Weather, Water, Energy 3-15-07

More stories come out in advance of the April 6 release of the second part of the IPCC work on global warming. We've talked before about its dire predictions but here's a succinct piece by that well-known liberal rag Scientific American. And here you get some additional analysis from the Christian Science Monitor's blog. The key points in the latter are the quotes from US and Australian scientists that things are happening faster than the first IPCC report was able to predict. We've said that repeatedly at this site. It's foolish to buy into the BS that the only way the IPCC can be wrong is to our advantage. Things actually could go quicker and be worse than they're presenting, too. In fact, as these items show, that does seem to be happening for some factors. If this thing is non-linear and things are speeding up, we could be about to zoom. In a Ricky Bobby way--"Flyin' thru the air. That ain't good." . . . At least the cockroaches will apparently do well, and further north. Little bastards. They really will inherit the earth. . . . More on that MIT story we've mentioned that asserts that carbon dioxide sequestration is actually feasible for our purposes. In the short term, though, the coal-fired plants are being built full tilt and nothing's being done to require that sequestration (or anything else) be built along side. . . . Hmm, just when something like geothermal starts getting serious props for being a viable energy source and competing with petrol, well, Bushnev cuts fed funding for R&D. Wonder what's up with that (h/t Grist). . . . Speaking of Grist, David Roberts there has the proper sequence for our actions to confront global warming pretty well prioritized, starting with conservation and efficiency and only getting to coal as a last resort (with nuclear somewhere in the middle after renewables have been exhausted). And, amazingly, Congress seems to be in pretty much the same place, except for that "actually doing something" part, including Repubs in some ways. Of course, you do remember who the Pres is, right? . . . Maybe part of the Repubs' new and tentative grasping of reality comes from the realization that the Dobsons and Falwells don't really speak for Evangelicals, at least when it comes to "creation care," the belief that if God left you in charge of something, you should probably tend to it wisely rather than party down on it. (Actually, the real Evangelical leadership goes even farther, challenging the media hogs on a variety of issues. Great quote from one: "It ought to be God's agenda, not the Republican Party's agenda, that drives us." I may yet die a happy man . . . nahhh.) Now where's Amy Sullivan and all that "appeal to the religious conservatives" crap? Looks like they're the ones moving back toward reality, where the Dems hold a tiny lead. Except for Amy. . . . Disappearing forest cover, forest destruction "out of control" despite growing in Europe and stable in US and Canada. Which means the poorer nations are down to eating their seed corn while we dither. Or rather Georgi dithers while the world literally burns. He's earned his place in the Hereafter. And it will be Hell because the Dobsons and Falwells will be right there with him.