Thursday, 15 Jan 2004

Keen on Dean

Babbitt Joins With Other Enviros to Endorse Dean

Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt is throwing his weight behind Howard Dean, making Babbitt the first top environmental official from the Clinton administration to publicly back a candidate in this year's presidential campaign. Babbitt joined three prominent environmental activists and writers -- Paul Hawken, Terry Tempest Williams, and Bill McKibben -- in penning an impassioned endorsement of the former Vermont governor. Find out why Dean's their man -- only on the Grist Magazine website.

Green Quixote

Humboldt-Based Candidate New Front-Runner for Green Party Nomination

Meanwhile, far from the madding crowds in Iowa, Green Party activists are fishing about for a standard-bearer of their own. Ralph Nader said no thanks; he's planning to lose the 2004 presidential race as an Independent. But a potential front-runner has emerged in the person of David Cobb, a longtime Green activist. While Cobb is from Texas and was instrumental in establishing the Green Party in the state, he is currently based in -- where else? -- Northern California's notoriously leftish Humboldt County. The final verdict on a Green presidential candidate will come in June, at the party's national convention in Wisconsin. In the 2000 election, Nader, running as a Green, received some 2.5 percent of the national vote, and was accused of sapping enough liberal votes in Florida to throw the state to Bush (though it must be admitted that the Supreme Court played a teeny-weeny role there).

Ale's What Cures You

Umbra Addresses the Thirsty Concerns of Eco-Friendly Beer Drinkers

Beer is indisputable proof that Mother Earth loves each and every one of us. However, those who return her love and enjoy her frothy bounty might harbor concerns about the environmental impact of their consumption. Worry no longer: Our resident expert on all things green, the incomparable Umbra, is here to answer your questions about glass versus cans, the plastic widgets (turns out they're really called widgets!) in Guinness cans, and the best way to persuade the beer drinker in your life to recycle those energy-intensive aluminum cans. Ask Umbra -- only on the Grist Magazine website.

Permission to Pollute, Sir!

Pentagon Requests Exemption From Three More Environmental Laws

The Department of Defense plans to petition Congress for exemption from three federal environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act and two toxic waste statutes. This will mark the third time in three years the Pentagon has made the appeal; Congress denied the first two requests, although it did grant the military exemption from the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Act, and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. While testimony from former U.S. EPA Administrator Christie Whitman (and numerous others) made a pretty darn good case that military readiness has never been adversely affected in any way by the restrictions these laws impose, according to the Pentagon's deputy general counsel, there have been some "near misses." (Can't be too careful!) Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), clearly unaware of the slim possibility that these laws might one day inflict some slight inconvenience on the Pentagon, had this to say: "Never has a set of legislative proposals had so much audacity and so little merit."

Houston, We Have a Solution

Supporters Claim $300 Billion Energy Plan Would Create 3.3 Million Jobs

A coalition called the Apollo Alliance released a report on Wednesday proposing and outlining a 10-year, $300 billion investment in alternative energy sources, which it claimed would create 3.3 million jobs and more than pay for itself through energy savings and economic stimulation. The 10-point plan -- which contains prescriptions for everything from more efficient factories to modernized electrical plants to hybrid cars -- contrasts sharply with the Bush administration's proposed energy plan, which would heavily subsidize the oil, gas, and nuclear industries. The report prompted criticism from economists and analysts at conservative organizations and statements of support from Democrats, including the candidates for president. In a statement, Howard Dean used the report to criticize Bush, saying, "This administration's fealty to its corporate benefactors in the oil industry has caused our nation to fall behind in what will be one of the most important new industries of the 21st century."