Factory farms let off the hook for water pollution, activists say

The Bush administration wants to let factory farms determine whether the animal excreta that oozes from their facilities into waterways...

Americans and Climate Change: Leveraging the social sciences III

"Americans and Climate Change: Closing the Gap Between Science and Action" (PDF) is a report synthesizing the insights of 110 leading thinkers on how to educate and motivate the American public on the subject of global warming. Background on the report here. I'll be posting a series of excerpts (citations have been removed; see original report). If you'd like to be involved in implementing the report's recommendations, or learn more, visit the Yale Project on Climate Change website.

Today, two more social-science analyses: dynamic responses (the conflicts between multiple media messages) and issue cycles (the waxing and waning of public attention to an issue). Good stuff.

And with this, we conclude Part I!

More interview with Mike Davis

Part two of Tom Engelhardt's interview with Mike Davis is up. Davis is the author of City of Quartz and, most recently, Planet of Slums.

More great stuff. I particularly like this:

‘Tis the Season (for strawberry shortcake)

Ah, June. Roses are in bloom, weddings and graduation exercises occupy the weekends, and it's time to head to the beach. Summer in full swing! Summer at last!

So why am I making Thanksgiving dinner on what is, to date, the hottest day of the year?

Welcome, dear reader, to the topsy-turvy world of the food writer. Like fashion models who don heavy mink coats in July and itsy-bitsy bikinis in December in order to accommodate magazine production schedules, foodwriters are always working many months into the future. This leads to a rarefied category of Seasonal Affective Disorder: Seasonal Displacement Disorder -- a syndrome in which the patient is unreasonably preoccupied with the events and sentiments normally reserved for a season approximately six months into the future.

In coal country, mining is destroying cemeteries and faith

James Bowe, a lifelong resident of Whitesville, W.Va., knows the mountains around his home better than he knows himself. He’s...

How a little blue pill could get big results — in species conservation, we mean

Quick: what do sea turtles, black bears, and Philippine fruit bats have in common? Rise up on behalf of the...

Americans and Climate Change: Incentives: Politicians

"Americans and Climate Change: Closing the Gap Between Science and Action" (PDF) is a report synthesizing the insights of 110 leading thinkers on how to educate and motivate the American public on the subject of global warming. Background on the report here. I'll be posting a series of excerpts (citations have been removed; see original report). If you'd like to be involved in implementing the report's recommendations, or learn more, visit the Yale Project on Climate Change website.

Why aren't politicians more eager to champion the issue of global warming? Why did Al Gore fail to get any traction with it in 2000? Find out below!

Americans and Climate Change: Scientific disconnects II

"Americans and Climate Change: Closing the Gap Between Science and Action" (PDF) is a report synthesizing the insights of 110 leading thinkers on how to educate and motivate the American public on the subject of global warming. Background on the report here. I'll be posting a series of excerpts (citations have been removed; see original report). If you'd like to be involved in implementing the report's recommendations, or learn more, visit the Yale Project on Climate Change website.

Below the fold is the second part of the chapter on the challenges science and scientists face in communicating to the public about global warming. There's lots of good stuff, but I was particularly interested in the discussion of how to convey scientifically accurate information about the connection between global warming and today's weather.

Gas prices

Since everybody else on the planet is commenting on the issue, I suppose I should as well:

No, high gas prices are not the result of oil-company price gouging or nefariousness. It's the market balancing supply and demand (i.e., you, dear consumer).

Yes, politicians -- mostly Democrats -- attempting to substitute oil-company bashing and demagoguery in the place of real energy proposals deserve only snorts of derision.

No, it would not be a good thing for gas to be cheaper. It's been artificially cheap in the U.S. for a long time, but it's inevitably going to rise. Get used to it.

That is all.