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Dan Aykroyd rants about overconsumption

In an interview done to promote his (widely panned) new feel-good flick Christmas with the Kranks, Dan Aykroyd let loose his opinions on overwrought consumerism:

"[T]he common enemy in North America is the Western consumer. The consumer has driven oil up to $50 a barrel so we have to have these wars," he said. Still, he called for supporting the troops fighting those wars: "we've got to support those young men and women who are out there protecting our big fat bloated lifestyle. ... But let's take that $110 billion we're putting into conflict and put it into hydrogen cell research."

The interviewer pointed out the obvious: "But as a Hollywood success story, you're part of that whole fat bloated lifestyle." To which Aykroyd replied, "Yes, I know. I drive a V10 Ford Excursion and I have to tell folks all the time: look, I've got five kids and a dog and birds. I would have to have two Lincolns with two V8s, you see, so it would be 16 cylinders."

Lest ye judge, though, he properly disposes of his bottles and cans! "But I recycle at home. I started that with my dad in the neighborhood, we started a recycling thing that turned into quite a big thing with all the people in our neighborhood up in Canada doing bottles and cans and glasses."

Hollywood stars: throwing stones from glass houses since the sign was erected in 1923.

States continue to lead the way

Washington Rep. Ed Murray (D), chair of the state's House Transportation Committee, is set to introduce a measure that would have Washington impose greenhouse-gas standards mirroring those recently put in place in California. See if this sounds familiar:

The idea of imposing the tougher standards here was endorsed recently by most members of a task force that included government officials, environmentalists and representatives of some of the state's largest businesses.

The bill will likely face a vigorous fight from the auto industry, which claims the California rules are really an illegal, if indirect, attempt to impose tougher fuel-mileage standards.

Supported by everybody but the auto industry. Who coulda guessed it?

In addition to Washington's laudable effort, recent news reports reveal that Maine, Connecticut, and Rhode Island are either passing or considering similar measures.

UPDATE: Hastily written and misleading -- in a blog post no less! First, the proposed Washington measure has to do with auto emissions, obviously. And the "similar" measures in other states are similar only in that they address auto emissions -- they are not the same thing as the global-warming-focused effort in Cali, but rather Cali's more modest (though still controversial and opposed by automakers) "Clean Car Program," which is about hydrocarbons and smog. Mea culpa.

Smokestacks off the hook?

A flurry of stories today -- see, e.g., here -- report the results of a study that claims carbon (read: auto emissions) is at fault for pollution-related heart problems. The study lets sulfates (read: power plants) off the hook.

Reuters calls the Electric Power Research Institute, which conducted the study, an "independent, non-profit center for public interest energy and environmental research." According to Geoffrey Johnson over at The Green Life Blog, a little more skepticism is warranted.

Free-range pig intestines

Who says organic is for sissies? (Wait, is baseball considered sissy ...? I'm really not tapped into the sports world, being a longtime sissy myself. Anyhoo!) San Diego's Petco Park and St. Louis's Busch Stadium are going to start selling organic hotdogs and bratwursts at the games of, uh, whatever teams play in those stadiums. They expect the dogs to cost about a buck more than the pesticide- and hormone-ridden variety. Hot dogs are still, of course, hot dogs, and even if they come from the happiest pigs on the planet, eating pig guts ain't healthy.  But hey, progress is progress!

Bush taps Nebraska gov to head USDA

Nebraska Gov. Mike Johanns (R) will replace Ann Veneman as secretary of agriculture, if Bush's nomination slithers through the Senate as expected. For those not intimately familiar with Johanns' record (who, me?), Bush provided this helpful tidbit: "He's a strong proponent of alternative energy sources such as ethanol and bio-diesel." A corn-belt governor who digs ethanol?  Who woulda thunk it?  

More on Johanns to come ...

Linking AIDS and conservation

On the occasion of World AIDS day, it is worth taking a harder look at how the pandemic affects natural resource management. The numerous negative links were just under discussion in Bangkok at the IUCN World Conservation Congress that ended late last month. The U.S.-based African Biodiversity Collaborative Group prepared some valuable reference materials for the megaconference. ABCG claims the key impacts of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on natural resource management are:

• overuse of natural resources including medicinal plants, timber for coffins, and wildlife for food;
• changes in land use as agricultural practices change with falling capacity for heavy labor;
• changes in access to resources and land especially when widows and orphans cannot inherit land;
• loss of traditional knowledge of sustainable land and resource management practices;
• loss of human capacity for natural resource management in government, non-government organizations, academic institutions; communities, donor organizations, and private sector;
• increased vulnerability of community-based natural resource management programs as communities lose leadership and capacity, and HIV/AIDS issues take priority; and
• diversion of conservation funds for HIV/AIDS related costs.

Recognizing these conservation impacts is a must. But there is some danger a list like this one comes across as insensitive toward the staggering human toll of the disease. As we seek to understand the costs of AIDS in multiple sectors -- environment, agriculture, the wider economy -- it is imperative that conservationists not lose sight of the catastrophic human toll. Otherwise they risk sounding like they value pandas more than people.

Moss Def

Moss gathering worries biologists, few others Valued by florists and craft mavens as basket liner and wreath adornment, moss is a hot commodity, according to several researchers raising concerns about […]

Less Salmon, More Dammin’

Northwest salmon to lose critical habitat; Bush admin to keep dams A double dose of salmon news today: The Bush administration yesterday announced its intention to cut by more than […]

Mo’ trash

Speaking of trash, Joel Makower has a nice round-up of developments in the turning-waste-into-energy field. Turns out there is such a field, and it's busy as a bee.

Detroit in the rearview mirror

When Scott Kirsner visited General Motors, he found its executives dismissive of Japanese automakers' focus on hybrids.  GM vice chairman of product development Bob Lutz said the decision not to make a hybrid "was a mistake from one aspect, and that's public relations and catering to the environmental movement."

GM believes that hybrids are but a temporary stepping stone on the road to a bright, shiny, World's Fair-esque future of hydrogen-powered cars. Meanwhile, Toyota and Honda get farther and farther ahead in the hybrid market.

Kirsner thinks Detroit is making a mistake, and makes a good case in Salon.com.