In Defense of Andrew Revkin

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I was, by coincidence, in the midst of reading Bjorn Lomborg’s book this week when Andrew Revkin’s New York Times piece on the sloppy center came out. There is much to like about the book, and much to disagree with (more on that later, when I’ve finished it). But the most important thing is that you’ve got someone here who embraces mainstream science, but comes up with a different policy response. Ditto Newt Gingrich, who has some interesting comments in the videos linked near the bottom of Revkin’s story.

The criticism of Revkin’s piece has been predictable. But I think he’s doing an extraordinarily valuable service here. Journalism gravitates toward the extremes, the loudest voices of the members of the climate wars tribe. In capturing the headlines, that creates this false picture in the public mind, I think, of the nature of the climate debate. It is an orthogonal example to the way Revkin’s “tyranny of the news peg” is typically used, but it’s just as relevant in this case. On the right, journalists look for people who question the science. On the left, we look for people who proclaim a coming doom. The result is a paralyzed discourse, which Revkin delightfully describes as “a world where energy and environmental policies are still forged mainly in the same way Doctor Dolittle’s two-headed pushmi-pullyu walked. (It didn’t move much.)” (If you’re reading, Andy, 10 points for that one!)

That views other than the typical caricatures exist and are worth hearing seems entirely much for those entrenched in the tribal warfare. Predictably, for example, David Roberts went apeshit. It’s much easier to poke holes in Chris Horner’s embarassing repetition of the global cooling myth, or criticize Al Gore’s use of Hurricane Katrina in his movie. But that’s becoming a pretty tired and unproductive sort of discussion.

Disaster News Network

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Sometimes the line between Onion and Not Onion is a bit confusing. But the Disaster News Network is apparently not a joke. Some headlines:

Blog categories include (really, I am not making this up) “animals in disasters”. Did you know that May 12 was National Animal Disaster Preparedness Day? I thought not. You need to subscribe to their podcast, and then you won’t miss it next year.

Water in the Desert: Japanese Garden Edition

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Japanese Garden, Albuquerque botanical gardens

Originally uploaded by heinemanfleck.

No doubt there’s a rich literature out there about the idea of the “park,” a human-created faux natural setting, so I won’t try to reinvent it here. This is the new Japanese Garden at the city of Albuquerque’s beautiful botanical gardens. It just opened, it’s lovely, and Lissa and I enjoyed it Saturday on an inordinately warm autumn afternoon. “It’s the kind of place people go to who are in love,” Lissa said, which is an apt description. It’s nestled in cottonwoods, with a little lake and a waterfall and a stream and lovely walking paths and great rocks and the whole deal.

I don’t mean to diminish it by what I say next, because it’s a neat garden, and I will likely go there many times in the future, just as I have gone many times in the past to the botanical garden. But there’s something odd about it. No more than a quarter of a mile beyond this waterfall is an actual river, out through an old forest of cottonwoods. The whole length of that river through Albuquerque, there are only a handful of spots that I’m aware of where the concept of “park” has been used to bring people directly into contact with the river – where paths and benches and picnic tables have been set up to connect people with the Rio Grande. There are lots of recreational areas in the riverside forests, but they by and large turn their backs on the river itself. There are also a couple of places where bridges that cross the river anyway have been asked to do double duty with walkways that give you a chance to get out over the river if you so choose. I love to ride my bike over those (did this morning, in fact).

Instead, we build artificial water bits away from the river.

The Promise of Nukes

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The discussion of nuclear energy’s role in combating anthropogenic climate changing continues to be one of the most interesting bits of the political dynamic around this subject. The latest bit comes from Platts (my new favorite energy news source – great at stripping away the he-said/she-said and just explaining the underlying economic forces):

A Delaware Senator said bipartisan support for new nuclear to combat global warming is growing. Thomas Carper said he sees increasing support for language in a global warming bill that would promote construction of nuclear plants.

Platts also had a story earlier in the week on a new International Energy Agency report suggesting that nukes have to be part of any scenario that stabilizes carbon dioxide at 450 ppm.

The Promise of Biofuels

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Not:

“If all starch, sugar, fat and natural oils were used to make liquid biofuels and none went to food, feed or other industrial uses (…) biodiesel could meet 8% of diesel demand,” Tony Regan, principal consultant with Singapore energy consultancy Nexant, told a gathering held by the British Chamber of Commerce in Singapore.

With the various pressures on biodiesel feedstocks, which in southeast Asia include palm oil — a critical food crop and a target for environmentalists angry at rainforests being felled for fuel — it is likely that only a small fraction of the world’s total potential biodiesel production will ever be realized.

Regan estimated that biodiesel might realistically meet around 1% of world diesel demand by 2010.

Inexorable

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Climate science is fun and all, but I think we pretty much know what we need to know at this point. I’m thinking maybe I need to start paying more attention to global energy economics:

As China and India’s energy consumption grows, coal stands to make the largest gains from shifts in future fossil fuel usage, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Wednesday in its World Energy Outlook (WEO).

The outlook focuses on the need to offset and accommodate the growing energy consumption of these growing economies. The IEA outlines several models for growth in China and India, highlighting the consequences that development in these countries will have in terms of energy demand, the global economy, and the environment.

The WEO says that economic development fuelling increased energy needs in these two countries is almost certain, so immediate actions should be taken to ensure development in the most environmentally friendly terms possible.

Sporting Figure Attends State Dinner

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As we here in Albuquerque prepare to lament the loss of our beloved Albuquerque Tribune, let us raise a glass in toast to one of the Trib’s most accomplished graduates, Hank Stuever, who last night had the distinct privilege and high honor of covering the visit by some French guy to the White House for dinner:

Other guests on the list: Condi, Doro, Dick; Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer; in-laws-to-be John and Margaret Hager; Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.); the newly former New York Mets pitcher Tom Glavine; and corporate bigs from American Express, FedEx, the Las Vegas Sands Hotel chain, Public Storage and IBM.

Tom Glavine? Huh?

Go read the whole thing. It’s hilarious. Hank, we love ya.