DAILY GRIST
DAILY GRIST
Environmental news from GRIST MAGAZINE
<http://grist.org>
1. POLITICAL SCIENCE
Union of Concerned Scientists prez opines on state of science under Bush The Bush administration's attitude toward science has the Union of Concerned Scientists feeling, well, concerned. Last year, the nonpartisan group kicked up quite a dust storm when it corralled thousands of scientists to accuse the White House of dismissing or twisting scientific research. What should scientists expect during the next four years? UCS President Kevin Knobloch chats with Jennifer Weeks about scientific inquiry, political wrangling, and the big scientific issues enviros should keep their eyes on --today on the Grist Magazine website.
today in Grist: An interview with Kevin Knobloch, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists -- by Jennifer Weeks
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3938>
2. HARMER'S MARKET
Energy execs vacation with Bush admin officials -- innocently, of course High-level Bush administration environmental officials and members of Congress are canoodling with energy execs at a posh resort in Arizona this week, discussing policy over golf, wine, and canapes. They are, of course, shocked -- shocked! -- at the implication that anything untoward, like, say, purchasing of influence, might be going on. After all, says an Interior Department spokesflack, "it is not uncommon for these business sectors to be linked to the issues that the Department of the Interior handles on a regular basis." Um, exactly. According to the head of the Western Business Roundtable, a consortium comprised largely of energy companies, the meetings are simply to discuss policy. "We push for laws that promote a commonsense balance between economic growth and environmental conservation," he said. "Any group that opposes that commonsense approach is, by definition, an extremist group, from the West's perspective." Sounds like someone's been talking to Frank Luntz!
straight to the source: MSNBC.com, Associated Press, 05 Jan 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3934>
3. BABY GOT ADIRONDACK
Pataki protects big swath of New York's Adirondack Mountains
New York Gov. George Pataki (R) yesterday announced a deal whereby some 104,000 acres of land in the northeastern Adirondacks will be protected from development and opened up to public use -- the third-largest land conservation deal in state history. The parcels of land lie on a contiguous swath of forest, which makes it particularly significant for conservation purposes, as it is a migration corridor for several large mammals and birds. Limited logging will continue, but development will cease, to the chagrin of some local residents. The eco-friendly Pataki, like his muscle-bound California counterpart, is widely viewed as positioning himself for a bigger, brighter political future -- though the prospects for Republican moderates are, at this point, uncertain at best.
straight to the source: The New York Times, Anthony DePalma, 05 Jan 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3935>
4. CONSISTENCY BLOWS
Wind power set to explode in 2005; bats set to haunt Grist
Several readers pointed out -- rather snarkily, we might add -- the seeming dissonance between Umbra's latest column praising wind farms and the news, reported the following day, that some such farms have been chopping up quite a few bats. But hey, like Walt Whitman said: We are large, we contain multitudes. And get ready for more multitudes. According to a new study by Emerging Energy Research, 2005 will be a banner year for the wind industry in the U.S., dead bats or no dead bats, with investments set to cross the $2 billion mark. The study warns, however, that wind energy in the country remains precariously dependent on federal policy -- tax credits for the industry were just renewed for 2005, but who knows about 2006? -- which has not historically been renewable-friendly. Fossil-fuel industries are, of course, also propped up by huge federal subsidies, but they have way more friends in high places, now, don't they?
straight to the source: Austin Business Journal, 04 Jan 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3936>
straight to the source: The Shreveport Times, 05 Jan 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3937>
see also, in Grist: All We Are Is Farms in the Wind -- On wind farms -- in Ask Umbra <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3908> v
Environmental news from GRIST MAGAZINE
<http://grist.org>
1. POLITICAL SCIENCE
Union of Concerned Scientists prez opines on state of science under Bush The Bush administration's attitude toward science has the Union of Concerned Scientists feeling, well, concerned. Last year, the nonpartisan group kicked up quite a dust storm when it corralled thousands of scientists to accuse the White House of dismissing or twisting scientific research. What should scientists expect during the next four years? UCS President Kevin Knobloch chats with Jennifer Weeks about scientific inquiry, political wrangling, and the big scientific issues enviros should keep their eyes on --today on the Grist Magazine website.
today in Grist: An interview with Kevin Knobloch, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists -- by Jennifer Weeks
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3938>
2. HARMER'S MARKET
Energy execs vacation with Bush admin officials -- innocently, of course High-level Bush administration environmental officials and members of Congress are canoodling with energy execs at a posh resort in Arizona this week, discussing policy over golf, wine, and canapes. They are, of course, shocked -- shocked! -- at the implication that anything untoward, like, say, purchasing of influence, might be going on. After all, says an Interior Department spokesflack, "it is not uncommon for these business sectors to be linked to the issues that the Department of the Interior handles on a regular basis." Um, exactly. According to the head of the Western Business Roundtable, a consortium comprised largely of energy companies, the meetings are simply to discuss policy. "We push for laws that promote a commonsense balance between economic growth and environmental conservation," he said. "Any group that opposes that commonsense approach is, by definition, an extremist group, from the West's perspective." Sounds like someone's been talking to Frank Luntz!
straight to the source: MSNBC.com, Associated Press, 05 Jan 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3934>
3. BABY GOT ADIRONDACK
Pataki protects big swath of New York's Adirondack Mountains
New York Gov. George Pataki (R) yesterday announced a deal whereby some 104,000 acres of land in the northeastern Adirondacks will be protected from development and opened up to public use -- the third-largest land conservation deal in state history. The parcels of land lie on a contiguous swath of forest, which makes it particularly significant for conservation purposes, as it is a migration corridor for several large mammals and birds. Limited logging will continue, but development will cease, to the chagrin of some local residents. The eco-friendly Pataki, like his muscle-bound California counterpart, is widely viewed as positioning himself for a bigger, brighter political future -- though the prospects for Republican moderates are, at this point, uncertain at best.
straight to the source: The New York Times, Anthony DePalma, 05 Jan 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3935>
4. CONSISTENCY BLOWS
Wind power set to explode in 2005; bats set to haunt Grist
Several readers pointed out -- rather snarkily, we might add -- the seeming dissonance between Umbra's latest column praising wind farms and the news, reported the following day, that some such farms have been chopping up quite a few bats. But hey, like Walt Whitman said: We are large, we contain multitudes. And get ready for more multitudes. According to a new study by Emerging Energy Research, 2005 will be a banner year for the wind industry in the U.S., dead bats or no dead bats, with investments set to cross the $2 billion mark. The study warns, however, that wind energy in the country remains precariously dependent on federal policy -- tax credits for the industry were just renewed for 2005, but who knows about 2006? -- which has not historically been renewable-friendly. Fossil-fuel industries are, of course, also propped up by huge federal subsidies, but they have way more friends in high places, now, don't they?
straight to the source: Austin Business Journal, 04 Jan 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3936>
straight to the source: The Shreveport Times, 05 Jan 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3937>
see also, in Grist: All We Are Is Farms in the Wind -- On wind farms -- in Ask Umbra <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3908> v
posted by T. Scott Brineman at 8:42 AM
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