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Feebates, not fuel taxes, are key

Thomas Friedman's usually pitch-perfect commentary on energy and security hit some high notes Sunday, but it also went off key twice, in disappointing ways.

First, the sweetest passage from his New York Times column:

By doing nothing to lower U.S. oil consumption, we are financing both sides in the war on terrorism and strengthening the worst governments in the world. That is, we are financing the U.S. military with our tax dollars and we are financing the jihadists--and the Saudi, Sudanese and Iranian mosques and charities that support them--through our gasoline purchases. The oil boom is also entrenching the autocrats in Russia and Venezuela....Finally, by doing nothing to reduce U.S. oil consumption we are only hastening the climate change crisis.

Now, the ear splitters:

Climb Every Mountain. Then Remove It.

Activists plan summer of mountaintop-removal protests Environmental activists are planning a summer of focused protest against mountaintop-removal coal mining in West Virginia and surrounding coal states. “Mountain Justice Summer” will […]

Eh, Just Throw It Out Back in the Shed

Nuke industry says cheapest waste-disposal plan is plenty safe With the Yucca Mountain nuclear-waste disposal facility mired in technical, legal, and political difficulties, nuke boosters have decided, hey, who needs […]

Goin’ batty

In the interest of home-state pride, I'd like to take a moment to recognize the new state bat of Virginia. Signed into law yesterday by Gov. Mark Warner (D), the Virginia big-eared bat will henceforth be put on stamps and bumper stickers along with the Chesapeake Bay deadrise (official state boat) and milk (official state beverage). Apparently the big-eared bat had to beat out a rival contender for the title: the Louisville Slugger. Yuck, yuck.

As if that isn't funny enough, Warner apparently likes to release his news in the form of limericks for the press. And no, they don't begin with: "There once was a man from Nantucket ..."

Below the fold, an excerpt:

Semi? He thought they said Demi

Two months ago, we mocked Ashton Kutcher for buying a behemoth, 10-mile-per-gallon (on a good day) International CXT, or commercial extreme truck.

Now, Kutcher's mocking himself. "My semi? It's the most idiotic thing I've ever purchased," he's quoted as saying in, ahem, In Touch Weekly. (I was flipping through it in line at the co-op, OK?)

ContactMusic.com reports that he may auction the beast off.

"It's a weird boy's dream," he said by way of explaining his stupidity. "Growing up in Iowa, all these kids in my school who had money would go out and buy these Toyota pickup trucks and put these huge wheels on them, and I would go, 'Oh man, I've got to have one of those.'

"So when I saw this truck in the newspaper, I knew I had to have it ... Then I got it, and I was like, 'Son of a bitch, I should have looked at it first.' I didn't realize it was that big."

For those of you not in Iowa or Tennessee

Last week, I posted my review of Sky Blue, a Korean anime film that touches upon some enviro issues. As I mentioned in my post, it is playing in limited release, with many showings already passed ... which means that many of you won't get to see it in theaters.

For those who are interested, and can't wait until it comes out on DVD, VHS or television, you can watch the first 8 minutes of Sky Blue on ifilm.com. (And all of you anime freaks out there, you can also watch clips of Steamboy.)

If you do watch the preview, which provides the backstory of the film, imagine that we humans continue to ignore the threat of climate change and that this is our future. Chilling.

Jeepers Creepers

Hordes of four-wheel-drive enthusiasts, and their respective four-wheel-driving monsters, have descended -- or rather off-roaded -- into the red rocks of Moab, Colo., for the 39th annual Jeep Safari.

The event began with a few Jeep drivers looking for a good time and has become an event complete with vendors, parades, and, of course, a whole lot of four-wheelin' fun. Some 20,000 to 30,000 off-roadies were in Moab this weekend, part of the week-long festivities that now overshadow mountain-biking and marathon-running weekends in terms of financial boons for the red rock area. No word yet on how the rocks feel about it.

An open letter to Andy Rooney of 60 Minutes

Dear Andy Rooney:

I enjoyed your commentary last night on 60 Minutes, titled "Put Brakes On Gas Prices". I applaud your campaign "to get every driver to use 20 percent less gas this year than last year."

You went on to point out how we Americans make unnecessary trips and exotic vacation plans that result in consumption of enormous amounts of gasoline. You even suggested that "newspapers print 'Don't Travel' sections with articles about how interesting it is not to go anywhere."

But you failed to mention hybrid cars! Here in Gristmill, readers are touting the benefits of driving a hybrid vehicle -- the primary one being less gas consumption.

Andy, Andy, why the omission?

Species essentialism

As one-time student of philosophy, I'm always happy to see it pop up in my non-academic life. So thanks to Jon Christensen for pointing to this short essay about species in Philosophy Today.

But I found it somewhat befuddling. The question on hand is, "what exactly is a species?" Geneticist Massimo Pigliucci says this:

Praying attention to herbicides

A group of ruralites near Eugene, Ore., have begun a five-week series of prayer circles in front of timber company offices.

Organizer Lynn Bowers said the group resorted to prayer circles after calls and letters to the timber companies got no response.

"No one willingly does harm," Bowers said, clasping hands in a circle of eight friends in front of Transition Management Inc.'s offices near Valley River Center in Eugene. "I pray that these timber guys' hearts are open so they understand the harm they are doing."

Although the timber companies say the herbicides are necessary to keep invasive species -- like scotch broom and blackberry -- from overgrowing, Bowers argues that the chemicals are too risky for forest and human health. She says their group will pick a different company to pray by each Friday until Earth Day, because "we need a miracle to change this situation." Amen?