If you’re in DC this evening, CEI’s own Marlo Lewis will be a panelist at a climate change discussion sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Washington, DC. Other participants are Michael McCracken, chief scientist from the Climate Institute, Fred Pearce, New Scientist environmental and development consultant, Reason magazine’s Ron Bailey, and S. Fred Singer, president of the Science and Environmental Policy Project. Here’s the info.
MONDAY, APRIL 30, 2007
6:00 - 8:00PM
National Association of Home Builders - Conference Center
1201 15th St., NW,…

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EasyJet, one of Europe’s biggest budget airlines, has taken a look at the carbon offset business and doesn’t like what it found:

Toby Nicol, easyJet’s communications director, said the company had been shocked by how much money carbon offsetting firms wanted for their service. “We have been quite surprised at the percentage that the offsetting companies would like to take out of the scheme for administration costs. Between 25% and 30% of every pound put in by consumers would go into…

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Once again, Justices Roberts and Alito have split over whether federal law preempts a state regulation. In United Haulers Association v. Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Management Authority, Chief Justice Roberts issued a decision in favor of a local government’s taking over waste disposal from out-of-state businesses against a dormant Commerce Clause challenge, while Justice Alito wrote a dissent urging that it be struck down.

The Constitution’s dormant Commerce Clause prohibits regulations that discriminate against, or are unduly burdensome to, interstate commerce. In…

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The front page of today’s Washington Post breaks the dramatic story I’ve been waiting to see reported on for some time: U.S. consumers don’t care about compact fluorescent light bulbs. Sorry if that revelation caused you to faint or go into a stroke-like state of shock.

Edison: Ladies Love Cool T

Despite endless cheerleading by environmentalists, the intensity of which tends to verge on the hysterical, most folks in this country have declined to purchase CFLs. Even the most aggressive talking…

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It’s a while since I’ve done one of these, but here are some global warming-related stories you may have missed.

Canada sets own emissions limits, well short of Kyoto targets
Canadian plan will still cost $C7-8 billion per year
Hurricane scientist William Gray continues to voice doubts over global warming
Growing doubts about whether there will be a Kyoto II
Vatican conference told global warming is natural
IPCC to recommend use of nuclear power; environmentalists say nay
Australia to authorize use of nuclear power
Andy Revkin asks…

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Today’s Free Kareem rally went off well: we had people from Bureaucrash/CEI as well as Cato and the American Islamic Congress in attendance. We held up our signs, handed out flyers and engaged the public. Special thanks to Knud Berthelsen of Cato and CEI’s own Holly Jackson for all of their hark work organizing today’s event. And yes, since you ask, there are photos.

Full photo series here.

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Richard, your post on angry kids used by enviros reminded me that I showed the Greenpeace ad to a friend who deals with disturbed children—her assessment: This kid needs psychological counseling right away! (He also looks a bit sick, too, maybe he needs a pediatrician—where are his parents?)

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Yesterday, the Cato Institute hosted a forum on the proposals for a new farm bill detailed in its new monograph, “Freeing the Farm: A Farm Bill for All Americans,” by Sallie James and Dan Griswold. The paper focuses on buyouts of dairy and sugar farmers—not necessarily the “first best solution” but one that may work politically:

Because the first-best solution of completely ending farm programs as of September 30, 2007—with no compensation or transition payments—is politically infeasible, we advocate that the government…

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House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank has proposed repealing last Fall’s ban on Internet gambling, though according to the punsters at the Associated Press, the bill could be facing “long odds”:

Supporters of the U.S. ban maintain that Internet betting can be addictive and potentially drain people’s savings, a risk they say is especially acute for young people who are frequently online.

Frank acknowledged that the Democratic leadership of the House likely would not support it. The Bush administration also could be expected…

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Groups of people will be gathering in cities around the world today to protest the unjust imprisonment of Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer. In case you’re not familiar with his case, here’s a little background from the Free Kareem Coalition:

Kareem is a writer who always found the courage within him to keep speaking his mind freely in the name of not only freedom of speech, but the freedom to think in an otherwise sheltered society. Because of that, he has been sentenced to…

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First came Greenpeace’s Angry Kid:

Now come ED’s clock kids:

Why do big environmental groups think adults like being lectured by bossy tweens? The tone of the latter is at least a pit more pleading than demanding, but they’re both obnoxious. Why don’t we ratify the Kyoto Protocol? Because I said so, young man, that’s why. Now go to your room.

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The delightful and fascinating blog Paleo-Future has some entertaining video clips up from a short film produced by AT&T in 1993, showing what the company thought the future of telecommunications would look like. The dramatization, titled “Connections: AT&T’s Vision of the Future,” features the story of a young woman about to get married, highlighting along the way all of the fantastic new technologies that people of the future (us, basically) would be using. Like most past visions of the future it was…

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If this whole net neutrality thing sounds a bit complex, let The Simpleton’s Guide explain it all. Because after all, simple is better:

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The inaptly named Save the Internet coalition is celebrating its first anniversary today, and Wayne is on the case:

“We all can probably agree that we want tomorrow’s Internet at the speed of light, not at the speed of government,” said CEI Director of Technology Policy Wayne Crews. “But a better starting point is to appreciate that we have no broadband today: cable and DSL are a trickle compared to the Niagara needed tomorrow. Freezing today’s Internet into a regulated public utility…

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Christine, I loved your post about the new trendy green fashions. Via Fark I’ve just come across something I think tops it: a new 400 GBP (on eBay) shopping bag with the legend, “I’m Not a Plastic Bag” (Original price, 5 GBP). Except in environments where people purchase food to prepare at home every day or shop for clothes weekly, I can’t see how this makes sense. People just buy too much to carry home in a reusable bag that’s also small enough…

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We used a clothesline when I was growing up, but were forever running outside to grab the clothes when the sky darkened.  In the North-East of England, you see, it rains a lot.

Of course, the washing machine and clothesline were a step up from the machinery my grandmother had in her kitchen: a washboard, poss-tub and mangle.  Want to know what those did?  Here’s a handy pictorial guide.

People with no memory of this era should remember just what you had…

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Some visitors coming to my home this morning complained of very slow traffic on the beltway at 10:00 a.m. Serious traffic this late in the morning may be a result of some truckers’ efforts to bring beltway traffic to a standstill. While I disagree with the protest’s objectives I think it’s a telling sign that the protest could even work in the first place: the truckers are simply planning to obey all speed limits without fail and travel in multi-lane convoys…

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It seems recent posts by myself and Fran were all too prescient. The clothesline is apparently merely beginning its green-inspired comeback. Following Kathy Hughes’ New York Times article from the 12th is today’s Marilyn Gardner piece in the Christian Science Monitor:

But now the low-tech clothesline may be poised to stage a modest comeback. In an age of global warming, lists of energy-saving tips routinely include suggestions such as “Hang clothes outdoors to dry when possible.”

It’s good advice, of course. A dryer is typically the…

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Beware of the storm troopers of global warming alarmism. According to USA Today, they’re on the march.

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