Weather, Water, Energy 3-20-07

Not much to add to the other blog reports on the supercilious Repubs and their performance at Waxman's hearing on Bushnev's attempted suppression of government scientists. No one has ever summed up the radical reactionary view of our Constitution better than Repub Chris Cannon of Utah who informed us all all we needed to know about the First Amendment: "Free speech is not a simple thing and is subject to and directed by policy." Got that? Free speech directed by government. By Cannon. And people want us to be moderate with these guys. . . . Meanwhile, in the world Georgi doesn't want scientists talking about, WWF tells us that global warming, along with dams, shipping, and pollution, gives us a global river crisis, a "massive freshwater crisis," that threatens humanity as much as the coming weather, with 5 of the top 10 rivers in trouble in Asia and only the Rio Grande here on the top 10 list. . . . Water problems also head the NE's gov's list of problems, especially since state farmers think they shouldn't have to conserve as much as the gov's current plan holds. So, he's basically asked them, "oh, yeah, so what's your great idea???" Some states are getting it and getting out in front of it. Others may just stubborn their way into obscurity, letting the tragedy of the commons just play out. MT building a batch of new dirty coal power plants, despite its gov's call for greener paths, just another example. . . Other states in trouble, NJ turning into GA? That ain't good. A Rutgers scientist is warning policymakers that that's the weather they're looking at if they don't collaborate with others to get a handle on warming. Nice listing of the likely transition for any reader who doesn't have the possibilities in your head by this time. . . . A very nice rundown of why the IPCC report was really misleading not because it was too radical but because it was too conservative and sugar-coated way too much (h/t Grist). And while you're at Grist, catch David Roberts' takedown of the oh-so-moderate contrarian scientists muddying up the global warming evidence by arguing that the discussion isn’t civil enough for them. They’re the global warming equivalent of the “liberal hawks” in the Iraq debacle, and they serve the same purpose of giving aid and comfort to the deniers and obstructionists. And their damage will end up even worse. . . . But let's close on a cheerier note. Folks at the Sandia National Labs have designed a more efficient wind turbine, especially reducing costs at sites with low wind speeds, meaning more sites and more energy. See? Told you that was cheerier.