A book called I'm Right and You're an Idiot: The Toxic State of Public Discourse and How to Clean It Up sounds like it was written just for the 2016 US presidential race. The book is not about the race per se. It doesn't say anything about Donald Trump and the only Clinton it mentions is Bill. But the book does say a lot about the polarization in American politics that has … [Read more...]
Peak oiler? Not Catholic? You should still stand with the pope on climate
I get it, you believe in peak oil. So do I, despite gas at $2.50 a gallon. But peak oil is no excuse for either you or me to just sit around waiting for the final oil crash to make the climate problem moot by bringing down industrial civilization. Even if you're the world's biggest doomer, you have to admit that the timing is too uncertain -- will the über-crash come in five … [Read more...]
The climate change mountaintop
These days I tend to beat myself up for screwing around; my biggest time sinks are video games (I never did quite kick my Civilization 5 habit) and television (my beloved Boston Celtics are kind of out in the wilderness). The reason, I think, is that I’ve internalized the threat of climate change. I feel it in my guts, hanging over me, demanding a response…so naturally any … [Read more...]
US tries to intimidate climate activists with prison sentence
A message from Peaceful Uprising, the group of supporters of former University of Utah student Tim DeChristopher, just sentenced to two years in prison by a federal court in Salt Lake City. His crime: making fake bids to disrupt an auction for oil and gas leases on federal lands in November 2008. DeChristopher contends that the auction itself, rushed onto the schedule by the … [Read more...]