Comments Jonathan Hiskes has made
- Well noted--the "tiny" is gone.On 15 people worth watching in Copenhagen (a slideshow!) posted 2 days, 7 hours ago 4 Responses
- Fascinating, hopeful stuff, but I want examples. What big social changes have actually played out like this?On Copenhagen: Getting past the urgency trap posted 6 days, 8 hours ago 4 Responses
- Keep an eye on the Fortune 1,000 you mention--many of them do think a workable climate plan is in their financial interest. The salient question is whether to merely protest corporate influence in policymaking or whether to bend that influence toward something useful.On ‘No compromise’ faction attacks climate bill posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago 104 Responses
Auden Schendler makes the argument, in Getting Green Done, that corporate greenwashing can be good if it presents an opportunity to hold companies accountable. It lets consumers say, "So you're claiming to be green. Here's how to really do it..." I don't completely buy this line of thinking--wouldn't honesty/transparency be a better place to start? But I like the idea of seeing greenwashing/localwashing as an opportunity for progress, rather than something to get all huffy about.
On 'Localwashing' in pictures -- bogus marketing at its finest posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago 32 ResponsesWhat seems most notable to me (from the poll):
"Solar and wind power enjoy near-universal support; nine in 10 people support further development. More than eight in 10 favor requirements for greater fuel efficiency. Broad majorities also favor requiring increased energy conservation from businesses and consumers."
90 percent and 80 percent is a lot of support.
On Post/ABC poll shows oil-and coal-funded efforts to kill clean energy are failing posted 2 months, 4 weeks ago 1 ResponseGreat thoughts. They're highlighted here.
On Coal coloring book teaches kids all about dirty energy posted 3 months ago 8 ResponsesGrist gives no "seals of approval," and if we did we'd reserve them for truly revolutionary items like the cap-sac.
On Is this a green home? posted 3 months, 3 weeks ago 21 ResponsesMost definitely. Perhaps I should have dialed up the sarcasm a bit more.
On Is this a green home? posted 3 months, 3 weeks ago 21 ResponsesCool your jets--here's a response: EPA ‘suppression’ story grows, despite shoddy science in report.
On Scant evidence for charge that EPA 'suppressed' dissent [Updated] posted 4 months, 4 weeks ago 8 Responses
While you're at it, read Gavin Schmidt's response to the report on RealClimate.Good points. I didn't mean to suggest economists don't employ scientific rigor, only that they're not climatologists. And yes, the climate movement could stand to learn a lot from economics in particular and the social sciences in general.
On Scant evidence for charge that EPA 'suppressed' dissent [Updated] posted 5 months ago 8 ResponsesThat approach is never going to fly (pardon the pun). The Goode Family parents might be willing to tell kids there's no vacation/beach time/Christmas this year to cut their carbon footprint, but sane families would not. And they shouldn't have to. Folks gotta rest, and that's just plain easier to do outside of your daily ruts, i.e. by getting out of town.
And exploring the world--and its awesomest natural places, if you've got the means--isn't the kind of thing we can expect people to give up. Finding low-impact ways to get to the mountains is another matter--let's green up travel all we can. I'm not suggesting vacation is a human right--it's not within everyone's means--but giving up vacations is a pretty unlikely sell.
On Think of the children, or think of your ski trip: Two ways to tell the climate story posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago 5 ResponsesHere's your fancy Grist response: http://www.grist.org/article/2009-05-27-commenter-new-climate-leaders/
On In the House, a nine-way tie for climate swing vote posted 6 months ago 29 ResponsesA clarification on Idaho's wolf numbers: the state does indeed plan to maintain some 500 wolves--for five years. From its official management plan:
"The goal of the IDFG plan is to ensure that populations are maintained at 2005-2007 population levels (518-732 wolves) during the 5-year post-delisting period through adaptive management under the guidelines of the 2002 State Plan."
After that, the state legislature decides. "Future population goals will reflect knowledge gained each year," says the same plan. At that point, the only certain threshold is the federal limit. From the Fish and Wildlife Service:
"the recovery goals only mandate that each state maintain a wolf population that never goes below 10 breeding pairs and 100 wolves per state and is managed for more than 15 breeding pairs and 150 wolves per state."
On The wolf and the polar bear posted 6 months, 3 weeks ago 13 ResponsesStraight outta the gospels no less. From the speech:
There is a parable at the end of the Sermon on the Mount that tells the story of two men. The first built his house on a pile of sand, and it was destroyed as soon as the storm hit. But the second is known as the wise man, for when "…the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house…it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock."
On Obama calls renewables a ‘pillar’ of new economy posted 7 months, 2 weeks ago 5 Responses
We cannot rebuild this economy on the same pile of sand. We must build our house upon a rock. We must lay a new foundation for growth and prosperity – a foundation that will move us from an era of borrow and spend to one where we save and invest; where we consume less at home and send more exports abroad.
It’s a foundation built upon five pillars that will grow our economy and make this new century another American century...Another response of note: The Center for Public Integrity describes the funding lift the Cato Institute gets from Koch Industries, a serious donor and lobbyist of the climate-skeptic variety:
"Bigger in size than either Microsoft or AT&T, Koch Industries tends to fly under the public radar screen. Yet as the Center has previously reported, Koch — which owns refineries that can process over 800,000 oil barrels a day, and operates some 4,000 miles of pipeline — is a prolific political donor. Today, Koch is the second-largest privately held company in America."
On Cato’s skeptic ads draw a flurry of responses posted 7 months, 3 weeks ago 1 ResponseBelievable
Wow, Dave. I figured you were sincere in calling Pellettieri's story a prank. When I read hers, nothing in it convinced me otherwise, until I got to the bottom and realized she was managing editor. Well played.On Slate tricked into publishing a parody of its own reflexive contrarianism posted 8 months, 3 weeks ago 4 Responses
Another opinion
Update: The Los Angeles Times editorial board weighed in today with "Vote No" recommendation and a fairly blistering attack on the solar plan. They see it as a power grab by the city and energy utility pitched to voters as something else entirely. Worth a read.On L.A. solar vote could measure nation's appetite for renewables posted 9 months ago 1 Response