Hummer Drivers Believe They’re Defending America’s Frontier Against Anti-American Critics (Links)
Krugman: ‘most widely respected climate models’ show ‘hurtle toward catastrophe’ These days, dire warnings aren’t the delusional raving of cranks. Our relationship to the natural world is a Ponzi scheme Beyond the illegality of Madoff’s scam, why didn’t he consider his responsibility to his clients, to their future, and even to his own? Give birds a break. Lock up the cat Free-ranging felines do a lot of damage to the baby bird populations in neighborhoods. Gila National Forest threatened by off-road vehicles The well-funded off-road vehicle lobby is pressuring forest managers to add unnecessary roads and permit other destructive practices in the forest. Hummer drivers believe they’re defending America’s frontier against anti-American critics Hummer drivers believe they are defending America’s frontier lifestyle against anti-American critics, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, which researched attitudes toward owning and driving Hummers, which have become symbols to many of American greed and wastefulness. Children who are spanked have lower IQs Children who are spanked have lower IQs worldwide, including in the United States, according to groundbreaking new research. Pennsylvania gun nuts shoot, kill each other A car parked in the driveway bore a badge-shaped sticker that read “NRA law enforcement.” Boing Boing offers ‘nourishing soup and sandwiches’ to Ralph Lauren’s deathly ill models “Dude, her head’s bigger than her pelvis.” Ted Williams’ frozen head abused in cryogenics lab Workers at an Arizona cryogenics facility mutilated the frozen head of baseball legend Ted Williams—even using it for a bizarre batting practice, a new book claims.
Climate Change Causing Birds to Shrink (Links)
Navy To Conduct Warfare Training Near Right Whale Calving Grounds The training range will be constructed near the only known calving grounds for the North Atlantic right whale, a species whose total population is thought to be around 300 individuals. On the Prowl For Water-Use Scofflaws Since June, nearly 700 citations have been issued to L.A. residents caught violating the city’s tightened water laws. San Diego Company Fined $600,000 for Groundwater Contamination Regional water pollution cops fined an industrial company $600,000 and threatened to nearly double the penalty if it doesn’t meet deadlines leading up to treatment of a contaminated groundwater plume in El Cajon. Alaska’s Kensington Gold Mine Gets Go-Ahead The Army Corps of Engineers has green-lighted a controversial plan to dump millions of tons of waste into Lower Slate Lake. U.S. Military Says to Act Now or ‘Pay Later’ For Climate Change U.S. military intelligence studies have concluded that over the next 20 to 30 years, the world’s vulnerable regions will food and water shortages, and catastrophic flooding, which could demand costly American humanitarian relief or military response. Climate Change Causing Birds to Shrink Global warming is making birds smaller. Exxon Mobil vs. New York City New York City claims that Exxon Mobil knew that a certain additive used in their gasoline would contaminate groundwater, but used it anyway. ExxonMobil Pleads Guilty to Killing Protected Birds The company will pay $600,000 in fines and fees, and most of the 85 birds that died were exposed to industrial pollution. Russian Oil Rigs Just 45 Miles From Florida? Cuba will allow Russia to look for oil and gas in its territorial waters. Biologists Demystify Elusive War Zone Bacterium The bacterium Acinetobacter baumannii causes mortality rates as high as 75 percent in the Middle East. Houshold Spices Provide Eco-friendly Pesticides for Organics Well-known spices such as rosemary, thyme, clove, and mint are becoming organic agriculture’s key weapons against insect pests as the industry tries to satisfy increased demands for organic produce. How Does College Major Affect Religious Faith? College students who major in the social sciences and humanities are likely to become less religious, while those who in education are likely to become more religious. I Say Spend. You Say No. We’re in Love. When it comes to money, opposites do attract: “spendthrifts” and “tightwads” tend to marry.
