Slate.com offers advice this week on how to be an environmentally sound pet owner. Check it out!
McCain’s Choice of Palin Shows Disregard For Environment, Science September 23, 2008
In The Washington Post, Julie Eilperin examines the differences between the views on climate change of John McCain and Sarah Palin. While McCain has spoken broadly of his belief in the contribution of human activities to climate change, Palin only acknowledges that temperatures are warming but refuses to state on the record that she believes humans have anything to do with the changes.
Although Palin established a sub-cabinet to deal with climate change issues a year ago, she has focused on how to adapt to global warming rather than how to combat it, and she has publicly questioned scientists’ near-consensus that human activity plays a role in the rising temperatures.
Perhaps of more concern to me is that she has not produced any reasoning–no alternate science, not even any alternate explanation NOT based on science–for her disbelief in the humuan impacts on the climate. This mirrors her rejection of the science on polar bear habitat:
Initially, Palin said her state’s fish and wildlife department had conducted a review showing that the bears were not facing extinction. But Steiner, the professor, obtained an e-mail exchange showing that state officials concurred with federal scientists’ predictions that all of Alaska’s polar bears would disappear by mid-century if trends in greenhouse gas emissions continued.
Scott Schliebe, a retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist who oversaw the scientific analysis for the polar bear listing, said Palin and her deputies “had some strong views that were different from ours, and we thoroughly reviewed them. We didn’t find their views had merit from the mainstream consensus of scientific thinking, which was backed by data.”
One of the common criticisms of the Bush administration from scientists and those concerned about science (environmental and medical) is that the administration and its appointees reject the best available science on issues and instead make decisions based on personal agendas. By choosing Palin as his running mate, McCain has demonstrated that he is willing to align himself with someone who does more of the same. I had been heartened, orginally, by McCain’s positions on many environmental issues. Palin is the nail in the coffin on my belief that McCain would represent any change from the current administration on important issues like energy and respect for science in shaping policy.
Aerosols: Good? Bad? Ugly? September 22, 2008
If you are using aerosol cans of hair spray, deodorant, room spray, etc., consider that while you are no longer contributing to the ozone hole, you are increasing your carbon footprint. Read the details in The Christian Science Monitor.
Ike’s Lessons: Who owns the beach? September 22, 2008
In the LA Times, Michael Graczyk and Cain Burdeau report on how even homes left standing after Hurricane Ike may be in danger. Texas law asserts that land within the average high tide-line and the average low tide-line is public property, and therefore buildings on that land are illegal. Homes in Galveston that used to be protected from the tides by dunes are now within the tidal zone, because dunes were eroded by the storm, so tidelines are altered.
There are numerous issues with building right at the beach, having to do with insurance, the ability of the public to access the shore, and who pays for maintaining the beach. These issues are often front and center in coastal communties, but many who live inland don’t think about these issues too often. However, as global warming continues, coastlines are going to continue to disappear–homes that might now be behind dunes, or removed from the influence of tides, are going to be closer and closer to the edge of the sea as sea levels rise. What responsibility do tax-payers carry in this case? Do we bail out coastal home-owners the way we are buying out Wall Street firms that are going under? It is a tough issue that policy makers are going to have to grapple with in the coming years.
Easy Green Action: Caps Off September 8, 2008
I’m sure you are all recycling as much as possible. But as pointed out in Earth Talk at The Christian Science Monitor, HOW you recycle is important, too. Check the rules for your recycling center or curb-side recycling. For example, many of the caps on plastic bottles are not necessarily the same type of plastic as the bottle itself, and may lower the value of recycled plastic if not removed before processing. It only takes an extra few seconds to recycle right!
