anthropogenic emissions, but they go both ways, whereas fossil fuel burning only emits carbon.

It’s the enemy of the human race

If you care about global warming, you've got to care about coal. Unlike oil and gas -- for which North American production is in decline -- there's plenty of coal left on American soil. And while some energy companies and promoters of "energy independence" see this as an unqualified good, those of us who see most issues through the lens of climate change see the "wall of coal" as one of the scariest things out there.

That's why California's latest foray into climate policy is so heartening:

Environment is top concern for Canadians. Americans, not so much.

Cascadians on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border share a deep connection to our temperate corner of the world. But if national polling data is any indication of regional opinion, we may not necessarily share the same views when it comes to the fate of our piece of the planet -- or even of the planet itself. Public opinion polling in the two countries shows a boundary between perceptions almost as stark as the national border drawn on a political map.

In recent polling by Gallup and Pew, Americans display little concern about the environment and global warming -- far less, as it turns out, than their Canadian counterparts.

Is ethanol skeptic Pimentel right after all?

In 2004, the USDA came out with a study (PDF) claiming that corn-derived ethanol delivers 67 percent more energy than...

Manipulation Nation

U.S. risk-assessment draft completely eviscerated by real live scientists The Bush administration’s quest to make federal-agency evaluations of public-health risks...

You may be surprised

I have been reading negative reports about Prius mileage and cost effectiveness for years. Here is one called "The Hybrid Hoax," written about a year ago. The author propagates misinformation by referring us to another article written in 2004 by a USA Today reporter (Kiley) who drove a Jetta diesel from Detroit to Washington, D.C., and a Prius back from Washington, D.C. to Detroit:

Kiley had to stop to refill the Prius, which ended up averaging 38 miles per gallon, compared with 44 miles per gallon for the Jetta

DOE won’t pay up enough for nuclear cleanup

The following is a guest post from Natalie Troyer, publications and volunteer coordinator at Heart of America Northwest. —– Let’s...