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It’s just funny

Call me a junior high boy, but the fact that the Zurich-based Shahneshin Foundation is giving Shrinkage Awards makes me giggle. Who are they going to give them out to? SUV drivers? Polar bears?

It’s out

... is out.

More later.

Update [2006-9-20 14:58:15 by David Roberts]: You can see the full plan here.

Damn those activist judges!

Here's some big, breaking news. Reports AP:

A federal judge on Wednesday reinstated a ban on road construction in nearly a third of national forests, overturning a Bush administration rule that allowed states to decide how to manage individual forests.

U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Laporte sided with states and environmental groups that sued the U.S. Forest Service after it reversed President Clinton's 2001 "Roadless Rule" that prohibited logging, mining and other development on 58.5 million acres in 38 states and Puerto Rico.

In May last year, the Bush administration replaced the Clinton rule with a process that required governors to petition the federal government to protect national forests in their states.

Laporte said the process violated federal law because it didn't require necessary environmental studies.

...

"This is fantastic news for millions of Americans who have consistently told the forest service that they wanted these last wild areas of public land protected," said Kristen Boyles, an attorney for Earthjustice, one of the groups that filed the lawsuit in October 2005.

Stay tuned for more ...

Try Me a River

Mississippi River may be redirected to build Louisiana wetlands How to protect and restore the Louisiana coast? A group of researchers has a crazy idea that just might work: shift […]

I hate typing that exclamation point

Al Gore's Current TV has partnered with Yahoo! to create Yahoo! Current Network. This will definitely increase Current's exposure to the treasured Young Affluent Dynamic Online (YODA) crowd.

Like blogging, but with my voice

One of the things I constantly* hear from Gristmill readers is, "David, we adore your writing, but what about your voice? We long to hear it!"

Well I give my fans what they want, so this morning, at the nightmarish hour of 7:00AM, I dragged my ass out of bed and spoke on the phone with Earthbeat Radio, a syndicated public-radio show out of D.C. The subject was "political climate change": Bush's alleged new climate policy, Gore's climate-policy speech, and related issues.

If you're eager to hear my congested, foggy, morning croak, you can download the show as an mp3 here (it's the second link down). You'll just have to trust me that my voice is much more mellifluous after several cups of coffee.

(*never)

And then I’m done!

I've just now gotten around to closely reading Gore's speech, and felt the usual mix of admiration and sorrow at what could have been. Three bits jumped out at me that I haven't highlighted yet.

First, a little hometown pride:

Many individuals and businesses have decided to take an approach known as "Zero Carbon." They are reducing their CO2 as much as possible and then offsetting the rest with reductions elsewhere including by the planting of trees. At least one entire community -- Ballard, a city of 18,000 people in Washington State -- is embarking on a goal of making the entire community zero carbon.

Ballard in effect! Wo0t!

Ahem.

Second, a little wonkiness:

Paging a Mr. Lomborg

Who's the object of James Inhofe's latest literary crush?

Why, none other than our old friend Bjorn Lomborg!

Pombo shows up at Colorado mouse hearings

California Rep. Richard Pombo weighs in on mouse debate in Colorado?

Further evidence that this isn't really about a mouse at all, but rather the business interests at stake in protecting crucial habitats. And Pombo's appearance is an election-year bid to reassure property-rights advocates that he will be steadfast in his support for a bill de-clawing the Endangered Species Act.

Have I mentioned yet that the 3-inch Preble's meadow jumping mouse can jump 18 inches high? Boing!

A visual representation of the federal budget

Want a truly horrifying look at where your tax money goes? Visit Death and Taxes 2007, where they have a big graph that can (fair warning) suck up an hour of your time. It breaks down federal discretionary spending visually, which gives a real, immediate sense of our priorities.

Looking for the EPA? Oh, it's that wee little circle in the upper right. Sigh.