Climate Change

  • I commented several times on the stupidity of corn-based ethanol as a substitute for gasoline. It’s a very inefficient process and provides fuel at the expense of food. Already ethanol is raising the cost of growing livestock. However, cellulosic ethanol (alcohol made from the other parts of plants, not from the edible portion) has great…

  • Demand for corn to make ethanol has now doubled corn prices in the U.S. “The diversion of corn to fuel ethanol uses “is creating unintended consequences throughout the global food chain,” a Bloomberg analysis finds – not to mention increased use of pesticides and fossil fuels to grow all that corn. Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress…

  • Al Gore has just finishing testifying before Congress on global warming.  He got mixed, but generally warm reception with a few strong dissenters among Republicans. Story in The Hill.com. Gore’s testimony greeted warmly by some members, coolly by others. By Kelly McCormack Gore’s actual testimony (YouTube).

  • The Bush administration ran a systematic campaign to play down the dangers of climate change, demanding hundreds of politically motivated changes to scientific reports and muzzling a pre-eminent expert on global warming, Congress was told yesterday. Read the rest in The Guardian. March 20. “Bush Appointees ‘watered down’ Greenhouse Science.” By Suzanne Goldenberg and James…

  • Ted Williams has written a very interesting article on ethanol.  “America’s corn-based ethanol program carries high costs in fish, wildlife and tax dollars.” Check out Under the Influence of Ethanol on Ted Williams’ Conservation Connection.

  • The local paper had a big feature on the global warming issue today. The headline is a bit misleading. The article is an overview. It begins with the global-warming organization, I CAN, which evolved from a Bible study. Group fights global warming. By John O’ Connell. Idaho State University.

  • This is related to the proposed listing of the polar bear, something that has a lot to do with climate change. The New York Times got a copy of a USFWS memo, and it shows the DOI’s continuing subordination of science to Administration politics — employees need authorization to speak about the issue. Here is…

  • Several media outlets have this story today. Here it is in Scientific American. Another Asian Export: Stronger Pacific Storms: the tiny particles spewed by Asian industry have been strengthening storms over the Pacific for the last decade. By David Biello

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