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Until you know what

... until the election.

With people like Pombo and Inhofe chairing the most important environment-related committees in Congress, there has never been a more urgent time for change since, well, since the last time we had a chance to throw the bums out.

Seriously, if this were a movie, you'd pan it for being too over the top. "C'mon," you'd say. "Just as time is running out in the fight against apocalyptic global warming, the most important committee chairpersonships are given to anti-science flat-earthers in the pocket of big oil? You expect me to believe that? The situation was too unrealistic for me to emotionally identify with the crisis. Hollywood ... " a rueful shake of the head, "Thumbs down."

It's not essential to defeat them individually, though that would add welcome schadenfraude. We just need to change the balance of power in Congress, and let someone else take the reins. You know the score. We need a net of 15 seats in the House, and 30 plus are well in play. We need 6 in the Senate -- that's a tougher fight. I don't give a flying flip if you want to save the whales, kill the whales, or just use alternative interrogation methods on them -- my idea of an environmentalist is someone who doesn't wake up November 8 thinking: I coulda done more.

Fully built climate satellite left sitting unused in warehouse

This article at Seed is astonishing:

At a time when the Earth's climate is at the top of practically every nation's agenda, it might seem perplexing that there's a $100 million, fully completed climate-sensing satellite stored in a warehouse in Maryland ... Could the decision to kill DSCOVR have anything to do with the politics of climate science?

The shocking answer after the jump!

Weaving all over the U.S. to draw attention to environmental justice

The Environmental Justice for All tour plugs onward at a breakneck pace, weaving through Albany and Hartford yesterday and up to Boston today. More videos online today.

The fight is on

This is a war I expect will only get more heated over the next few years: the fossil-fuel industry (last century's dominant power) and the Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur set (this century's).

The first major battle has broken out in California:

Worldwatch founder says stuff

I (w/ Lisa) had coffee this morning with Chris Flavin, president of Worldwatch Institute. He's a sharp guy, and I was thinking, hm, I wish I had my recorder, I'd interview this dude.

But look: Worldchanging already did, just yesterday. So read that.

We mostly chit-chatted about our respective organizations, but he said a couple of intriguing things.

Oldie but a goodie!

From the album Old Friends: Live on Stage, I give you Simon & Garfunkel's "Citizen of the Planet":

Movie about an eco-terrorist

This movie about eco-terrorism (or rather, about a guy who may or may not be an eco-terrorist, and his relationship with his family) looks interesting.

All smoke, no fire

Well, the "secret" NOAA fact sheet discussed in this post has now been posted in full on Roger Pielke Jr.'s site, and it contains ... nothing of any interest. It's a two-page set of talking points about hurricane science, all well-known and well-discussed. (Also read Roger's follow-up.)

It would seem, then, that Bush political appointees created this controversy out of whole cloth, by virtue of their instinct to cover things up and keep things secret -- even things that are utterly harmless.

Stupid.

The state of play on the animal welfare question

I think it's about time to put the issue of environmentalism and animal welfare aside for the time being. It is definitely worth returning to in the future. Thank you all for your excellent comments, especially the people who disagree with me; preaching to the choir is always a waste of time. So here are what I see as the key points that came out of this weeks-long discussion:

Enormous, sprawling ‘green homes’ are not worth our admiration

In my eyes, the house pictured in this article is the embodiment of what's wrong with the green-building movement. It should be made into a "what is wrong with this picture?" poster.

The bottom line: that is a huge house with plenty of windows and cathedral ceilings built in the middle of nowhere, and it consumed a whole hell of a lot of resources. Just look at the framing that went into it. There are enough concrete blocks in that thermal mass wall to build a couple of small houses with. You can bet the two-car garage will be empty much of the time. I see no way to walk or ride a bike to anything.