Weather, Water, Energy 9-4-07

I love when this happens. Over at Grist, they’ve caught the obstructionists among the coal types admitting that the value of “sequestration” is political, not economic or technological. It’s too expensive and complicated to work, but it buys off the lazy, hopeful, or naïve while coal goes merrily along building those new plants that will seal the deal on our horrendous future. No consolation really for what’s going to happen as a result, but it’s nice to have your beliefs about the evil of the people we’re dealing with confirmed in hard copy. (And Joseph Romm affirms the problems here and then goes on to smash up “liquefaction” as a technology here, quite a two-fer.) . . . Speaking of Joseph Romm, he rips a Consumer Digest report on hydrogen cars and their “economy,” which turns out to be more costly and complex than most of its alternatives. (While you’re at Climate Progress, discover why Target is planning to start hyping swimsuits in January.) . . . Skeptical Science gives you more reason to be, well, skeptical about the, well, “science” of the latest deniers and obstructionists here. . . . Proof that the insurance crisis for coastal states due to fear of global warming induced disasters is growing—Stateline.org, the Pew site on state news, has a feature on the subject now. . . . Imagine that. The Chesapeake Bay could be endangered by the increased growth of corn crops as we feed the ethanol frenzy. Not like it’s important or anything. . . . It’s Getting Hot in Here has been connecting dots on extreme weather and global warming and noting how the crisis is finally reaching the blogosphere, although none of our “leaders” appear in the discussion. I guess they’re still too busy gatekeeping and appearing with Colbert. If only they had young children who would suffer for their inattention. And it’s not like we’re watching for the first time in recorded history two Category 5 hurricanes come ashore in the same season or that two hurricanes could be hitting Mexico and Central America at once. . . . oh, wait. . . . Finally, one last note from Joseph Romm's Climate Progress. He has a couple of posts up on ice sheet melt and on more severe hurricanes. That's not news, but his point in both of them is: These things are happening much faster than the climate models have been predicting. IT'S TIME TO STOP SCREWING AROUND, FOLKS.