The New York Times has been the world's greatest newspaper for some time now, but also has a long tradition of formality — speaking of all public figures as Mr. This and Mrs That. Even if the rest of the world is on a first name basis with LeBron and Hillary. Another aspect of this formality isContinue reading “Earning a first person voice reporting for the NY Times”
Category Archives: politics
The Revenge of the Dinosaurs: Fossil Fuels
Columnist Thomas Friedman is a big picture columnist who drives enviros crazy with his broad strokes pronouncements, but every once in a while he stumbles across a genuine insight. In a column recently, he actually admitted to the stumbling, for which he deserves some credit: I stumbled upon another powerful environmental insight here: the parallel betweenContinue reading “The Revenge of the Dinosaurs: Fossil Fuels”
Climate change behind the civil war in Syria: Polk
A half-mile from us, a good friend's well has gone almost dry, and we've heard of others on our street experiencing the same dryness. Our well water is increasingly turbid and sandy at times, even though we live near a creek bottom. The drought outlook for California is not good: In contrast, [writes B. Pugh,Continue reading “Climate change behind the civil war in Syria: Polk”
Remembering the March on Washington: Dylan and Baez
The 50th anniversary remembrance of Dr. King‘s famous March on Washington raised some questions. Kevin Drum (and Chris Matthews) wondered why the Republican party, despite much effort, could not find a single speaker willing to be associated with Dr. King, the great black man who spoke for justice and equality. And ever-thoughtful Randy Lewis forContinue reading “Remembering the March on Washington: Dylan and Baez”
When agencies attack: Interior vs. State on Keystone XL
As another excellent story from Neela Banerjee in the Los Angeles Times makes clear, w the Department of Interior thinks the State Department is just ignoring its concerns on wildlife issues on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project. Reading only slightly between the lines, Interior looked at State's "it's not going to be a problem"Continue reading “When agencies attack: Interior vs. State on Keystone XL”
Ted Nordhaus: Republicans will act on climate change
A thorn in the side of the environmental movement in the last decade has been Ted Nordhaus, who has trumpeted "the death" of the movement in books published with co-author Michael Shellenberger, and sharply criticized environmental strategists. Together they lead a "green think tank" called The Breakthrough Institute which today calls for a revival ofContinue reading “Ted Nordhaus: Republicans will act on climate change”
Why conspiracies fail: U.S. government edition
Movie conspiracies — such as Three Days of the Condor — always work until a brave victim stands up to the bad guys and brings them down, usually violently, sometimes by informing the NYTimes. In real life, conspiracies usually fail because someone who is part of the plan screws up. (And this is whyContinue reading “Why conspiracies fail: U.S. government edition”
Why California is not going to ban fracking by initiative
At the enormously helpful Hydraulic Fracturing conference put on by the American Groundwater Trust, State Senator Fran Pavley concluded her talk by alluding to the possibility that if California voters feel that nothing is being done to protect their groundwater, they may take matters into their own hands and vote for an initiative to regulateContinue reading “Why California is not going to ban fracking by initiative”
Fran Pavley promises to regulate fracking in California
Fran Pavley, the California state senator best known for authoring a global warming measure in our state in 2006, who represents much of Ventura County, was the first speaker at a two-day conference on hydraulic fracturing (aka fracking) organized by the American Groundwater Trust in Agoura. Pavley now is carrying SB 4, a comprehensive billContinue reading “Fran Pavley promises to regulate fracking in California”
“The blame game” — in history and w/climate change
In a review of two new books about World War I, The Sleepwalkers and July 1914, Harold Evans (aka Sir Harry) notes the uselessness of playing "the blame game" when it comes to the start of the tragic war. [Christopher] Clark declines to join [Sean] McMeekin in what he calls “the blame game,” because thereContinue reading ““The blame game” — in history and w/climate change”
Kit Stolz 