Uncategorized

Boxer kicks out Inhofe as Senate Environment committee chair

Democratic victory in the mid-term elections means that Barbara Boxer of California will replace James Inhofe of Oklahoma as the chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works committee. According to Katrina Van Heuvel of The Nation, yesterday Boxer said:

"He thinks global warming is a hoax and I think it is the challenge of our generation. We have to move on it."

Voters like or don’t like, nothing more complicated than that

Amanda's article is good, but I tend to think that pundits and politicians vastly overinterpret election results. Everyone tries to figure out what "message" voters were sending, and just about everyone tends to find a message that, surprise, lines up with their own political predilections. For my part, I think the Dem victory on Tues. was a clear message from voters that I deserve a raise.

Really, though, I suspect the general public sends one of two messages in any given election: "eeennnh" (displeased) or "eh" (disinterested). Any interpretation beyond that tends to do little but reflect the interpreter's filter.

Dem wins good news for ethanol industry

Not all investors, CEOs, and lobbyists were sad to see the GOP lose on Tuesday. From Bloomberg:

Shares of Archer Daniels Midland Co. and VeraSun Energy Corp., the two biggest U.S. ethanol producers, soared on speculation that Democratic control of the U.S. House of Representatives will boost demand ...

"A Democrat-led House is likely to amount to a political net plus for the ethanol industry," Stanford Group Co. analyst Mark McMinimy wrote today in a report to clients. "The political climate for ethanol in the Congress will shift from an environment that was already favorable to one that is promising for ethanol-friendly legislation over the coming two years."

In Toilets Is the Preservation of the World

U.N. study illuminates deadly global water and sanitation situation Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice — but it’s more likely to be lack of […]

Public should think twice about biofuels

The annual forest and biodiversity clearing exercise in Indonesia is drawing to a close. Here's an article telling us that a thousand or so orangutans were burned to death this time around.

Every year, year after year, like a broken record or a slow motion horror movie, we sit around reading articles describing the extinction of the wild orangutan and other unique lifeforms. We human beings have just got to scratch that itch, that insatiable urge to increase one's wealth, position, rank, standing, station, prestige, fame, prominence, distinction, importance, renown, influence, eclat, celebrity, esteem, glory, status, whatever.

Early indication: Agribiz still rules the Hill

There's no denying the joy of seeing such confirmed villains as Pombo, Santorum, and Rumsfeld on ice. (It will be interesting to see which energy/military conglomerate beckons home the latter after his brave tour of duty.) But having delivered a decisive boot to the hindquarters of the GOP-controlled Congress, it's time to turn a critical eye on the new leadership.

What does it all mean for the future?

Reading the polls is a perilous business for an enviro in this country, because Americans who talk to pollsters say they rate protecting the environment highly, but frequently fail to back up that concern with their votes. According to a recent CBS/NY Times poll, nearly three-quarters of the country believes in global warming, and respondents told the pollsters that "environmental improvements must be made regardless of cost." But this year, when it came to voting, voters almost always put the planet at the bottom of their list of priorities. In many polls taken last month, the environment didn't make the list at all, and topped out at at a mere 2 percent, far below the percentages concerned about the war in Iraq, terrorism, Social Security, or even same-sex marriage.

But when it comes to puzzling out the motivations of the American voter, the polls still offer the best available clues ... and some of these clues look promising for enviros this year.

Check out the Environmental Action Tour

Professional climber, filmmaker, and funny-guy Timmy O'Neill is on the road this week hosting a "David Letterman meets David Brower" multimedia show he calls the Environmental Action Tour. Tonight, he'll be in Portland, Ore., at the Hollywood Theatre with special guest Kipchoge Spencer (of InterActivist and really-awesome-name fame).

E.A.T. will then head to San Fran and Asheville, N.C., next week. All the shows start at 7 p.m. and tickets are $8, with proceeds benefitting Patagonia's 1% for the Planet campaign.

O'Neill's motto? Putting the "mental" in environmental since 1969. Hmm ... should be an interesting show.

Rain, mixed with tears

For those under the impression that the events of the past few days represent an exciting opportunity for new course for our country, even reason to hope again -- well, meet Rep. John Dingell, the new head of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. In an interview on Wednesday, he gave a preview of what we might expect:

A New Leaf

Billion-tree effort launches as new climate reports issued Ooh, we love reports. A new one from a team of European scientists says the Arctic and Antarctic are linked by powerful […]