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Government scientists now forced to raise money.

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility have a new press release:

Washington, D.C.-- Federal scientists working for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation have been ordered to raise funds to support their research projects or face unfavorable performance evaluations, according to documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The scientists are tasked with finding private, state and other federal sponsors to buy the scientists' time. [...]

These new "marketing performance standards" apply so far to approximately 30 scientists working within the Bureau's Ecological Planning & Assessment and Ecological Research & Investigations units located in Denver, Colorado. Similar entrepreneurial standards are being proposed for other units in the Bureau of Reclamation as well as other agencies within the Interior Department.

Now, the Bureau of Reclamation isn't exactly what it sounds like -- it's the federal agency responsible for managing dams, water, hydroelectric power in the American West. I'm sure there are some mixed feelings about the agency among Grist readers, but requiring the group that does the NEPA legwork to raise outside money strikes me as pernicious. The Ecological Research & Investigations unit already thinks in terms of outside "clients," however, so it may be a different case. But the main problem that PEER is trying to highlight seems to be that scientists shouldn't have to do fundraising in order to be considered in good standing as federal employees.

Thanks to Chris Mooney for the heads-up.

An interview with the author of three-part New Yorker series

The New Yorker will be running a three-part series on climate change by Elizabeth Kolbert, starting in this week's issue. It's not available online (yet?), but don't miss this interview with Kolbert. A choice bit:

BRICs

I've been trying to figure out a way of recommending this TriplePundit post without just repeating the whole thing ... without success. So screw it:

BRICs - An acronym for "Brazil, Russia, India and China" refers to the emerging combination of economic power weilded by those four nations. An outstanding analysis on Z+Partners weblog sheds some light on the growing influence of this bloc of nations, the rise of potential conflicts with the G7 group, and various environmental scenerios. A key quote:

Perhaps the prospect of a massively destabilizing and massively expensive competition for oil with the BRICs will be the tipping point the finally pushes the U.S. toward a true green energy revolution.

Father José Andrés Tamayo Cortez guides the fight for Honduran forests

José Andrés Tamayo Cortez. Photo: Goldman Environmental Prize. The woodlands of southeastern Honduras range from mountaintop cloud forests to low-lying rainforests; they are home to more than 500 bird species […]

Do you enjoy humor?

Then this is the cartoon for you!

And there’s massive demand.

Holy smokes! Mike Millikin reports that pre-orders for the wee-little ZAP "Smart Car" have topped $750 million. That's pretty amazing. Apparently the U.S. Department of Transportation has signed off on it, so as soon as ZAP finds a U.S. distributor, the candy-cars are on their way. I want one!

For more on the Smart Car, see these two previous posts by Mike.

Huh?

There's a good interview with Christie Whitman over on Environmental Science & Technology. I go back and forth about Whitman, but she definitely puts her best -- and by "best," of course I mean, "most sympathetic to my own views" -- foot forward in this interview.

I found this a bit bizarre though. When asked about climate change, she says:

In fairness, I think we can do more. I think we can get a cap on carbon that would give utilities time to reach it without so dislocating the industry that it will drive the costs of energy out of sight. And I think, ultimately, we will have a cap on carbon. But you also have the studies, I think two years ago, from NASA showing the impacts of land change.

So there are still scientific differences on where to focus the dollars. The president has acknowledged that climate change is occurring. But then Michael Crichton, who is enormously popular, writes a book [State of Fear] saying that it's not happening. And that sets you back. So it is not as widely accepted as it should be.

Michael Crichton: single-handedly thwarting the social consensus on climate change that President Bush so desperately wants.

And then later:

It’s not just a partisan issue. I haven’t read the book, but Michael Crichton cites studies that show climate change is natural and that we are not in immediate danger. Then you have that movie, The Day After Tomorrow, where the world is coming to an end immediately if we don't do something tomorrow. When you have those two images in the popular media, it's hard for the people to figure out what's right. That's one of the reasons the administration hasn't been that engaged, and why they haven't felt any pressure.

Hm ... what do they call it when an administration champions an issue of great import that isn't receiving enough public attention ... oh, right!

Leadership.

Models and rock bands are overrated.

A while back I drew attention to Gil Friend's "Sustainable Business: A Declaratin of Leadership," a handy (and colorful!) capsule summary of what sustainable biz is all about. Now that much-blogged-about document has its very own website, where you can download a poster-sized version. Put it on the wall of your dorm room!

None of the sub-pages work yet, but I'm assuming Gil is all over that.

L.A. tries to get itself out of its sprawled mess.

Well, from the LA Times, at least. 

The paper's had a series of guest editorials about traffic, transit and urban planning -- specifically, how sprawling, congested LA can get itself out of the fix it's put itself into over the last 60 years or so.  The LA area is surprisingly dense, but the population is spread out fairly uniformly over a large area -- which makes it very hard to service the region cost-effectively using transit.  At the same time, building new roads has become both exhorbitantly expensive and politically unpalatable.

Sounds a little like much of the rest of urban America, no?

To summarize...

Ubiquity Is the Mother of Reinvention

Labeling and certification move beyond organic in U.S. With the U.S. organics industry going mainstream, a coterie of anti-The-Man farmers are getting out, eschewing federally regulated “organic” certification and creating […]