Gristmill

Confirmation bias

Via Dave Pollard, I am reminded of one of my favorite quotes from author/cognitive scientist/philosopher/my hero Daniel Dennett, which every blogger, activist, or hell, reader of words should have tattooed on back of their typing hands:

Law of Needy Readers: On any important topic, we tend to have a rough idea of what we believe to be true, and when an author writes the words we want to read, we tend to fall for it, no matter how shoddy the arguments.

Pombo and mercury

So, last week, the GOP leadership of the House Resources Committee -- in particular, Richard Pombo (R-Calif.) -- released a report (PDF) claiming that mercury has not been linked to deleterious effects on human health, and that most mercury in the U.S. environment comes from natural sources.

The science overwhelmingly contradicts Pombo. Amanda touched on this in the latest Muckraker. Today, Chris Mooney delves further into the details, in this column and this follow-up on his blog. To summarize: A substantial portion of the mercury load in the U.S. environment comes from coal-fired power plants, and mercury stunts children's neurological development. (Mooney also points to a new study (PDF) claiming that mercury-driven diminishment of child IQ costs the U.S. some $8.7 billion in lost productivity every year.) Fetuses are particularly at risk, which is why dozens of states advise pregnant mothers to avoid several kinds of fish. To claim otherwise, Pombo has to distort research by the EPA and the National Academy of Sciences and draw heavily from industry and conservative think tanks.

It's hard to know what to say about this. It isn't a "values" issue like, say, stem cells or family planning. The modern right has distorted science on those topics plenty, but at least in those cases they are defending deeply held religious or moral views. At least there's some sort of principle involved, however risible the methods.

But there's no principle here. No principle, and no legitimate scientific doubt. It's simply an attempt by national legislators to cloud public debate on behalf of one of America's biggest polluters (and GOP contributors) -- at the expense of unborn children. I don't really go in for the overstatement that characterizes many public environmental campaigns, but this does seem a pretty clear case of choosing money over children's health. It isn't the first time, but it is particularly brazen and transparent.

WC stuff

Another week, another Sustainability Sunday on Worldchanging. Joel Makower brings intriguing news of the Solar High-Impact National Energy (SHINE) Project, "an ambitious and aggressive, three-pronged initiative to make solar both cost-competitive and a significant part of America's energy mix within 10 years." SHINE will be officially released tomorrow, and I'll blog more on it then, but Makower offers a nice preview. Green Car Congress' Mike Millikin brings word that the auto companies realize that the enormous growth of the global automobile market is unsustainable with current technology, and provides a nice, concise roundup of the alternatives on offer (hydrogen, hybrids, etc.).

Speaking of WC, sounds like they got some new funding, new partners, and new plans. Congrats!

100 Least Wanted

What do invasive plants and animals have to do with homeland security? The March 2005 issue of National Geographic reports that "terrorists could use invasives as weapons to 'disrupt and demoralize the U.S. government and its citizens over time.'" This according to Parameters, the U.S. Army College quarterly.

Dubious about the connections between national security and some turtles and weeds? How about economic concerns? "Attack of the Alien Invaders" also reports that "invasives cost the U.S. alone more than 140 billion dollars yearly." For example, the Caribbean tree frog, called a coqui, has "dampened [Hawaii's] 80-million-dollar nursery export business." Lost revenue aside, these little buggers can sound like "a thousand car alarms shrilling in your garden all night." Bummer.

And then there are possible health implications, such as the 2003 case of monkey pox, which jumped from infected African rats to pet prairie dogs to more than 70 people in six states. Luckily, no one died, but this illustrates how alien species can introduce alien viruses and the need for someone to stay on top of this issue. [See Grist's article on conservation medicine in Main Dish.]

But the most obvious concern around invasive species is their impact on local ecosystems. Non-indigenous animals can eat and compete with natives species -- sometimes wiping them out. Invasive plants can choke out natives, which can also impact the animals dependent on those plants as food sources. Check out the Global Invasive Species Database for "100 of the World's Worst Invasive Alien Species," which has been reproduced in the current issue of National Geographic.

Not a National Geographic subscriber? Check out the various Grist stories on the topic. And if you do get NG, browse our archives anyway! Where else are you going to learn that goats are the hip new thing in eco-friendly weed management?

Have your own invasive species horror story? Do tell.

Rentable hybrids

Why, it seems like just the other day that Umbra wrote about eco-friendly car renting and car sharing options. Now, here are the johnny-come-latelys at the New York Times with a long story on that exact subject. I am sooo sick of the NYT ripping us off! It's like, dude, get your own stories.

Product service systems

You know what's cool? Product service systems.

What are product service systems, you ask? How can they revolutionize the way we think about ownership and affluence? How can they dramatically reduce our ecological footprints?

These are good questions. However, I'm too lazy, and it's too Friday, to answer them here. Instead, I'm going to do the bloggy thing and point you to a bunch of stuff you should read. Meet back here for discussion.

• For a long and reasonably comprehensive description of PSS stuff, download this UNEP report (PDF).
• You could browse around the Product Service System Information Network's website.
• You could read this Worldchanging post, which, as is their wont, is packed with further links.
  
  Or, if you find all that stuff too taxing...
  
  
• You could browse through Treehugger's PSS category, replete with fun pictures and snappy descriptions of real-world PSS examples.

I'll write more about PSS some time, when it's not so damn Friday.

Wind

Speaking of Jim Motavalli, he has a nice primer in E Magazine on the history and current challenges of the wind power industry. Good reading.

Who speaks for the armadillo?

I'm all for animal rights, to a point. I mean, we're like, y'know, all part of the same interconnected web and stuff? But sometimes a sense of humor goes a long way. What do you mean, road-kill candy is offensive? Next thing I know, you're going to tell me Nerds are an affront to environmental editors everywhere.

Update [2005-2-25 16:24:57 by Katharine Wroth]: Alas, this one has already been resolved. For the sake of the children, this candy will no longer see the light of day. Which is good, because all those eight-year-olds driving cars would have started aiming straight for the squirrels.

Black gold, Texas tea

Relating to this post: One good argument for using public policy to aggressively push alternative fuels and regulate environmental quality is that affordable oil is running out. There is, of course, much dispute over when Hubbert's peak will be reached, or whether it already has been. Some even believe that new technologies will continue to enable us to extract oil from more and more obscure places, ensuring steady supply.

Unlikely.

Four good posts to read on oil: Joel Makower says Hubbert's peak is here, drawing on a letter from an anonymous oil company employee on EnergyBulletin. Then, there's Kevin Drum, who points out that of course demand is about to exceed supply -- we've known that's coming for years -- and points back to this post of his from last year, which gets into the details.

I leave you with this cheery thought from anonymous oil guy:

It is not a question of "if" peak oil has occurred - it has! The better question might be "when are the crows coming home to roost?" When will we begin to actually experience the shortages and the rising prices? I think we might make a decade, if everybody plays nice across the world. But when has that ever happened when something got scarce?