Best Way To Make Positive Change: Ask.

Having grown up in Boston, one of my favorite shows is NPR's Car Talk. Nothing gets Tom & Ray madder than when people call with a critical problem that they've been driving around with for six months. "You've waited six months - and even then you don't take it to a mechanic, you call us? You're lucky you're not lying in a ditch somewhere after your wheel flew off!"

I have a similar issue when people relate their green problems to me. The first thing I say when people tell me about their problems is, "Have you asked your landlord/boss/whoever to address it?" Invariably, they haven't. (Also, I keep trying to get people to write their problems on the back of a $20 bill and send them to The Green Miles Plaza with no luck.)

Roosevelt Towers, my new apartment building in East Falls Church, had a trash bin but not a recycling bin in the mail room. Every day the trash bin would be overflowing with junk mail. So I emailed the leasing office to see if they'd consider adding a recycling bin, a small step that would keep hundreds of pounds of paper out of the landfill every month.

Roosevelt Towers wrote back right away:

Great suggestion. One has been placed in mailroom as of today.

And here it is:

From the apartment building's point of view, if a $2 plastic bin makes me that much more likely to keep paying five figures annually to live here, it's a slam dunk. I suspect that little blue basket won't be able to handle the days those big, annoying Washington Post advertising circulars hit our mailboxes. But partial solutions tend to lead to full solutions - if the recycling bin is overflowing, they'll replace it with a bigger one.

The best, most effective way to address environmental issues is through personal action. In the big picture, government intervention often becomes necessary, but it should be the last resort. Your landlord wants you to be happy with where you live. Your boss wants you to be happy with where you work. Your hotel wants you to come back & stay there again. If you don't think they're operating as sustainably as they could, ask nicely if they've considered changing. You might be pleasantly surprised at the results.

Can Qatar World Cup Be Green? (UPDATE: No.)

When I heard that the 2022 World Cup had been awarded to Qatar, my first thought was, "Least green World Cup ever?" (You can tell The Green Miles is not a soccer fan. I tend to agree with Homer Simpson's take.)

Temperatures in Qatar in June & July average 106 degrees. Won't huge amounts of energy be required to keep spectators & players cool? But Qatar claims its World Cup will be carbon-neutral:

We’re pioneering technologies that will allow for outdoor, air-conditioned stadiums that will be carbon neutral, benefitting the environment and creating ideal conditions for players and spectators. After the FIFA World Cup™, these stadiums will be partially deconstructed, allowing us to build 22 new stadiums in the developing world. The technologies we are developing to cool our stadiums will also be made available for use around the world.

I'm eager to hear details & learn whether Qatar's plan is viable or greenwashing. I'm sure we'll hear much more in the months & years ahead.

UPDATE: From Planet Forward's David Raish:

This air conditioning will be powered by solar panels on the stadiums themselves. It is a $50 billion project designed by a German firm, Büro Albert Speer & Partner. The air conditioning system will reduce temperatures inside the stadium to 27°C, which will be a much more bearable temperature for both fans and players.

According to Al-Jazeera, “solar thermal collectors on the stadium roof will transfer and store energy which on match days will chill water, creating cold air that will be delivered into the stadium and on to the pitch through slots in the seats.” When the stadium is not in use, “The system will continuously export energy to the Qatar electric grid, enabling the stadiums to be carbon neutral.”

UPDATE #2: Fast Company is a bit skeptical of Qatar's ability to pull off all of its carbon-neutral promises.

UPDATE #3: If the stadiums can't be cooled down enough, will soccer's rules have to change for the 2022 World Cup? (For answer, see update #5.)

UPDATE #4: Qatar is canceling 4 of its 12 planned stadiums because it couldn't meet its budget unless it used slave labor. Not a great vote of confidence for surviving global warming with massive air conditioning schemes.

UPDATE #5: FIFA has moved the 2022 Qatar World Cup to winter to prevent athletes from dying in the heat and stripped Qatar of Confederations Cup hosting priviledges, a pre-World Cup series of friendlies that usually serves as a test run for the host.

Teh Crazy Lines Up Behind BP Apologist Barton

Rep. Joe Barton, best known for his groveling apology to BP CEO Tony Hayward at the height of the Gulf oil disaster, says the rules don't apply to him - he wants an exemption to committee chairmanship term limit rules so he can once again chair the House Energy & Commerce Committee in 2011.

His fight against Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) is looking increasingly quixotic. How bad is it? Just look at the members standing by him:

“I didn’t line up against anyone, but I did line up with Joe Barton,” said Rep. Steve King of Iowa, one of the Republican conference’s most conservative lawmakers. “I did that because I watched the job that he’s done, not only has he been a reliable conservative leader, he’s wanted to engage in the fight.”

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), another conservative favorite closely aligned with the tea party, said she would vote for Barton if he appealed the ruling of the GOP Conference.

Rep. Steve King is best known for ... where to start? He's had more controversies than I can count. If I had to pick his most insane moment, it would be saying that he wasn't sure if a 9/11-esque suicide plane attack on an IRS building that killed a federal worker was justified or not.