Duncan D. Hunter: If Only ‘We Could Override The Endangered Species Act’ (CA & San Diego Links)
CA’s State Parks Generate $4.3 Billion Annually Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to close 80% of California’s state parks to address the state’s $24 billion budget deficit—even though park visitors pump $4.32 billion into the economy each year. In Grave Danger, Flat-Tailed Horned Lizard Gets a Reprieve The rare reptile may have one last chance, thanks to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. CA to Cut Water Usage to Save Fish Californians’ thirst for water has pushed salmon and other fish to the brink of extinction, a federal agency has ruled. CA Rep. Duncan D. Hunter Weighs in on the Water Ruling In a recent interview, Hunter dropped this gem: “If there’s some way that we could override the Endangered Species Act for things like the smelt fish and allow water to flow again down to Southern California that would be huge.” CA’s Climate Change Plan Will Boost Economy The floundering state’s plan is a watershed moment in history—but there’s still room to improve. Hatchery Fish May Hurt Efforts To Sustain Wild Salmon Runs Steelhead trout that are originally bred in hatcheries are too genetically impaired to expand populations in the wild. 40 Environmental Groups Back Frye for Coastal Panel More than 40 environmental groups in California lobbied Thursday for San Diego City Councilwoman Donna Frye to take over a position representing the region on the state Coastal Commission. Chaparral Institute Sues San Diego County Over Tree Removal Plan The wildlands advocacy group announced a lawsuit yesterday, alleging that the county failed to adequately analyze the environmental damage of removing trees and shrubs in the backcountry to reduce wildfire risks. EPA to Begin Unprecedented Coastal DDT Cleanup in 2011 The proposal includes placing a cap of silt and sand over one of the most hazardous places in the country—and mark the first time a Superfund site has used this method. California’s Thorny History of Cactus Theft In the early 1900s, gardeners took a shine to the prickly plants, and ‘cactus rustling’ was born.
Mockingbirds Can Remember Faces of People to Attack (Links)
Cost of Cigarette Litter May Fall on San Fran’s Smokers A proposed fee would add 33 cents to the cost of a pack of cigarettes, helping offset the estimated $10.7 million a year spent cleaning up discarded butts. Styrofoam Ban Grows in CA Palo Alto joins 21 other California towns in prohibition of polystyrene takeout containers. Yosemite’s Giant Trees Disappearing Data collected over 60 years by forest ecologists show that the oldest and largest trees in Yosemite National Park are disappearing. Climate change appears to be a major cause of the loss. Summer Haze Cooling SE United States Some local cooling is one effect of climate change. Marine Pleads Guilty in Wildfire A Marine was sentenced to a year in prison for horseplay that started a wildfire that burned a section of California’s Camp Pendleton, prompted widespread evacuations, and caused $2 million in damage. Cactus Wren Gets Another Chance in Culver City In an effort to bring the cactus wren back to a Culver City state park, Dorsey High students are restoring the coastal sage scrub preferred by the bird. Hollywood and the Flush Factor “If it’s yellow leave it mellow; if it’s brown flush it down,” said actor Cameron Diaz. EPA Approves Most Outstanding Mountaintop Removal Permits Environmental leaders criticized the EPA for not taking a stronger stand agains the highly destructive and polluting form of mining. Where Are All the Fish? Fisheries can’t keep up with the rate of seafood consumption by humans. New Study Provides Insight into Evolution of First Flowers Charles Darwin described the origin of flowering plants about 130 million years ago as an abominable mystery, one that scientists have yet to solve. Taking Back the Catalytic Converter A new bill would allow independent repair shops to compete for the business now guaranteed only to dealer-controlled establishments. Monkeys Found To Wonder What Might Have Been Monkeys register missed opportunities and learn from their mistakes. Intoxication May Not Always Be Visible It is difficult for even trained observers to fully identify “intoxication,” given that so many factors contribute to it. Some People Really Never Forget A Face “Super-recognizers” have an extraordinary ability to recognize faces, and can easily recognize someone they met in passing, even many years later. Mockingbirds Can Remember Faces of People to Attack Scientists find that the grey and white birds common in cities can distinguish between different people and will swoop to attack those they perceive as a danger.
