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Because he said so

So, this month a panel of 300 scientists put out a report saying that global warming is most definitely underway, and that "human influences, resulting primarily from increased emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, have now become the dominant factor."

But stop the presses! U.S. Senator Ted Stevens (R-Ala.) says the scientists are wrong. Not that he's read the report.

Scientists who helped put together the report briefed members of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee on Tuesday.

Stevens, who is to chair the committee starting in January, agreed that climate change is a serious problem and said he looked forward to reading the report.

But he said he does not accept the conclusion the scientists reached: that the driving force behind warming is people burning coal, oil and natural gas, the fuels that produce greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere.

Stevens must have great confidence in his scientific credentials to cast doubt on the work of 300 climate specialists.  Curious about those credentials, I visited Stevens' bio page. Hm ... a mid-century law degree ... and then in congress since 1964.  Nope.  Nothing about science.

But he does acknowledge that "we need to take some action."  So what's the action?

Stevens' spokeswoman, Courtney Schikora Boone, said the action Stevens is taking is to fund more research about climate change.

UPDATE: Turns out it's not just Stevens; the entire Alaska delegation is demonstrating a heretofore undetected bent for science.

"My biggest concern is that people are going to use this so-called study to try to influence the way and standard of living that occurs within the United States," Young said.

"I don't believe it is our fault. That's an opinion," Young said. "It's as sound as any scientist's."

Young's opinion, you see, is just as valid as any scientist's, regardless of any "so-called study." The mind just boggles, doesn't it?

Whacked by The West Wing

OK, am I the only enviro ticked off that last night's West Wing episode, even while highlighting the need for tighter fuel-economy standards, portrayed renewable-energy advocates as querulous, petty, bickering twits pushing immature and drastically flawed technologies?

Oh, and am I the only enviro who kinda likes the word enviro?

Greens and big biz

"Green movement is big business," declares the headline of a Reuters article this week.  

The concept recalls Mac Chapin's ruckus-causing article in World Watch on conflicts of interest at the three big conservation groups, as mentioned by Geoff last week. (A fascinating read, by the way -- I may never think of the Big Three the same way again.)

Dude, the Powder Is Nuclear Today!

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Better Red Than Dead

Annual “Red List” of threatened species says lots of species are threatened The World Conservation Union released its annual Red List of threatened species today, and it ain’t pretty. Some […]

Givin’ the Smog a Bone

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Bright green living

Over at WorldChanging, they are big on the idea of "bright green living," the notion that the future can be both more profitable and more sustainable. (Bright as in smart, get it?) They lamented the lack of a central resource for information about BGL and then said screw lamenting, let's make one.  Thus the Bright Green Living Wiki.  (What's a wiki, you ask? See here.) It's a great collection of articles, definitions, and other such resources for those interested in being hip, smart, and green.  Check it out.

Isn’t it oxymoronic

Elizabeth McCarthy investigates and comes away unimpressed with "clean coal."

It’s all about oil

Yesterday we pointed to a story about China's alliance-making with global bad actors, part of its efforts to quench its growing thirst for oil. In today's Washington Post, Robin Wright follows up, focusing on Iran. Readers of James Fallows' seminal article on Iran in the new Atlantic Monthly know that our options around that country's nuclear ambitions are already few and grim -- an alliance with China is certainly not going to help that situation.

Hope springs delusional

On Monday we wrote about Oregon voters' rather ... what's the word? ... shortsighted approval of Measure 37, which many folks felt would eviscerate the state's largely successful (if slightly bloated and overly complex) land-use planning rules.  Today, Ore. Gov. Ted Kulongoski said that voters didn't actually mean to eviscerate the program, and that he would pay out Measure 37 claims to landowners rather than abandon the rules.  

Good luck with that, Ted.

David Hunnicutt, head of the property-rights group that pushed the measure, promptly replied: "Ninety-nine out of a hundred people who've had their rights taken from them don't want a check. They just want the ability to use their land the way they could when they purchased it." Why, it's almost like he did want to eviscerate the rules!

Not wanting to commit political suicide, Kulongoski rushed to assure voters that he wouldn't do anything crazy, like raising taxes.  Instead, he'd pay out the claims by taking money from other programs -- say, "health programs, programs for senior citizens, and help for low-income children and families." Lovely.