Uncategorized

You’ve Got Whale

Feds propose threatened status for Puget Sound orcas The National Marine Fisheries Service yesterday proposed giving threatened status to a population of 80-some orcas that spend their summers in Washington […]

Stossel and Crichton, a match made in … uh …

Noted hack John Stossel has found a true brother-in-hackery.  On Dec. 10's 20/20, Stossel effusively praised Crichton's new book State of Fear (more on that here, and more to come), which purports to expose global warming as a media scare story perpetrated by Hollywood liberals and, oh, you know, all the usual winger suspects.

He offered no countervailing view (from, say, a scientist), instead interviewing a woman ready to pee her pants in fear after seeing The Day After Tomorrow -- presumably representative of the hysteria on the issue. The rest of the segment was devoted to lionizing the "brave" Crichton, who is allegedly taking a great risk by publishing this media-friendly, sensationalist execrement.  Read the whole gory story here.

Evangelicals and the earth

Grist, of course, ran the definitive story on the Christian right's relationship to environmentalism, but it wouldn't hurt to go gather additional insights from this piece by Alexander Zaitchik.  He asks, "If a slowly expanding majority of evangelical Christians in this country supports the regulation of industry to protect the environment, and if there is no clear Biblical injunction against doing so, why are the most vehement anti-environmentalists in American politics consistently found among the Christian Right?" If you guessed "close ties between the movement's national leadership and industry," well, give yourself a gold star.

We Know, We Know, You’re Sick of Hearing About Tajikistan, but …

Former Soviet republic littered with radioactive mine sites The former Soviet republic of Tajikistan may be on the brink of environmental disaster as decades-old abandoned uranium mines lie open to […]

Leapfrogging

"Leapfrogging" is the notion of developing countries adopting modern, sustainable technologies, without following the path the developed world took through the intervening (and highly polluting) steps of industrialization. It's a meme that's catching on, and WorldChanging has a kind of leapfrogging primer up to familiarize you with the basics.

WTF?

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg reads this post by Dave Pollard and calls it "inspiring!"  I had a somewhat different reaction, more along the lines of, "Stalinesque lunacy!"

Our daily oil spills

Most of the points I mentioned on Northwest Environment Watch's blog about the recent devastating oil spill in southern Puget Sound also apply to the Unalaska spill now unfolding in Alaska's Aleutian Islands. Here's a recap of the most relevant points, with an addition.

1. Like the death toll in the Middle East and the melting of the Northwest's glaciers, these spills show us the true cost of oil -- which is far higher even than the prices in this year's world oil market.

2. The spilled petroleum is ship fuel, not a product being transported on a tanker. Parts of the shipping industry are holdovers from the bad old days of dirty fuel, dirty engines, and careless practices. The "bunker fuel" they burn is literally the dregs of oil refining: the polluting crud that's left over after gasoline, diesel, and other products are "cracked" out of crude. In recent years, shipping has finally begun to get the attention it deserves from the press and environmental regulators, both to its air pollution and to the sewage dumped by cruise ships. But it's still in the days cars were in before catalytic converters.

Alternative giving

Via Joel Makower, check out the Alternative Gifts International (AGI) catalogue, for those of you who like giving holiday gifts but don't like filling up landfills.  Says Joel:

In a world sated with gizmos, gadgets, and geegaws, AGI offers the opportunity to give simply, elegantly, and effectively. It works with reputable nonprofit agencies that aid established projects around the world. Its annual gift catalog is an education in itself. Each of the gift opportunities included features background information about the problem and how even a small contribution can make a big difference. Categories include child survival, development, disaster relief, education, hunger relief, peace/justice, medical assistance, livestock, shelter, water, and women in development.

You can view the catalogue online or order copies to pass out to friends and family.

Green, Even in the Dark

Nuclear industry lobbies for “green” credit Nuclear-plant owners in the Northeastern U.S. are campaigning to be recognized as “green” energy sources. Following the success of a New Hampshire plant that […]

At Last, an Evil Worldwide Cabal of Our Own

Crichton thriller denies climate change; world fails to laugh at him Popular author Michael Crichton’s new novel State of Fear features an evil cadre of environmentalists that uses secret technology […]