Caffeine Withdrawal Headache Explained: Your Brain On—And Off—Caffeine (Links)
California Fires Sparked by Power Tool In an ironic twist, the wildfire that scorched 13 square miles and destroyed dozens of homes was apparently sparked by a power tool used to clear flammable vegetation. Yosemite National Park to Revisit Tribal Ties The park will review visitor information and archives to make sure that its American Indian history is accurately reflected. Did Hoagie Start the Fight With Mountain Lion? The dog’s owner says it defended him from a cougar’s attack and got mauled for his heroism, but wildlife specialists say it’s more likely that Hoagie attacked the lion first. Florida Bay Proposals Would Restrict Boating Everglades National Park officials say powerboats have damaged seagrass that supports animal life. (more…)
Are Human Beings Organisms Or Living Ecosystems? (Links)
Are Human Beings Organisms Or Living Ecosystems? Human beings are not really individuals; they’re communities of organisms. Amphibians May Develop Immunity To Fatal Fungus A fungus threatens amphibians all over the globe and has contributed to extinctions. $40k Reward Offered in Deaths of California Condors The feds are investigating the shotgun shooting of two California condors—and so is a private investigator hired by an environmental group. Climate Change Effects In California Assessments include the impacts of sea level rise, higher temperatures, increased wildfires, decreased water supplies, increased energy demand, among others, on the state’s environment, industries and economic prosperity.
Is It Possible to Be a Conscientious Meat Eater? (Links)
To Meet Asian Food Demand, U.S. Turtles are Harvested to Extinction: Surging demand for turtle meat in southeast Asia has prompted a huge jump in American turtle harvesting, leading to concerns that populations of the reptiles could suffer permanent damage. Is It Possible to Be a Conscientious Meat Eater? You may have noticed an onslaught of articles recently on what is being coined as the ‘new meat movement.’ Will Europe Unite To Fight Alien Invaders? Europe’s borders have been breached by thousands of plants and animal species from other parts of the world: from the American mink to the New Zealand flatworm. How Carbon Trading Hurts the Poor: Note to the Obama administration: Nearly every environmental justice group in the United States and abroad opposes carbon trading.
What are the Environmental Benefits of Economic Decline?
The environmental benefits of economic decline, though real, are fragile, because they are vulnerable to intervention by governments, which, understandably, want to put people back to work and get them buying non-necessities again—through programs intended to revive ordinary consumer spending (which has a big carbon footprint), and through public-investment projects to build new roads and airports (ditto).
Our best intentions regarding conservation and carbon reduction inevitably run up against the realities of foreclosure and bankruptcy and unemployment. How do we persuade people to drive less—an environmental necessity—while also encouraging them to revive our staggering economy by buying new cars?
Michael Steele: ‘Warming is Part of the Cooling Process’
Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, has weighed in on climate change. In a March 6 radio appearance…Mr. Steele apparently fielded a skeptic’s question about global warming:
We are cooling. We are not warming…The warming you see out there, the supposed warming…is part of the cooling process.
This seems like further proof that Steele is a human mirror, as noted by a TPM Commenter: “He seems to say whatever he perceives to be the opinion of the person to whom he is speaking at the moment. He just reflects back what he thinks you want him to say.”
[NYT]
Economist: Reduce Government Intervention to Save Money on Global Warming Solutions
How can we stop climate change without burning greenbacks in the process? The Economist says limit government intervention.
[Barack Obama] is right to want to cut emissions. The alternative, allowing climate change to take its course, would be far more damaging to America and the world.
The economic impact of rising sea levels, reduced crop yields, fiercer storms and many other doleful consequences would be devastating…But fighting climate change will be costly. It will involve swapping cheap but dirty fuels for cleaner but dearer ones, as Congress intends, as well as building lots of expensive new power plants to replace older, more polluting ones.
H/T Andy
A Collapsing Carbon Market Makes Mega-Pollution Cheap
Set up to price pollution out of existence, carbon trading is pricing it back in. Europe’s carbon markets are in collapse.
