Tag Archives: world

Sinosphere Blog: Finally, a Pollution Index Beijing Can Love

A new survey seeks to gauge how open officials are about levels of pollution at the sources of the problem. Taken from – Sinosphere Blog: Finally, a Pollution Index Beijing Can Love Related ArticlesWorld Briefing: Syria: Drought Adds to Woes, U.N. SaysDot Earth Blog: Roundup: Can New E.P.A. CO2 Rules Have a Climate Impact?A Push to Save Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake

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Sinosphere Blog: Finally, a Pollution Index Beijing Can Love

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Off the Shelf: Review of Smaller Faster Lighter Denser Cheaper

A new book by a “climate agnostic” offers contrarian views on energy policies, arguing that the world needs a revival of nuclear power. View this article: Off the Shelf: Review of Smaller Faster Lighter Denser Cheaper Related ArticlesDot Earth Blog: Roundup: Can New E.P.A. CO2 Rules Have a Climate Impact?In Some States, Emissions Cuts Defy SkepticsGermany Leans Toward Allowing Fracking

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Off the Shelf: Review of Smaller Faster Lighter Denser Cheaper

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Republicans Are Claiming the New Climate Rules Will Wreck the Economy. They’re Wrong.

Mother Jones

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Today the Environmental Protection Agency announced its much anticipated plans to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants, the source of about a third of US emissions. It turns out the regulations will be pretty ambitious: a 30 percent decrease in emissions in this sector from 2005 levels by the year 2030 (though some say that is still not enough).

Critics are out in force, of course, and their chief tactic seems to be economic alarmism. Earlier this morning, the front page of Drudge Report displayed this image (bizarrely, as the new rules have nothing to do with oil and wouldn’t drive up gas prices):

Screenshot/Drudge Report

Indeed, the economic doomsaying arguments are everywhere in relation to the new EPA rules. Even before the rules were announced, the National Mining Association was running ads claiming that “an 80 percent cost hike in electricity bills is something we better get used to if extreme new Obama administration power plant regulations take effect.” Also prior to the rules’ actual release, the US Chamber of Commerce put out a study asserting that the consequence of the regulations would be 224,000 lost jobs per year and a $50 billion annual economic hit (up through the year 2030).

And then, there were the elected Republicans: James Inhofe, the Oklahoma senator, claimed the regulations would “cost Americans a fortune.” John Boehner, meanwhile, called them a “sucker punch for families everywhere.” And don’t miss tweets like these from members of Congress:

The EPA, of course, radically disagrees with all of this, and thinks the economic benefits of the new rules should greatly exceed their costs. So who should you trust?

Well, how about history: There is a long tradition of cost overestimates for new environmental regulations. At the Huffington Post, Pacific Institute president Peter Gleick provides an extensive documentation, going back to the 1970s, arguing that such claims of huge costs not only have a long history, but that they are “always wrong.”

Among other things, Gleick links to a 2011 EPA study finding that the benefits of the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments (which, of course, were attacked on grounds of supposed cost) “exceeded costs by a factor of more than 30 to one.” That’s not the only such study. In fact, as the World Resources Institute’s Ruth Greenspan Bell has noted, from 1999 to 2009, EPA water and clean-air regulations overall were clear cost-benefit winners. The total costs, according to a 2010 Office of Management and Budget report, were some $26-$29 billion, while the benefits were far greater: $82-$533 billion.

Dubiousness aside, the striking thing about all of these attacks is that they’re depressingly presentist, missing the big picture about the transformative effect that climate change is having on our world as it unleashes stunning impacts whose ultimate costs are sure to be mindboggling (like, say, 10 feet of sea level rise affecting every coastal city on the planet).

Fortunately, we turned to Bill Nye the Science Guy for some bigger picture perspective. He gave us this statement today: “We have a long way to go in addressing climate change,” he said. “Coal will be controversial for a long time yet. But the longest journey starts with a single step. This is a good one. Let’s get started.”

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Republicans Are Claiming the New Climate Rules Will Wreck the Economy. They’re Wrong.

