Articles by David Roberts

So whatcha whatcha whatcha want?

In the U.S., as with many other places, the industrial era saw a massive exodus from rural areas into cities.  The "information era" (or whatever buzzword you like) has seen a massive exodus from cities to suburbs and exurbs, with long commutes to work, sprawling colonies of large homes, strip malls, and cars, cars, cars.  Now, the mere fact of such a large exodus would seem to indicate that Americans prefer such a lifestyle (despite the fact that it may be killing them.)

But according to a new survey conducted by Smart Growth America in conjunction with the National Association of Realtors, it is not so.

Whistle while you work

We've all seen the trickle of stories over the last few years about environmental officials in the Bush administration either quitting in protest or formally applying for whistle-blower status (we've also read about the Bush admin's unprecedented efforts to reduce protections for whistle-blowers).

However, the latest edition of the Sierra Club's "RAW" email really brings the point home.  It offers a list of whistle-blowers, their agencies and complaints.  It's pretty stunning.

For the defense: Connaughton

Following up on yesterday's live chat with LCV's Deb Callahan, today The Washington Post is hosting a live chat with James L. Connaughton, White House Council on Environmental Quality Chairman.  He will, presumably, be defending the Bush environmental record.  Stop by and ask him a question.

UPDATE: It's over and it was, predictably, thoroughly unsatisfying. It sounded like it could have been written by a robot that trolled through Bush administration website pages and extracted boilerplate. Maybe it was.

Questions = disloyalty

From Ron Suskind's new piece in New York Times Magazine:

A writ of infallibility -- a premise beneath the powerful Bushian certainty that has, in many ways, moved mountains -- is not just for public consumption: it has guided the inner life of the White House. As [Christine Todd] Whitman told me on the day in May 2003 that she announced her resignation as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency: ''In meetings, I'd ask if there were any facts to support our case. And for that, I was accused of disloyalty!'' (Whitman, whose faith in Bush has since been renewed, denies making these remarks and is now a leader of the president's re-election effort in New Jersey.)

Revealing on so many levels ...