Friday, 05 Aug 2005

On the occasion of his just-announced retirement, we offer a modest encomium to ExxonMobil chair and CEO Lee Raymond, who has remained steadfast and resolute in the face of changing fads and fashions. When Prince William Sound went from pristine to oil-covered; when the scientific establishment came to agreement on anthropogenic climate change; when businesses saw economic opportunity in clean-energy technology: Lee Raymond was not afraid to say, "No," not afraid to stand astride history and cry, "Holy cow, this oil biz is profitable!" David Roberts offers a salute.

Silicon Dally

Big demand for solar energy runs up against finite panel supply

Global demand for photovoltaic panels is causing months-long delays and price hikes for would-be buyers in the U.S. American suppliers blame a weak dollar, shortages of raw materials, and swelling demand both at home and abroad. The worldwide solar-power market has grown about 40 percent annually in the last five years -- driven largely by Germany, where an incentive program allows businesses and individuals to sell excess solar-generated electricity back to utilities at a premium rate. Germany consumes 39 percent of the available solar-panel supply, followed by Japan at 30 percent. The U.S. is in a distant third with 9 percent of the market, but new incentives like California's pending Million Solar Roofs plan and a tax credit of up to $2,000 in the soon-to-be-signed federal energy bill are expected to spike domestic demand. Says solar sales director Matt Lugar of Sharp Electronics, the supply problems are "a natural evolution in any industry that's exploding."


In the latest batch of letters to hit our inbox, readers kvetch about our jabs at Wal-Mart, nuke-energy skepticism, analysis of Supreme Court nominee John Roberts' record, and good-natured mockery of earth-friendly products. Is it us, or is it hot in here? Thank goodness one reader wants to contribute to a Grist AC fund!

Choler ID

Climate change could lead to more disease outbreaks, researchers say

It's official: Climate change is at fault for everything but bad breath -- and we give the bad breath thing about a month. The latest global malady that may be laid at the feet of greenhouse-gas-crazed weather is disease, specifically cholera, an infection that causes severe diarrhea, often resulting in dehydration, which leads to tens of thousands of deaths a year in the developing world. A new study in the journal Nature analyzes almost 40 years of records in Bangladesh and finds that outbreaks of cholera correspond tightly to periods of drought, high rainfall, or flooding -- the very kinds of extreme weather global warming is expected to make more frequent. Though other factors -- immunity, migration -- are involved, "meteorological factors are dominant," said Paul Epstein of Harvard Medical School's Center for Health and the Global Environment. "It's the extremes that are bad for our health."


Whether he's creating artwork by using string and wood to reveal invisible river currents or building a gathering place in the heart of a neighborhood, community-based planner Milenko Matanovic of the Pomegranate Center draws his inspiration from nature. In answering reader questions, he chats about developing a project's DNA, shepherding volunteers, what he learned at "Seat-of-the-Pants University," and more.

Don't It Make My Blue Earth Brown

Astronauts see widespread ecological destruction from space

Environmental damage on Earth is clearly visible from space, reports the crew of the shuttle Discovery. Chatting from an orbit of 220 miles up with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and other Japanese officials, Commander Eileen Collins said on Thursday that the astronauts could see widespread erosion and deforestation below. She described the Earth's atmosphere as "an eggshell on an egg, it's so very thin," and suggested folks could maybe get a little more serious about saving the planet. "We would like to see, from the astronauts' point of view, people take good care of the Earth and replace the resources that have been used," she said. Koizumi, said to be distracted by a fierce political battle over privatizing Japan's postal system, asked Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi about ... space noodles. Specifically, noodles prepared in a jellified soup especially for slurping in zero gravity. Reports indicate that the astro-pasta was delicious -- even if the view left a disturbing aftertaste.