‘Roll up for the great pollution fire sale, the ultimate chance to wreck the climate on the cheap. You sir, over there, from the power company – look at this lovely tonne of freshly made, sulphur-rich carbon dioxide. Last summer it cost an eyewatering amount to throw up your smokestack, but in our give-away global recession sale, that’s been slashed to a crazy low price. Dump plans for the wind turbine! Compare our offer with costly solar energy! At this low, low price you can’t afford not to burn coal!
[ENN]
The WaPo’s ‘Multi-Layer Editing Process’ and George Will’s Factually Challenged Column
Washington Monthly writer Hilzoy wasn’t going to comment on the Washington Post’s failure to check George Will’s facts–until the newspaper refused to come clean (and miserably failed to defend itself).
Hilzoy was waiting for the WaPo will respond to “various requests for comment,” but WaPo ombudsman Andy Alexander has finally made the statement:
The Post…checks facts to the fullest extent possible….Will’s column was checked by people he personally employs…two editors at the Washington Post Writers Group…our op-ed page editor…and two copy editors.
Alexander also provided a link to back up Will’s claims, but Hilzoy says that it “flunks” “basic scholarly standards.”
Butterflies Across Europe Face Crisis As Climate Change Looms
Will our grandkids get to enjoy the existence of butterflies?
Climate change will cause Europe to lose much of its biodiversity as projected by a comprehensive study on future butterfly distribution.
The Climatic Risk Atlas of European Butterflies predicts northward shifts in potential distribution area of many European butterfly species. As early warning indicators of environmental change, butterflies are a valuable tool to assess overall climate change impact and to provide some indication on the chances to come nearer to the target of halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010 set by the EU Heads of State in 2001.
Toxic Chinook Salmon is Killing Killer Whales (Links)
Scientists say human-caused climate change is…real? Clear days have exacerbated climate change in Europe. The termite insecticide used when pest control guys tented your house has been found to be a potent greenhouse gas. Department of It Takes a Catastrophe: After December’s toxic spill in Tennessee, a West Virginia lawmaker has introduced legislation to set federal standards for storing the waste. Department of Sounds Familiar: 3,600 years ago, a natural disaster destroyed a civilization, after 2,000 years of ‘no incentive to change.’ Grist looks at the green aspects of the $825 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Ecologists have identified invasive plants that pose the biggest threats to southern forest ecosystems in 2009. Bush must’ve dropped the ball on preventing this one: the U.S. government may kind of try to offset environmental damage from the construction of hundreds of miles of walls along the Mexican border. Once as ‘divided as oil and water,’ labor unions and environmental groups are uniting over health care worries shared in workplaces and communities. Toxic Chinook salmon is killing killer whales. Frogs (and their legs) are being eaten to extinction. The LA Times profiles the civil disobedience of Tim DeChristopher, who found a loophole in Bush rules and threw a monkeywrench into Utah public land sales. The Economist looks at the staggering rate of species extinction in the world’s tropical forests. Indonesian orangutans are on the verge of extinction because forests are being clear-cut and burned meet world demand for palm oil. Human hunting and fishing is accelerating the speed of evolution in some species as it removes whole generations of large adults that would otherwise reproduce. Side effects include ‘changes in eyelid pigmentation,’ but the enhanced eyelash growth is probably worth it. You’ve had three cups of coffee. Are you hallucinating?
Google & Greenhouse Gases
On the heels of revelations that the entire IT industry generates an amount of carbon that is comparable to that of the entire airline industry, Google’s been on the defensive because of a Times Online article claiming that each query submitted to the search giant has a quantifiable impact. According to the Times article, two queries performed on a desktop computer generate about the same amount of CO2 as boiling a cup of tea.
Greenwashing the Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger has been hailed as leader in the fight against climate change, but he expects something in return for his efforts. In what he evidently sees as a fair trade for pledging to cut emissions, the California governor is asking that environmental protections be stripped from 10 big highway projects, citing the economy as a good reason for the sacrifice.
