Weather, Water, Energy 2-20-07

The NY Times is finally beginning to notice global warming and efforts to deal with it, checking in with this decent overview article on carbon trading and the reasons why it might not be all it's cracked up to be. . . . Science Daily provides a similarly decent overview of the potential, good and bad, of ethanol production, but I doubt it will be enough to convince the doubters. . . . Meanwhile, in the world of emissions trading, Grist shows that rule-based emission control does a better job than market efforts, which won't surprise anyone who understands history or reality, which lets out the high priests of market religion. . . . Australia is setting a standard trying to get rid of traditional light bulbs. The world would better served by it getting rid of its dim bulbs, like its idiot PM. . . . Alaska has finished its climate change conference, concluding that global warming will cost the state billions of dollars. No surprise, but other states do need to be following the state's precedent on this. . . . It isn't as obvious as some of the other dangers facing us, but the draining off of underground water aquifers is one of the catastrophes on the horizon. Here, it's ID, and the state is starting to round up the cash to buy users off. But there are bigger aquifers, like the Ogalalla, that will make major parts of the Great Plains uninhabitable when their draining is finished. . . . Too late to stop a 2 degree (C--4 degree F) increase in global temps but we do still have a chance to keep it from getting to 3. The "adaptationists" won't be bothered, probably, but those of us who realize that action can still be taken if we grow brains just keep getting more depressed. . . . Maybe the thought of little penquins getting the shaft from the changing weather will generate some action, after all those recent movies. Or, the krill will just die off, collapsing the ocean food chain and drawing attention. Oh, what the hell. Who's really taking bets that we'll get our minds around all this in time? . . . I'll take some of that action.