Umbra on composting weeds

Dear Umbra, I’ve been weeding the garden and yard, and got to thinking about some of the more invasive plants....

Readers talk back about ethanol, cell phones, home renovations, and more

  Re: Kernel Ganders Dear Editor: Thanks for covering the ethanol issue and our paper in Science. David Pimentel erroneously...

The Mustache and Lugar

Chip mentioned The Mustache's latest column here. A couple of people wanted to see excerpts, as it's hidden behind the $elect subscription wall.

The basic point of the column is that "Dick Cheney and Big Oil" have taken control of the energy debate by defining "realism" with ...

... this patronizing, pat-you-on-the-head view about alternative energy -- hybrids, wind, solar, ethanol -- which goes like this: "Yes, yes, those are all very cute and virtuous, but not realistic. Real men know that oil and fossil fuels are going to dominate our energy usage for a long time, so get used to it."

But, he says, there are signs of strain in the Republican coalition. More groups on the right are coming to realize that leaving oil behind -- and fast -- is the only "realistic" option if we want to avoid serious pain down the line.

Mostly, though, the column amounts to, "hey, look at Lugar's speech!" Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) makes the same points more eloquently. I'm including a long excerpt below the fold, but I encourage you to read the whole thing.

Doin’ What Comes Dastardly

Not-Kyoto climate pact meeting ends with much hot air The U.S. and Australia today marked the end of the Asia-Pacific...

Ethanol is suddenly all the rage in D.C. and Detroit

It’s as befuddling to see the “Live Green, Go Yellow” slogan splashed across the General Motors ads running throughout the...

Dogs are leftover from a time when we needed them, and now they suffer

Dogs have been in the news lately -- poisonings from tainted dog food and less than respectful treatment by a baggage handler. We have a lot of shared history with dogs. Dogs were once extremely valuable survival tools, used for the tracking of game, the herding of other domesticated animals, and most of all for the detection of dangerous predators, usually upright walking ones. That last use is still the most common. Modern burglar alarms have yet to emulate a dog's keen sense of hearing and smell.

You can just look at a dog to see how we have altered their genes. But, how have they altered ours? The alterations have to be there, given so much intimate contact over so much time. I am going to hypothesize (as I have done way too many times before) that the good feelings many of us get from dogs are the result of selective pressure, implying once again that dog lovers may have had a slight reproductive advantage over a long period of time. What else could explain the intense attachment some people develop for their pet dogs? Similarly, both of my daughters developed strong attachments to soft fuzzy objects as small children (a blanket named DeeDee, still providing great pleasure, and a sheepskin named Woooly).

More evidence that individual purchases mean less than changes in the system

Apparently I didn't do such a good job in this post explaining why I found this New York Times article on higher-mileage, gas-electric hybrid SUVs so troubling. So I'll try again.

To recap -- the Times article claims that, under the system governing vehicle fuel economy in the U.S., selling a hybrid Escape lets Ford sell an additional Lincoln Navigator without running afoul of federal CAFE standards. In other words, while buying an Escape may mean that you're driving a more efficient vehicle, it doesn't mean that the average fuel economy of all the Fords on the road will change one whit.

A couple commenters over on my blog mothership said this is bunk. But I think the article is on to something.

Poor safety enforcement led to the tragedy

The Sago mine disaster was first and foremost an incredible tragedy. (I challenge you to read this story and not get a tear in your eye.) I haven't said anything about it because in my experience most initial reports around accidents like this are exaggerated or plain wrong -- and that was certainly the case in Sago.

But now that the dust is clearing a little bit, there seems to be a growing consensus that the accident was, if not the direct result, at least indirectly related to a woeful lack of enforcement on the part of the Mine Safety and Health Administration. And that, of course, has to do with the coal industry's extraordinary friendliness with the Bush administration (though previous administrations, including Clinton's and Bush I's, share plenty of responsibility).

Start with today's NYT editorial, but for details and background, check out the guest posts from Ellen Smith, the editor of Mine Safety and Health News, over on Washington Monthly: here, here, and here. ThinkProgress also has some good stuff here, here, and here.

Update [2006-1-6 14:28:57 by David Roberts]: More from Jordan Barab.

Umbra on cell phones vs. land lines

Dear Umbra, In this day and age, when many people seem to be getting rid of their “land lines” in...