Category Archives: Uncategorized

This week the pro-logging policies of the Bush administration took two hits, as reported on the useful Forest Service Employees for Environmental ethics (FSEEE) site. First, an extensive study in Science of so-called "salvage" logging in the aftermath of the disastrous Biscuit fire in Oregon found that, contra logging industry and Republican claims, post-fire loggingContinue reading “Impatient Bush Administration Stumbles Again”

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”

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”

From Mark Lebovich of the Washington Post, via the LA Times (reg. required): As a general rule, the most durable quotes don’t require the media to keep replaying them or a hostile opposition to keep reminding everyone of them. Rather, they stand on their own absurdity, famous last words that hang naturally from the necksContinue reading “Quote of the Year”

A couple of days ago came an amazing story by Susan Schmidt and William Grimaldi  on the rise and fall of Jack Abramoff. Of course, the real fall is just beginning for the former Beverly Hills High grad, who this weekend either will make a deal with prosecutors and turn on his former friends andContinue reading ““The Enron of Lobbying””

Here’s the linked version of a piece that ran in this week’s Ventura County Reporter. 2005 will be remembered as a year of natural disasters. We don’t need to recite statistics in an anchorman’s heavy voice to know the meaning of Katrina and La Conchita. But when it comes to natural disasters, the question todayContinue reading “The Environment 2005: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”

They say these are polarized times and boy, ain’t that the truth. Here’s a perfect example: the Earth Liberation Front. Is it a menace to the nation, or a right-wing boogieman? On the right side of the political dial, notable blogger Professor Bainbridge opines that he has "no problem" with the FBI tracking "such groups,"Continue reading “The ELF: Ecoterrorists or Right-Wing Myth?”

It’s natural at the end of one year and the beginning of another to take stock of what has happened, and to look forward to the future. This past January, The New Yorker launched a three-part series by Elizabath Kolbert on global warming. This year, it’s the turn of Bill McKibben in The New YorkContinue reading “Fifty Years From Now”

Meme of Four (via Alex Ross/therestisnoise): 4 JOBS YOU"VE HAD: Renovating Angel Island; census taker; reporter; story analyst 4 MOVIES YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER: The General; Trouble in Paradise; The Big Sleep; Y Tu Mama Tambien 4 TV SHOWS YOU LOVE TO WATCH: David Letterman; NBA; Six Feet Under; the Simpsons 4 PLACESContinue reading “MEME OF FOUR”

Republican Congressman Richard Pombo, who has taken well over $100,000 from Big Oil in the last three years, was no doubt disappointed by the failure of the GOP to push through a measure to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge yesterday. But Pombo, a far-right anti-environmentalist whose measure to gut the Endangered Species ActContinue reading “Is Pombo a “Close Associate?””