In Lebec, California (which is about ninety miles north of downtown Los Angeles) a suit has just been filed charging the school board with teaching so-called "Intelligent Design" under a new name: Philosophy. According to the story by Henry Weinstein in the LA Times (reg. required): An initial course description, which was distributed to studentsContinue reading “Earth A Few Thousand Years Old–Videos Say So”
Author Archives: Kit Stolz
Pombo on the Defensive
About a week ago, the Los Angeles Times reported that Richard Pombo (R-Tracy) was a "close associate" of Tom DeLay under investigation by the FBI. The FBI suspects that Pombo did favors for an East Coast tribe that wanted Federal recognition in order to open a casino; Pombo, who represents a central district in California,Continue reading “Pombo on the Defensive”
Big Week in Climate Change
This blog tracks climate change, and attempts to translate the science of it into words that a layman (such as myself) can understand. It began in part because I realized that thoughtful reporting on this issue, which is as changeable and as complex as the winds that circle the globe, is just impossible on aContinue reading “Big Week in Climate Change”
What the Public Wants
"It is a mistake to suppose that the public wants the environment protected or their lives saved and that they will be grateful to any idealist who will fight for such ends. What the public wants is their own individual comfort. We know that well enough from our experience in the environmental crisis of theContinue reading “What the Public Wants”
Rooftop of the World Melting
From Japan’s largest newspaper, via Warm Planet, comes news that glaciers in the world’s highest peaks are melting. Here’s the lede and a touch of local color on this sad but unsurprising news. MEILI SNOW MOUNTAIN, China–The "rooftop of the world" is melting. Thanks to global warming, glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau are rapidly liquefying,Continue reading “Rooftop of the World Melting”
GM Moves Away from Pure Gasoline
According to this post in Treehugger (1/5/06), General Motors is partnering with Chevron and the State of California and an alternative ethanol company to launch a new line of "flex-fuel" vehicles. Treehugger wonders: Does this mean that the automaker has finally realized that its past tactics are simply not working and that they need –Continue reading “GM Moves Away from Pure Gasoline”
The Enlivening Beauty
In a Christmas day post I lauded an artist named Barbara Medaille and her landscape called For the Firefighters.
Because so many friends and readers responded to the painting, I followed up with a few questions, to which she graciously responded on the phone and in email. (The result is blended together in the continuation below the virtual fold below; as I told Barbara, if I got something wrong, she can just go to the comments and set me straight!)
"For the Firefighters" was a painting I’ve been waiting a good deal of my life to see. I encounter so many California landscapes that are pretty and representational, both of the beauty of our state and of its factual appearance, but fail to catch the underlying drama of our landscape. As Barbara says, California is far less stable and unchanging than it sometimes appears.
You can see this drama, I think, even in her landscapes which aren’t obviously threatening, such as this one, called West County:
Department of T’was Ever Thus
From the New Yorker, we respectfully beg permission to use the following drawing. (This site is about enlightenment on the topic of environmental change, makes no money for anyone, and gives credit under Fair Use doctrine guidelines.) And surely the artist Diffee would want people interested in environmental topics to see the sheer beauty ofContinue reading “Department of T’was Ever Thus”
The Onion vs. Stupidity
Public Outraged As Price Of Fast-Depleting, Non-Renewable Resource Skyrockets December 28, 2005 | Issue 41•52 ATLANTA (Oct. 12)—Americans are expressing their outrage at the soaring price of the non-renewable resource gasoline from the passenger seats of their vehicles across the country. "America means having a right to cheap gas without having to say please," saidContinue reading “The Onion vs. Stupidity”
Enviro Movie of the Year
Not Syriana. In Grist, David Roberts eloquently nominates the film , extolling its rough edges, stressing what it is not (not adolescent, not a paranoid conspiracy theory, not stupid). He admits: When I first heard about the "oil movie," I figured it would be about oil the same way so much is about oil theseContinue reading “Enviro Movie of the Year”
Kit Stolz 