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Friday Cat Blogging – 30 May 2014

Mother Jones

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Today is snoozing day. Much like every other day, in fact. I recommend that if you’re having trouble falling asleep, take this picture to bed with you and stare at it until you fall serenely into a zenlike feline state. Let Domino be your sleep guru.

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Friday Cat Blogging – 30 May 2014

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Measles Cases in the US are at a 20-Year High. Thanks, Anti-Vaxxers.

Mother Jones

New data released by the CDC on Thursday shows that 288 cases of measles have been reported in the US since the beginning of the year—a higher number than those seen in the first five months of any year since 1994. More than one in seven of this year’s cases resulted in hospitalization.

As assistant surgeon general Dr. Anne Schuchat explained, “The current increase in measles cases is being driven by unvaccinated people, primarily U.S. residents, who got measles in other countries, brought the virus back to the United States and spread to others in communities where many people are not vaccinated.” Several of the cases occurred after US residents traveled to the Philippines, where there has been a measles outbreak since October 2013.

According to the CDC press release, “90 percent of all measles cases in the United States were in people who were not vaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown. Among the U.S. residents who were not vaccinated, 85 percent were religious, philosophical or personal reasons.”

The data adds fuel to the ongoing debate about vaccines: though research from around the world consistently shows that vaccines work, some doctors continue to support opting out of immunizations, and in some states, more than five percent of kindergartners have nonmedical vaccine exemptions.

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Measles Cases in the US are at a 20-Year High. Thanks, Anti-Vaxxers.

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How do you get an entire state to stop smoking on the beach?

See the original article here – How do you get an entire state to stop smoking on the beach? Related Articles(You gotta) fight for your rightWhen we pollute the oceans, we pollute ourselvesWhy surfers care about plastics in the ocean (explained in a single photo)

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How do you get an entire state to stop smoking on the beach?

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LeVar Burton Wants To Bring His New "Reading Rainbow" to Low-Income Kids for Free

Mother Jones

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LeVar Burton wants to revive his acclaimed educational show Reading Rainbow, and has started a Kickstarter campaign to do it. The 57-year-old actor and his team are looking to raise $1 million to launch an online version of the series, which originally aired on PBS from 1983 to 2006.

But here’s the really cool part (via TheWrap):

Burton’s “Reading Rainbow” campaign will create a new version of the show available to any child with access to the internet.

He also plans on offering a “classroom version” of the program for teachers and is spearheading a not-for-profit that will give copies of “Reading Rainbow” away to low-income schools for free. The campaign offers various rewards for donating, including potentially getting to wear his famous “Star Trek” visor.

“So lets do it this, y’all,” Burton said. “Together we can create and deliver a proven tool for encouraging the love of reading to millions of children. We can genuinely change the world, one children’s book at a time.”

As of writing this, the campaign has 14,367 backers, and $652,622 has been pledged. There are 34 days left in the crowdfunding campaign.

“I believe that every child has a right, and a need, to be literate,” Burton’s Kickstarter page reads. “We have a responsibility to prepare our children… and right now, the numbers show that we, as a society, are failing in that responsibility.”

Watch the Kickstarter video here:

(H/t Jeb Lund)

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LeVar Burton Wants To Bring His New "Reading Rainbow" to Low-Income Kids for Free

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Is Obama a Realist, Isolationist, Humanitarian Interventionist, or Drone-Dropping Hawk?

Mother Jones

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Since the end of the Cold War, foreign policy has become much more challenging. In a post-bipolar world where nonstate actors pose real threats and disrupters (good and bad) are everywhere, the issues are knottier and unforeseen developments often yield difficult options. In the aftermath of 9/11, George W. Bush chose not to come to terms with this fundamental change. Instead, he opted for a blunderbuss policy dominated by a misguided invasion of Iraq. President Barack Obama inherited a helluva cleanup job. And as he had handled the details—such as winding down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan—he has had tried to articulate an overall strategy. His latest stab at this was the speech he delivered to West Point graduates this morning.

