I can’t remember the last time I stood in a room full of people concerned about climate change that was so full of optimism. That would be the launch party of a new foundation devoted to promoting the advancement of thorium. Why would we want that? The idea is to create a new generation of…Continue Reading…
Never mind that East Africa is reeling from drought and famine, if you’re with Greenpeace and you have an anti-GMO tic, this is what you worry about: Olivia Langhof of Greenpeace Africa, based in Johannesburg, echoes the concerns of other critics in saying that even in the face of a dire need to feed human beings,…Continue Reading…
My latest post at the Yale Forum on Climate Change & the Media is on the bipartisan press bashing habit. Have a look and flog me over there.
Here’s one reason why, drily put by Matthew Yglesias: I keep meaning to write something about the Tar Sands Action protests that had been going on by the White House and then I keep forgetting. That’s pretty much been my excuse, too. The point being, it didn’t live up to the hype. Yglesias goes on to explain…Continue Reading…
In Nature this week, Quirin Schiermeier has written the most lucid, evenhanded article I’ve read yet on the vexing issue of extreme weather/climate change attribution. He also reports on some notable developments. For example, Quirin writes that in the past year, climate researchers in the United States and Britain have formed a loose coalition under…Continue Reading…
Europe’s latest bout of GMO phobia is captured in this Guardian headline: EU bans GM-contaminated honey from general sale In case you didn’t catch the tilt of the article, here’s the subhead: Bavarian beekeepers forced to declare their honey as genetically modified because of contamination from nearby Monsanto crops The thrust of this mind boggling…Continue Reading…
In Wednesday’s Republican Presidential candidate debate, Rick Perry said global warming was one big Ponzi scheme. And that Galileo was burned at the stake for being the climate skeptic of his day. Or something like that. UPDATE: Many readers seem thrown by my attempt at sarcasm. Next time I’ll be less subtle. But a direct…Continue Reading…
We’re days away from the 10-year anniversary of 9/11. Slate has an excellent piece on the “Truthers” and how they are impervious to reason. Here’s a quote from Philip Zelikow (the 9/11 Commission’s executive director), who makes this observation about the 9/11 conspiracists: “I play a very prominent part in their demonology of the world,…Continue Reading…
Would you eat a hamburger that was grown in a test tube? How about a chicken nugget from a petri dish? Sometimes called “shmeat” (as in, a sheet of lab-grown meat), in vitro meat might someday be an option for people with carnivorous inclinations who aren’t wild about the idea of killing and eating real…Continue Reading…
Hop on over to the Yale Forum on Climate Change & the Media, where I have a post on the big story dominating the climate blogosphere these past few days. Staring today, I’ll be blogging for the Yale Forum several times a week and will link to those posts from here when they go up. UPDATE:…Continue Reading…