Environment

Ireland’s Unconventional Minister of the Environment

By Monique Chartier | December 31, 2008 |

Unlike many of his counterparts around the world, put Minister Sammy Wilson squarely in the category of AGW sceptic. Drudge links to this article in today’s Belfast Telegraph. [Check out all the global warming alarmist articles linked on that page, by the way.] Spending billions on trying to reduce carbon emissions is one giant con…

Diagnosis Hypecolodria

By Justin Katz | December 26, 2008 |

It certainly behooves humanity to follow the trends and assess the contributors to changes in the global environment, but increasingly, there seems to be an environmentalist version of hypochondria at play: In one of the report’s most worrisome findings, the agency estimates that in light of recent ice sheet melting, global sea level rise could…

Letting Truth Stand on the Environment

By Justin Katz | December 26, 2008 |

James Lewis worries that the incoming administration will sign the United States on with what he characterizes as a sort of eco-Inquisition, in the continued politicization of science: The world’s Green politicians are gathering in Poznan, Poland, to split the loot through a new Kyoto II Treaty. They blame the failure of the last Kyoto…

Seeping Illness in Tiverton

By Justin Katz | December 17, 2008 |

The tentative deal between Southern Union and residents of Tiverton concerning contaminated soil has fallen through. It’s a travesty that those who live in the Bay Street area should spend so long in limbo, as the article puts it, but this is particularly disconcerting: In the end, Southern Union could not strike a deal with…

Green Jobs to Put Us in the Red

By Justin Katz | December 2, 2008 |

Russ Harding is skeptical of the persistent claims about “green jobs” being an economic stimulus: Economic prosperity requires that we have access to both reliable and affordable energy to heat our homes and power our factories and vehicles. A steep run up in energy costs coincided with an economic recession in the 1970s and is…

The Scars of Top Marks

By Justin Katz | December 1, 2008 |

Yeah, I get that the top-of-page story on today’s Rhode Island section is more of a departing profile than report on the state’s conservation efforts — even if the title is “Federal conservationist gives Rhode Island Top Marks” — but a word about the costs of some of what Roylene Rides at the Door applauds…

Hot Off the Press and Fully Cooked

By Justin Katz | November 17, 2008 |

Back in my proofreader days, I happened to catch a major error simply because the graphs didn’t make sense. According to the document handed to me that day, the United Arab Emirates ranked much more highly than the United States in various measures of freedom. As it turned out, a row had been transposed on…

Carrots Down the Rabbit Hole

By Justin Katz | October 20, 2008 |

The range of protected groups continues to, umm, grow: For years, Swiss scientists have blithely created genetically modified rice, corn and apples. But did they ever stop to consider just how humiliating such experiments may be to plants? That’s a question they must now ask. Last spring, this small Alpine nation began mandating that geneticists…

Captain Cook’s Books Show Climate Change

By Marc Comtois | August 4, 2008 |

British maritime historians are discovering that the information held in ye olde ships’ log can help shed light on the “climate change” of the past. Captain Cook and Lord Nelson seem unlikely figureheads in the fight against climate change alarmists. The two British sea heroes have been dead for more than 200 years. But their…

A Small Correction, Mr. President (or maybe not)

By Monique Chartier | July 11, 2008 |

From the Telegraph (UK); h/t Mark Steyn filling in for Rush Limbaugh. Departing the G-8 Summit yesterday, President George Bush who has been condemned throughout his presidency for failing to tackle climate change, ended a private meeting with the words: “Goodbye from the world’s biggest polluter.” He then punched the air while grinning widely, as…