Early in the address, Obama noted, “you are the first class to graduate since 9/11 who may not be sent into combat in Iraq or Afghanistan.” The young men and women before him cheered. It was a poignant moment. Then Obama proceeded to outline a larger vision. He summed up his stance in these lines:

Since George Washington served as commander in chief, there have been those who warned against foreign entanglements that do not touch directly on our security or economic well-being. Today, according to self-described realists, conflicts in Syria or Ukraine or the Central African Republic are not ours to solve. Not surprisingly, after costly wars and continuing challenges at home, that view is shared by many Americans.

A different view, from interventionists on the left and right, says we ignore these conflicts at our own peril; that America’s willingness to apply force around the world is the ultimate safeguard against chaos, and America’s failure to act in the face of Syrian brutality or Russian provocations not only violates our conscience, but invites escalating aggression in the future.

Each side can point to history to support its claims. But I believe neither view fully speaks to the demands of this moment. It is absolutely true that in the 21st century, American isolationism is not an option. If nuclear materials are not secure, that could pose a danger in American cities. As the Syrian civil war spills across borders, the capacity of battle-hardened groups to come after us increases. Regional aggression that goes unchecked—in southern Ukraine, the South China Sea, or anywhere else in the world—will ultimately impact our allies, and could draw in our military.

Beyond these narrow rationales, I believe we have a real stake—an abiding self-interest—in making sure our children grow up in a world where schoolgirls are not kidnapped, where individuals aren’t slaughtered because of tribe or faith or political beliefs. I believe that a world of greater freedom and tolerance is not only a moral imperative—it also helps keep us safe.

But to say that we have an interest in pursuing peace and freedom beyond our borders is not to say that every problem has a military solution. Since World War II, some of our most costly mistakes came not from our restraint, but from our willingness to rush into military adventures—without thinking through the consequences, without building international support and legitimacy for our action, or leveling with the American people about the sacrifice required. Tough talk draws headlines, but war rarely conforms to slogans. As General Eisenhower, someone with hard-earned knowledge on this subject, said at this ceremony in 1947: “War is mankind’s most tragic and stupid folly; to seek or advise its deliberate provocation is a black crime against all men.”

This is not new. Obama chooses no specific camp. He does not truck with so-called realists and isolationists who do not want the United States to be involved with overseas conflicts that do not directly and immediately threaten the United States. Nor does he side with interventionists who call for US military engagement in trouble spots around the world. Cognizant of the costs of war (money, lives, and more), he does not want to overcommit the United States. Citing the costs of nonaction and the interconnectedness of today’s world, he does not want to remain on the global sidelines. He’s certainly no neocon eager to deploy US military resources overseas to intervene in Syria or to up the ante with Russia regarding Ukraine. (Obama announced he would boost efforts to help Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and Iraq, deal with refugees and cross-border terrorists from Syria, and “ramp up” support for elements of the Syrian opposition “who offer the best alternative to terrorists and a brutal dictator.” He said he would keep working with the IMF and allies to bolster Ukraine and its economy and isolate Russia.) But Obama did defend his use of drone strikes. He noted, “In taking direct action, we must uphold standards that reflect our values. That means taking strikes only when we face a continuing, imminent threat, and only where there is near certainty of no civilian casualties. For our actions should meet a simple test: We must not create more enemies than we take off the battlefield.” (Yet his administration has not always met this standard.)

For years, Obama has been trying to form and sell a balanced approach that justifies certain military interventions and limits others—while redefining national security interests to include climate change and other matters. That’s a tough task. The world is not a balanced place. It’s likely that Obama’s handling of foreign policy will continue to be judged on a case-by-case basis and less on the establishment of an integrated doctrine. Given the global challenges of this era, a grand plan may not be realistic.

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Is Obama a Realist, Isolationist, Humanitarian Interventionist, or Drone-Dropping Hawk?

