Gristmill

Kyoto one step closer

The lower house of Russia's parliament approved the Kyoto Protocol today.  All that remains for formal Russian ratification is approval by the upper house and the signature of president Vladimir Putin, both widely considered inevitable formalities.  Once Russia signs on, Kyoto will officially take effect.

Suffice to say, Putin's motivations were not altruistic.  His ratification of Kyoto -- and it is entirely his doing, as he has reduced the democratic checks and balances of Russia's government to almost nothing -- is part of a deal with the European Union.  He gives them this bargaining chip against the U.S., and they give him membership in the World Trade Organization.

Without U.S. participation, Kyoto will achieve nothing.  The hope in what Bush calls "the halls of Europe" is that once world consensus settles on the issue, strict emissions limits are imposed by member governments on industries (many based in the U.S.), and a market in carbon credit trading emerges, the U.S. will have no choice but to hop on the bandwagon.  Think it will work?

Monster slash

I'm not really into these things, but lots of people love them -- witness the popularity of The Meatrix and the JibJab guys -- so if you are so inclined, check out Monster Slash, a Flash animation including a reinterpretation of the old song "Monster Mash," rerecorded by Bobby "Borris" Pickett, the very man who wrote the original.  You can probably figure out what it's about from the picture at left.

Your back yard

The super-wonks over at John Podesta's Center for American Progress have a nifty map on their site -- you can click on your state and find out statistics on environmental, health, and safety issues.  For instance, did you know that 1,160 people die every year due to power plant pollution in Texas?  Me neither!  Go check it out.

Paper beating scissors

For those who despair about the environment, who wonder, say, whether the world will ever take sufficient action to counter climate change, I give you ... the 2004 Boston Red Sox.

Down 3-0 against their arch-nemeses, the New York Yankees, the Sox rallied tonight to win the seven-game series, becoming the first team in the history of Major League Baseball to overcome such a deficit.

To a lifelong Red Sox fan -- someone conditioned from birth to always dream but never achieve -- someone, um, like myself, coated in the scar tissue of the devastating losses of the past -- a victory like tonight's can't help but give one rose-colored glasses. (At least for a night.) Who says we can't tackle climate change? Maybe the solar revolution is upon us. This is the dawning of the age of Green-arius. I'm only partially joking.

As Tyler Kepner wrote in his piece posted on the New York Times website immediately after the Sox win:

It was actually happening. The nerd was kissing the homecoming queen. Paper was beating scissors; scissors were beating rock. Charlie Brown was kicking the football. The Red Sox were beating the Yankees for the American League pennant.

I heart Corby Kummer

The Atlantic Monthly is my favorite magazine -- every month a thick, satisfying helping of high-minded policy-wonk goodness.  I read it cover to cover, which is the equivalent of a longish novella every month.

Anyhoo, one of many reasons to subscribe -- or at least to subscribe to the website -- is the writing of Corby Kummer.

Nader haters

Speaking of former Nader allies jumping ship, a group of the advocates, actors, writers, and politicos who endorsed Ralph in 2000 will be unveiling an initiative on Friday called The Unity Campaign, which will urge Nader supporters to pull their heads out of their asses and "vote strategically, vote Kerry."  The group -- including enviros Wendell Berry, Ben Cohen, Paul Hawken, and Randy Hayes, well as other lefty luminaries like Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, and Barbara Ehrenreich -- plans to run a series of ads in swing states where the Nader contingent could make a difference.  (Some personal Nader bile below the drop.)

So whatcha whatcha whatcha want?

In the U.S., as with many other places, the industrial era saw a massive exodus from rural areas into cities.  The "information era" (or whatever buzzword you like) has seen a massive exodus from cities to suburbs and exurbs, with long commutes to work, sprawling colonies of large homes, strip malls, and cars, cars, cars.  Now, the mere fact of such a large exodus would seem to indicate that Americans prefer such a lifestyle (despite the fact that it may be killing them.)

But according to a new survey conducted by Smart Growth America in conjunction with the National Association of Realtors, it is not so.

“The good, the bad, and the rusty”

Ever wonder what happened to the vibrant environmental protest movements that helped bring down the communist governments of Eastern Europe (and did you even know that green NGOs were critical to the fall of the Iron Curtain)?

For the history lesson, read Jane Dawson's book Eco-Nationalism: Anti-Nuclear Activism and National Identity in Russia, Lithuania, and Ukraine by Duke University Press.  

For tracking today's environmental movements and green journalism in Central and Eastern Europe, check out the Regional Environment Center for Central and Eastern Europe in Szentendre, Hungary, just outside Budapest.  The REC is the real node for green civil society in the region and their websites are terrific entry points for figuring out the what's what and who's who.  Their regional offices in each country mean they have their collective finger on the pulse and their practical training workshops of all types mean they are doers and not armchair types.  

Sign up for their new-look Green Horizon for aesthetically pleasing, bit-size updates and stories like "The Good, the Bad, and the Rusty," which I so gladly borrowed for the title of this posting.

VP mutiny

Even Winona LaDuke, Nader's running mate in 1996 and 2000, is ditching Ralph this year and endorsing Kerry.  This from her opinion piece in Indian Country Today:

John Kerry provides promise for Native America and for America. His policy proposals involve vision -- like alternative energy, more accessible health care, and finding all those children who have been "left behind" by the Bush administration. ... He opposes converting Yucca Mountain into a nuclear waste dump. He noted in the first debate that America cannot demand that other countries dispose of their nukes while we are busy engineering new ones. ... And while Kerry may be a diamond in the rough on issues like genetic modification, tribal budgets and building a more inclusive democracy, he has potential. And this is far more than what we can say for his opponent. By Nov. 2, 2004, John Kerry will have earned my vote.