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Scientists trace SARS to bats, blame human mucking with nature

In a move likened to “a microbiological episode of CSI,” a team of scientists has uncovered the culprit behind a disease that shook the world — and that could very […]

Biomimicry in Newsweek

All my environment-related RSS feeds go into a single "green" folder (in Thunderbird). I returned from paternity leave to find that folder bulging with more than 4500 unread entries. Eek. Thus far I've been too scared to even open it.

All of which is to say, I'm sure someone's already covered this. But Newsweek has a nice little article on biomimicry that's worth reading. It recounts various lessons engineers have learned from nature and the nifty widgets they've built. Nothing new for folks familiar with the subject, but a friendly intro.

"If you have a design problem, nature's probably solved it already," says Janine Benyus, cofounder of the Biomimicry Guild. "After all, it's had 3.8 billion years to come up with solutions."

...

"The truth is, natural organisms have managed to do everything we want to do without guzzling fossil fuels, polluting the planet or mortgaging the future," says Benyus.

Indeed.

Time to abandon the ‘population’ frame in favor of women’s empowerment and sustainable development

One last thing on the American Prospect environment package: Adam Werbach's piece on population is brilliant, and by that I mean it expresses my own position.

The basic point is that the "population movement" is a bad idea. Not only is the notion that the world's problems come down to a matter of raw numbers wrong on the merits, but it's terrible framing and terrible politics. It attracts unsavory folks whose opposition to immigration has as much to do with xenophobia and racism as with ecological concern. It comes off as misanthropic, Malthusian, and insensitive to the plight of the poverty-stricken, activating all the worst stereotypes about environmentalism. Population activists are, says Werbach, "fighting a losing battle against history, language, and commonly understood mythologies that attract the wrong types of allies."

The solution? Reframe the movement as "a women's empowerment and sustainable-development movement."

If we reject the population-control frame in favor of the goals of women's emancipation and sustainable development, we may achieve a healthier and more stable population, without inviting the unwelcome embrace of ugly exclusionists.

That's exactly right.

Strife After Death

“Death of Environmentalism” authors offer follow-up Among a series of stories on environmentalism’s fortunes in the latest issue of The American Prospect is “Death Warmed Over” by Michael Shellenberger and […]

Crichton testifies before Congress

Not always. And definitely not yesterday at the Senate Environment and Public Works committee hearing on the role of science in environmental policy making.

Such an important topic demands the opinions of distinguished scientists and policy makers, right? Wrong. Headlining the hearing was none other than science fiction author Michael Crichton, whose latest book, State of Fear, takes on the science of global warming and the evil environmentalists behind it. (Read Dave's review here.)

I couldn't face watching it, but the brave scientists at Realclimate.org did. Their summary is worth a read.

Oil poster

Forget pin-up girls and rock bands. The hip new thing for dorm room walls is the oil poster, and handily distilled summary of historic oil production and its inevitable decline. Chicks dig it!

‘Death’ authors getting a little too cocky

The American Prospect has a big package of stories in the latest issue called "The Environment: Death and Rebirth." In it, Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus -- authors of the infamous "Death of Environmentalism" paper -- have a follow-up called "Death Warmed Over." It's meant as a response to critics of the original and something of a look ahead.

While it, like the original, contains nuggets of insight, the bulk is taken up with strawman bashing, bad analogies, and an entirely unwarranted degree of smug self-satisfaction.

Reducing gasoline consumption

With gasoline prices high and rising, it's worth revisiting an old post by our very own Clark Williams-Derry, which makes a simple point: if you want to reduce gas use, the best route is not more efficient cars but more efficient cities. Give it a look.

DeLay indicted

FYI.

Let No Good Seed Go Unpunished

Exposure to heavily polluted air can damage sperm DNA Turns out air pollution can make a man into a eunuch. Research published this month in the journal Human Reproduction found […]