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Applying the Lessons of Politics to Green Power

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The Holmes Manual – Mike Holmes

No-nonsense advice from the star of HGTV’s Holmes Makes It Right and Holmes Inspection Why are my windows fogging up?What can I do about a squeaky floor? Why is my bedroom so much colder than the rest of the house?Are tankless water heaters worth the money? From top to bottom, outside to inside, Mike answers homeowners’ most common questions and provides sol

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Warhammer 40,000 (Interactive Edition) – Games Workshop

In the nightmare future of the 41st Millennium, Mankind teeters upon the brink of extinction. The galaxy-spanning Imperium of Man, beset on all sides by ravening aliens, foul traitors and Warp-spawned Daemons, looks once more to its greatest heroes to stave off the encroaching darkness. There is no time for peace. No respite. No forgiveness. There is only wa

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The World According to Bob – James Bowen

Bob Fever has swept the globe, with A Street Cat Named Bob vaulting its way to #7 on The New York Times bestseller list in its first week on sale. With rights sold to 27 countries around the globe and a top spot on the British bestseller list for more than a year, this book has been a smashing success around the world. Now, James Bowen and Bob are back in Th

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White Dwarf Issue 16: 17 May 2014 – White Dwarf

This issue sees Warhammer 40,000 reborn with a brand new edition of the game – we go deep and investigate all the exciting new bits, including the new missions, psychic phase and Unbound armies, and interview the rules team too. About this Series: White Dwarf is Games Workshop’s weekly magazine, and boasts a wealth of great content, from the latest new

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White Dwarf Issue 17: 24 May 2014 – White Dwarf

The Black Legion face off against the forces of the Imperium in a Warhammer 40,000 Battle Report, while Dan takes a look at allying armies in the far future. With the release of some new paint sets we also revisit the Citadel painting system. About this Series: White Dwarf is Games Workshop’s weekly magazine, and boasts a wealth of great content, from t

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How to Raise the Perfect Dog – Cesar Millan & Melissa Jo Peltier

From the bestselling author and star of National Geographic Channel’s Dog Whisperer , the only resource you’ll need for raising a happy, healthy dog. For the millions of people every year who consider bringing a puppy into their lives–as well as those who have already brought a dog home–Cesar Millan, the preeminent dog behavior expert, says, “Yes,

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Warhammer 40,000 (eBook Edition) – Games Workshop

In the nightmare future of the 41st Millennium, Mankind teeters upon the brink of extinction. The galaxy-spanning Imperium of Man, beset on all sides by ravening aliens, foul traitors and Warp-spawned Daemons, looks once more to its greatest heroes to stave off the encroaching darkness. There is no time for peace. No respite. No forgiveness. There is only wa

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The Art of Raising a Puppy (Revised Edition) – Monks of New Skete

For more than thirty years the Monks of New Skete have been among America’s most trusted authorities on dog training, canine behavior, and the animal/human bond. In their two now-classic bestsellers, How to be Your Dog’s Best Friend and The Art of Raising a Puppy, the Monks draw on their experience as long-time breeders of German shepherds and as t

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Dataslate: Space Marines Strike Force Ultra (Interactive Edition) – Games Workshop

The Terminators of Strike Force Ultra are all but unstoppable on the field of battle. Supported by the most heavily armoured fighting vehicles, led by the most experienced warriors, and equipped with the deadliest weapons their Chapter can provide, these veterans can crush despots, conquer worlds, or stop an invasion in its tracks.   About the Book: Dataslat

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Cat Mastery – Tony Buffington

Our cats live happier, healthier lives in our homes when we understand their natural history, behaviors, and how the world looks to them.  Cat Mastery shows you who cats are, why they do the things they do, and the simple, essential things you can do to make sure they feel safe and stimulated in your home. Written by veterinarian Dr. Tony Buffington, profess

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Applying the Lessons of Politics to Green Power

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Dot Earth Blog: ‘In Eighteen Hundred Sixty Four the Burying Began’ – Arlington Cemetery at 150

One hundred fifty years after the first burial at Arlington, the national cemetery is running short of room. From: Dot Earth Blog: ‘In Eighteen Hundred Sixty Four the Burying Began’ – Arlington Cemetery at 150 Related ArticlesDot Earth Blog: Pope Francis: ‘We Are Custodians of Creation’Dot Earth Blog: Gavin Schmidt on Why Climate Models are Wrong, and ValuableNear-Average Hurricane Season Is Predicted for U.S. as El Niño Develops in the Pacific

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Dot Earth Blog: ‘In Eighteen Hundred Sixty Four the Burying Began’ – Arlington Cemetery at 150

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