Wednesday, 24 May 2006

It's difficult to imagine a less propitious set of circumstances around which to build a movie: a retired politician known for his stiffness, a dense scientific slideshow on a coming global catastrophe, and ... well, that's it. But somehow, An Inconvenient Truth -- the documentary on Al Gore's quest to raise alarm about climate change, which opens in select theaters today -- succeeds. In large part, says David Roberts, that success can be attributed to its protagonist's fundamental decency.

Me Too, Me Too!

Hillary Clinton touts new energy plan

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) outlined a plan yesterday to cut U.S. oil imports in half by 2025. Along with urging increased conservation (gasp), she proposed a "Strategic Energy Fund" financed by a temporary two-year fee on major oil-company profits, elimination of some oil tax breaks, and closure of a loophole that allows oil companies to avoid royalty payments. The accrued $50 billion would go toward tax credits for energy-efficient vehicles and renewable energy; Clinton called for the U.S. to get 20 percent of its electricity from renewables by 2020. The fund would also provide incentives for installation of ethanol pumps in half of U.S. gas stations by 2015, sure to be popular in corn-happy, first-presidential-caucus Iowa. Beltway speculation has it that Clinton, the presumptive Democratic frontrunner for 2008, is getting a little nervous about all the attention Al Gore's getting for his climate-change advocacy, and wants a piece of the spotlight. But wait, Gore's not running, right? Uh ... right?

Old Pipeful

National parks' air and land under threat from energy development

Thousands of miles of new pipelines and power lines could soon snake through national parks, national forests, and other public lands in the West. The energy bill signed into law last year called on federal agencies to speed up approval of new energy corridors by putting them under a single, overarching environmental review instead of doing project-by-project analyses. People who like their national parks and forests unmarred by pylons and trenches, and not at risk of pipeline explosions, are unimpressed. "We're talking about millennia, if ever, for recovery of an ecosystem," says retired U.S. Geological Survey scientist Howard Wilshire. In related news, new data show that ozone pollution worsened significantly at 10 Western national parks from 1995 to 2004. "Most people think they're going to go to a national park and experience clean, fresh, clear air, and that is not the case in many places," admits John Bunyack of the National Park Service.


Canola oil: it's more exciting than it sounds. Its story involves lubrication, laboratory hijinks, erucic acid, and brilliant and proud Canadians. But, a reader wonders, is it genetically modified, and can it be organic? The answer crops up in today's column from advice maven Umbra Fisk.

Kennedy You Hear Me Now?

Another wind-power project proposed for Massachusetts waters

Wind-power developers can't get enough of Massachusetts, it seems. Nantucket Sound has the contentious Cape Wind project; now a new wind farm is being proposed for nearby Buzzards Bay. The South Coast Offshore Wind project would consist of three clusters of 30 to 40 turbines each, up to 450 feet high, from two to four miles offshore. It could generate half of Cape Cod's electricity, according to project contractor Jay M. Cashman. The project, which would not be complete for at least five years, will have to overcome a variety of safety and environmental obstacles. Buzzards Bay is only eight miles wide on average and annually attracts thousands of recreational boats as well as oil tankers and fuel barges. It is also home to 2,400 endangered roseate terns. But it's not in view of one of the priciest vacation communities in the U.S.! A spokesflack for Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R), who opposes Cape Wind, said South Coast Offshore Wind was "an intriguing idea and we're anxious to learn more about it."