Let the market place decide

Today Paul Krugman identifies who is to blame for the failed cap and trade legislation. In his New York Times op-ed piece he skewers the usual suspects, delightfully eviscerating the maverick, John McCain. But his comments about the culpability of the energy industry are especially interesting. He points out that EM actively supports climate change deniers. This is evidently a well-known fact about the company - witness this article from the U.K. Guardian last year. But it was news to me.

The only way to change such corporate misbehavior is to affect the company's bottom line. I will no longer purchase its products: I estimate that I buy about $1800 worth of its gasoline a year. Driving less and walking and biking more more have failed to impress EM. Contributing money to environmental groups hasn't moved the company either. Today I will cut this credit card in half and mail it to the company to protest its hypocrisy.

Imagine what a market-place solution to climate change might look like. I imagine that Nike and Adidas are already working on wearable air-conditioned suits for comfort in the coming dystopia (picture a lighter weight version of the outfit Neil Armstrong wore as he stepped onto the moon). But what if we could change corporate behavior before things get much worse?

I wish I could cut the deniers in half, too. Don't they have children (and grandchildren?)

Faux News

Today I reported as spam an opinion expressed about an editorial in The Boston Globe. I did so because the writer suggested a link to the Wall Street Journal to back up the claim that there is no such thing as global warming. You might think my reaction extreme, but it is has been some time now since the WSJ could be considered a reputable news source. Purchased by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation a couple of years ago, it can no longer be seen as a serious source for reputable journalism. You see, it is tainted by association with another holding of the company, Fox News.

Journalists are not supposed to have an agenda. Journalists who twist the facts to fit that agenda should be fired. As that is par-for the course at Fox, however, no one is ever removed for violating the journalistic canon. Witness the contretemps over the Shirley Sherrod story. Fox News is an infotainment outlet. It's employees are masters of the procrustean argument. The company, owned by an extremely wealthy Australian conservative has an ax to grind, an agenda to push. It is a willing servant of the Republican party, of the tea-baggers and the right wing of the American political spectrum. It is to journalism what BP is to environmentalism.

Climate Change and Dystopia

(picture credit www.beanos.com)

If you read The Road (or cheated and only saw the film) you know what dystopia looks like. In fact, our current cinema and published fiction assaults us with such images (consider The Book of Eli or Children of Men as cases in point). Although much of the American public wishes to deny this possible future, serious thinkers Bill McKibben have been contemplating the worst case scenarios for over 20 years.

Were it not for Hollywood we might find it near impossible to imagine what life on a hot, dry Earth might look like. I think I'll sponsor a Dystopian film Festival at my workplace to spread the bad news. This looks like as good a list as any from which to make my selections.

oh..Netherlands!

( photo is from a Reuters report)
An all-European World Cup Final, played in South Africa, was one for the ages. Spain played a lovely game, and the Dutch looked more like a team at the bottom of the EPL table, fighting relegation. Setting a record for yellow cards, and finally losing a player to a red card, the Dutch determined that their only chance at victory was to play an ugly, physical game. Too bad, as they have some brilliant players, most especially Arjen Robben.

I rooted for the Dutch. Nearly two decades ago I read a book about Dutch soccer tactics and strategy, and taught the approach to my youth soccer teams. I had this weird nostalgia for those long-ago days, I guess.

In the "silver-lining" department, the U.S. National team beat the Spanish side in last year's Confederation Cup. So I guess this means that we have arrived as a soccer nation?