Green Songs
As one Jonathan's unnamed colleagues, I will take up his challenge and propose three songs for the top ten pop environmental songs: Arlo Guthrie, Alice's Restaurant (solid waste management and enforcement) The Eagles, The Last Resort (Land use--does that count as environmental law?) Neil Young, After the Gold Rush (well, it does mention Mother Nature on the run in the 1970's)...
CONTINUE READINGThe New Federal Climate Agency
With climate legislation stalled and probably dead until the archaic and dysfunctional filibuster rule can be changed, the Obama Administration is moving forward with positive baby steps. Yesterday, the Commerce Department announced the creation of a Climate Service within the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration: The proposed entity would provide "user-friendly" information to help governments and businesses adapt to climate change, creating a centra...
CONTINUE READINGCul de Sacs are a Dead End
Cul de Sacs are a familiar feature of suburbia. They are also coming under increasing attack, according to TNR: So, for instance, one study of the city of Charlotte found that places where the streets weren't very well connected (thanks, in part, to the heavy use of cul-de-sac) required a lot more fire stations to be built, costing the area more money. Another study found that areas with poor connectivity have much worse congestion—up to 80 percent worse—because...
CONTINUE READINGLegal Planet Top 10 List
No, not top 10 posts, silly. That's boring. I mean that Top 10, except with a Legal Planet twist, to wit; What are the Top 10 Environmental Pop Songs of all time? My initial nominee is The Pretenders' classic "My City Was Gone," which is known more for its infectious bass guitar hook, but is actually an anthem about urban sprawl and smart growth. (Really: read the lyrics). The biggest problem with this nomination is that Rush limbaugh uses it as his theme so...
CONTINUE READINGThe Best Defense….
Ann cautions about downplaying the findings that the IPCC report erred in predicting the melting of Himalayan glaciers by 2035, and in the resistance of researchers to respond to FOIA requests from a climate skeptic site. She's right. We shouldn't downplay the reports: instead, we should ridicule them. So the glaciers won't actually melt by 2035 -- just suffer irreparable damage by then. Wow! How much should I flagellate myself? This obviously trumps the cont...
CONTINUE READINGBest Environmental-Themed Superbowl Commercial
The winner hands-down (possibly based on actual events in the City of Berkeley): [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq58zS4_jvM&hl=en_US&fs=1&] Runner-up after the jump: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTK8x8TsXWA&hl=en_US&fs=1&] "Envir-what?" The overall winner of course was the Betty White commercial, but given that it's not environmentally-themed, it won't be included in this list....
CONTINUE READINGEPA’s New Biofuels Standards
While I was traveling last week, EPA issue new standards for biofuels. This rule makes changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard program as required by a 2007 statute. The statute sets new specific annual volume standards for cellulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel, and total renewable fuel that must be used in transportation fuel. The statute also includes new definitions and criteria for both renewable fuels and the feedstocks used to produce them, in...
CONTINUE READINGGood news for the pika . . . or not
Cross-posted at CPRBlog. The US Fish and Wildlife Service has completed its review of the status of the cute little American pika. The verdict is good news for the pika, at least as far as it goes and if FWS is right about the science. FWS has decided that the pika is not endangered or threatened because, according to FWS biologists, the pika is not as vulnerable to the impacts of climate change as has been believed. Unfortunately, the explanation FWS offers is not ve...
CONTINUE READINGBad Few Months for Climate Science
The bad news for efforts to persuade the public and policy makers that climate change is happening and is human-caused continues. Since the revelation that hackers were circulating emails from climate scientists from the University of East Anglia, two new developments promise to stoke skepticism about climate science and scientists even further. The first is news that a claim about the shrinking of Himalyan glaciers contained in the IPCC 2007 assessment is false. T...
CONTINUE READINGTime for a TREES Agreement?
The nexus between trade and the environment is huge: border tax adjustments, subsidies, eco-labelling, international technology standards, etc. etc. Little wonder, then, that many observers have called for a new international agreement to tie them together. That's complicated. But naming it is easy. The WTO treaty on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights is abbreviated as TRIPS. So it stands to reason that a similar agreement on Trade-Related Aspe...
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