Comments Tom Turner has made

  • Roadless Rule

    Your summary says that the Clintonians "instituted" the Roadless Rule at the tail end of his term. While it is true that publication in the Federal Register happened just a week before W Bush was inaugurated, the rule was the product of years of public hearings (600 or so)public comments (a million and a half), and a great deal of debate and consideration. Had the Supreme Court not bequeathed the White House to the shrub the timing might have been different, but to say that the Roadless Rule was cooked up at the last minute to polish Clinton's legacy is simply not right.On Bush administration begins plotting its legacy posted 2 years, 2 months ago 1 Response

  • eco-porn

    Word spy credits coinage of this expression to Michael Fischer, then executive director of the Sierra Club, but I protest. I wrote a chapter in The Environmental Handbook, published for the first Earth Day in 1970, titled: "Ecopornography, or how to spot an ecological phony." It was a discussion of ads by various corporations that amount to greenwash, still a commonplace.On An eco-lexical eco-spasm for the modern eco-age posted 2 years, 5 months ago 12 Responses

  • Whaling Commission

    The story about the clash between Sea Shepherd and the Japanese whalers has a small but significant error that was not in the source article. To wit, the Grist piece says the hunt "was OK'd by the International Whaling Commission as a scientific pursuit," which isn't quite right. As the Guardian rightly put it, the hunt is part of a "scientific whaling programme, conducted within the rules of the International Whaling Commission." The IWC's rules allow member countries to conduct "scientific" whaling on their own: individual hunts are not approved by the commission. If there were a vote on the permits Japan has awarded herself, it would likely fail to be approved.On Sending Out an SOS posted 2 years, 9 months ago 3 Responses

  • Bush

    Umbra, dear, you are altogether too polite. It is a matter of fact, not opinion, that this administration is the worst, environmentally speaking, in the history of the republic. Bobby Kennedy wrote a whole book on the subject. So did Carl Pope and Paul Rauber. And a few others. Yes, those people are from NRDC and the Sierra Club, but for corroboration try Republicans for Environmental Protection http://www.repamerica.org/, who don't think much better of the administration than I do. This isn't close. Looking to the EPA for a neutral assessment is akin to asking Ang Lee which is the best movie of the year.On Umbra on politicians and the environment posted 3 years, 8 months ago 7 Responses

  • Worldwatch

    Fascinating and depressing. Ed Ayres is a great guy and a fine editor. Chris Flavin should be embarassed. But I want to know more about Les Brown's departure. He was ousted? How did that come down? He's still doing his think, more power too him. What happened in 2001? Anyone know?

    Tom Turner

    On Worldwatch kerfuffle posted 5 years ago 4 Responses

  • Wolves ad

    Seems to me this indicates that the incumbent's last hope is to scare the hell out of people. Nothing positive, just all fear, all day long. Will it work? We'll see. Lord help us if it does.

    Tom Turner

    On They're coming to eat your children!!! posted 5 years, 1 month ago 5 Responses