Each week, we do a round-up of some of our favorite stories from our friends over at TreeHugger.
Move over America: Australians now emit more carbon dioxide than you each year, at 20.58 tons per capita. India’s per capita emissions? 1.15 tons. With that in mind, that country’s environment minister has a message for Westerners: “You need to live with only one car rather than three. For you it’s about luxury. For us it is about survival.”
Newly resigned, White House green jobs “tsar” Van Jones was a political victim — and there may well be more to come. An important step would be raising the gas tax.. It would likely improve fuel efficiency, fund road infrastructure and amp up alternative vehicles research.
Hello, dependence: Toyota, General Motors, and even the Defense Department are holding their breath as the Chinese government is tightening its control over the export of rare earth metals. That country possesses 90 percent of the world’s supply, and which are essential for a wide array of green technologies, from hybrid cars to wind turbines.
We know an urban dead zone when we see one. Ever heard of an ocean dead zone — or an ocean desert? There are five, and each one is easily as large as the entire United States.
Here’s a new energy metric to start tracking: energy sprawl. Turns out that nuclear, coal, and geothermal use much less land than biofuels, which use the most by far.
Elsewhere: whole eco-cities are rising against all odds. And could Citgo, Starbucks or Frito Lay ever be considered to be selling local goods? They say so. Is “localwashing” the new greenwashing? Mix fresh water with salt water and the reaction you get dissipates energy that could be harnessed and turned into clean electricity. Are we about to enter the era of “estuary power”? Waste Management partnered with Terrabon in the hopes of creating another kind of renewable energy holy grail: gasoline from garbage.
September 10th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
I don’t agree that Jones was a political victim. Of the 37 or so unelected, unconfirmed and apparently un-vetted czars, Jones may not even be the worst. Just the worst we know of.
A 9/11 truther and anticapitalist fellow traveller has no business being in charge of billions of taxpayer dollars. That the White House was well aware of his views and marxist leanings and hired him in spite of (because of?) that is depressing but no longer surprising.
September 11th, 2009 at 8:06 am
Joe-
Remind me why we all cower in fear of a few Marxists again? Jones was going to bring the wrath of Stalin down upon us? The fact he is personally a Marxist should have little to do with hiring him or not. I’d rather have someone competent, which he is, rather than a corporate shrill who is “democratic.”
The 9/11 truther thing is much more concerning. But why not take him on his word about why he signed the petition? Has he ever said anything outside of that single signature?
September 11th, 2009 at 11:53 am
Joe, your post lends credence to the idea that Jones indeed was victim of hatchet job. Conspiracy theories aside (theories which Jones later apologized for supporting), being “a[n] anticapitalist fellow traveler” is a political position, a position which you may disagree with, but not a lack of qualifications or serious non-opinion-based impediment.
September 11th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
The petition demanded the investigation of charges “that people within the current (Bush) administration may indeed have deliberately allowed 9/11 to happen, perhaps as a pretext for war.”
The idea that this guy didn’t know what he was signing is proof that he is either too stupid to pump gas, or is a congenital liar. It’s a toxic mindset to have in the White House. It’s up there with holocaust denial.
He’s not ‘personally’ a marxist, like he does scrapbooking on the weekend. It infects every decision he makes with taxpayer money.
Here’s a fun quote, maybe he apologized for it already and I missed it:
The American way, manufactured by these white folks in office. By these rich men here to mock us. The United States is a stolen land led by right-wing, war hungry, oil thirsty. And when it’s all said and done they still can’t clean their own place because they got people of color playing servant to do that sh*t for them… The true terrorists are made in the US, in this police state… The US is a crack-fiend for oil. And they’re ready to rape, kill, assault, rob anybody and everybody…
So much for that post-partisan, post-racial presidency. He was picked not in spite of but because of his views. Top Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett oozed support for him, saying “we’ve been watching him” as he rose up the ranks of hard-left community organizers.
But hey, he apologized, sort of. Let’s hand billions and billions of dollars over to him to spend how he sees fit. He’s only a part-time personal marxist so I’m sure he’ll spend it wisely on projects beneficial to all Americans.
September 13th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Joe - Van Jones is a champion of free markets and capitalism. The fact that he once identified with communists is meaningless. I agree that 911 petition was dumb, but it hardly disqualifies him from anything. The fact is he was one of the best connections between urban black america and green jobs and better environmental policy in general. He’s a good man who got lynched by one of the dumbest, most mentally unstable people on FOX news. Most importantly - the only reason Glenn Beck went nuts on him is that he helped orchestrate a boycott of Beck’s show. Also not the brightest move, but really this was just about revenge. Beck and the rest of the troubled people at FOX news are the single biggest problem holding America back, don’t play into his hands.
September 14th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Sorry, Jones’ boycott came after Beck’s shows. Several weeks later, in response to being outed by Beck. I’m really tired of revisionist history, especially with respect to things that happened in the last 60-90 days! If you can’t get the timeline right, your opinions get lost in the noise.
I disagree with you - believing the gov’t was involved in 9/11 does disqualify you from work at the senior levels and in charge of billions of taxpayer dollars. He’s hardly irreplaceable. Maybe one of those fired ACORN workers can fill the position now.
Read the quote I provided above, I don’t think he’s ‘a good man’, he has a lot of mean, bigoted opinions and a real antipathy towards anyone on his right, which is most people. Trutherism, support of Mumia etc are hallmarks of the angry fringe left. Not too fond of white people either.
Fox is one channel going against all the broadcast networks and most cable channels, newspapers and magazines. To blame the country’s problems on Fox is just ridiculous - really, the ’single biggest problem’? Your use of the term ‘lynched’ is symptomatic of a larger problem, the ease with which the race card is being pulled out almost daily in response to valid criticisms of gov’t policy. It is possible to have principled objections to Obama policy without it being racist, you know. Or do you?
A simple suggestion - Obama says hundreds of millions of savings can be had by making health care more efficient. Fine, so do that first. You don’t need a new act, and it would be a great way to earn credibility on the issue. Get back to us when you’ve saved the money, then we’ll look at the next step. Maybe by that time he and the rest of Congress will have read the bill they’re voting on.