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We apologise to all of our UK, Canadian and
Australian readers because this issue is
about American politics. Which nobody else
cares about, right?
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Fuel Rules Look Good- Until you read the
fine print. The Bush administration's
plan to make federal fuel economy standards
stricter and regulate a mandatory 31.6 MPG
fleet average by 2015, an addition to last
year's energy bill that mandates 35 MPG by
2020, has been well received so far. Some of
our eco-friends even applauded the
initiative. But (and there's often a 'but')
now that a few experts have had time to read
the whole document in its 417 pages glory, a
big problem became apparent:
"Tucked deep into a 417-page 'Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking' was language by the
Transportation Department stating that more
stringent limits on tailpipe emissions
embraced by California and 17 other states
are 'an obstacle to the accomplishment' of
the new federal standards and are 'expressly
and impliedly preempted' by federal law."
California and the states that decide to
adopt its more stringent laws instead of the
US federal ones are mighty angry and feel
that this is a direct attack on their ability
to keep regulating.::More
Survey: Author and New York Times
columnist Thomas Friedman spoke at Brown
University about globalization, energy and
green technology. He said that the federal
government needs to put a price on carbon,
set regulations and pour money into research
and development and let American ingenuity
meet the market force for clean energy. "I do
believe clean power is going to be the next
great global industry, I know that for sure.
"
Before he started his speech, he got pied by
two "environmental activists" who said:
"Thomas Friedman deserves a pie in the face
because of his sickeningly cheery applaud for
free market capitalism's conquest of the
p***t, for telling the world that the free
market and techno fixes can save us from
climate change. From carbon trading to
biofuels, these distractions are dangerous in
and of themselves, while encouraging inaction
with respect to the true problems at hand"Who is right, the pie-er or
the pie-ee?
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USEDA? Huh?
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"USEDA" (formerly know as the US
Environmental Protection Agency) is proposing
revisions to decades-old air quality
regulations that will make it easier for
coal-fired generation plants to obtain
permits for sites where air quality is
currently good: in and around national and
state parks. Must be a coincidence.
::More
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Green Hispanics
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How important are environmental issues to
Hispanic voters, how much responsibility do
they feel in helping to solve them -- and are
their feelings strong enough to move them to
action? The answers, in short: They're deeply
connected to nature and are concerned about
the environment enough to take action to
protect their communities and their families.::More
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Rice Panic
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They are rationing rice at Sam's Club; in
Manila they have to post guards around it.
All over the world, food prices are rising
and supplies are disrupted as people start
hoarding. In Washington, the $300 billion
Farm Bill plods on as it has for months. It
has $5.2 billion dollars in direct payments
to farmers as their income hits record highs.
::More
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Today's Tip on P***t
Green: Watch a Socially Conscious Film Every
Month
With Ironweed's
DVD-of-the-month subscription plan ($14.95
per month; $159.90 per year), you'll receive
thought-provoking, socially conscious, yet
often little-known feature films, plus a few
short selections, on diverse subjects such as
human rights, grassroots democracy, food
politics-and, of course, the environment.
Past films that have popped into members'
mailboxes include Black Gold, Blue Vinyl,
Genesis, and The Future of Food.
Get your friends together for a monthly movie
night, and then visit Ironweed's Web site for
ideas on how to take action on the issues
presented in the films. Or give our
collective social awareness a boost-and
perhaps inspire social change-by circulating
the DVDs among friends, family, and co-workers::More at P***t Green
More tips and tricks at P***t Green! Redesigned and reinvented, P***t Green is your user's guide to living mindfully on this big blue marble we all call home. Greenily,
Team TH
P.S. If your diet calls for a pinch more green, have we got a recipe for you: the weekly newsletter, piled high with a whole week's worth of tasty TreeHugger treats. Sign up here. P.P.S. Feed me, feed me, give me more! Get all the TreeHugger, all the time with our RSS feed. It's Really Simple- (That's the RS in RSS) - Just click your little mousie here and overindulge in calorie and carbon free TreeHugger all day long.
As always, a big thanks to our gracious
sponsor,
pair.com.
pair Networks, a global Web hosting and
domain name
registration company,
hosts over 180,000 sites from around the world.
Whether you're a business, a student, an
artist, a
blogger, or a
non-profit organization, pair Networks has a Web
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for you. Seriously folks, they've been
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