The best example of crazy from Rep. Bachmann? There are few issues on which The Green Miles & the National Electrical Manufacturers Association agree. One of them is that Rep. Bachmann's War on Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs is batshit insane.

If you were looking to make a list of the most unreasonable, most politically toxic members of Congress, you could save yourself a lot of time by just copying the roster of Camp Barton.

Bob Ryan: DC Trending Towards Warmer Winters

TBD.com is hosting a Winter Weather Chat right now. WJLA's Bob Ryan has been a leading voice in asking his fellow meteorologists to examine global warming from a scientific - not a political - point of view. The question of climate change came up early in the chat:

Max Margolis: Is Global warming the reason why our winters are warmer?

Bob Ryan: Can't ascribe one winter to climate changes but the decadal trend is for milder winters

Bob also took a question from The Green Miles on another aspect of global warming's local impacts. To see his answer, check out the TBD Winter Weather Chat.

Soggy Bottom: New Model Shows Sea Level Rise Impact on DC

Over at TBD.com/weather, John Metcalfe takes a look at the University of Arizona's new interactive model of sea level rise. What would current estimates of 2 meters of sea level rise by 2100 mean for the DC area?

The Jefferson Memorial will not just be by the water, it may be underwater. The northeast part of Roosevelt Island will gain more marshland, as well as the bit of Rock Creek where it meets the Potomac, which should please the old-timers who hunt catfish there. It's hard to see the upside of Bolling Air Force Base becoming submerged, but the military has solid engineers – can't they build a bigger sea wall? And Old Navy's name will finally make a little sense as the creeping water moves inland over the Potomac Yard Shopping Center. I'm sure the chain's marketing whizzes can figure out something about shopping with gondolas.

If those were the worst effects of runaway global warming, that would be expensive to deal with, but not necessarily devastating. However, scientific modeling has seriously UNDERestimated sea level rise to this point -- seas are rising faster than scientists have predicted & so far they're not sure why. And just a few minutes of tinkering with the University of Arizona's model reveals just how much is at stake for the DC area if scientists have even slightly lowballed sea level rise.

What if it's 3 meters instead of 2? Bye bye, National Airport & Tidal Basin:

And what if scientists are dramatically underestimating sea level rise? There's a reason this model includes 6 meters of sea level rise by 2100 -- while it's unlikely, it's possible. And what would that mean? Might be time to relocate the nation's capital to higher ground:

The takeaway of all this -- especially for places like Hampton Roads where smaller degrees of sea level rise would be much more devastating -- is that so far, America is rolling the dice with the above scenarios. Congress has done nothing to address global warming, leaving our fate -- be it 2 meters, 3 meters or 6 meters  of sea level rise -- to chance.

Wouldn't it be better to gradually reduce our carbon pollution now & reduce our chances of a worst-case scenario? Isn't that the conservative thing to do? And the same solutions that protect our climate can also cut energy bills, strengthen our national security, and create millions of jobs.

Or hey, we could follow Jim Webb's lead & do nothing. Maybe there are big untapped economic opportunities I'm missing. Scuba diving expeditions through the underwater remains of Old Town Alexandria?

Something To Be Thankful For: No Need To Pre-Wash Dishes

If you're hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year, here's a little tip to save you some time & effort. While you need to scrub caked-on chunks from pots & pans, the New York Times reports modern dishwashers don't require you to pre-wash or pre-rinse:

[R]emove baked on food and large chunks, but for the most part, everyone I spoke to said prerinsing dishes before putting them in the dishwasher was not only unnecessary, it wasted thousands of gallons of water and could actually result in dirtier dishes.

“The soap needs something to work against to get the dishes clean,” said Lou Manganiello, who owns Household Appliance Service in Hawthorne, N.Y., and has been doing repairs for 23 years.

And you can save some money on both dishwashing & laundry detergent by using only the small amount modern machines require:

Washing machines and dishwashers are made to use far less water now than older models and, therefore, need less soap. And detergents have also become increasingly concentrated. So a little goes a long way.

“Most people use 10 to 15 times the amount of soap they need, and they’re pouring money down the drain,” Mr. Schmidt said.

This Thanksgiving, be thankful that the greener cleanup options are ones that are faster, easier & save you money.

Obama Administration Moves to Streamline Atlantic Wind

A great step from Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to help speed wind power development off the coast of Virginia & other Atlantic Coast states!

Falls Church Tops in Virginia Recycling Rates

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has issued its annual recycling report (PDF). Virginia had a 38.6% recycling rate statewide in calendar year 2009, just barely higher than the year before. But as the Roanoke Times points out, it marked a milestone as every jurisdiction in Virginia met its minimum "required" goal of 15% (considering the DEQ has never fined a locality for failing to meet the minimum, it's not much of a requirement).

Elsewhere locally, Fairfax City also ranked highly with a 49.9% recycling rate. Arlington came in at 40%, barely topping the state average. The Virginia General Assembly, aligning itself with waste haulers, has repeatedly blocked Arlington's efforts to toughen its recycling programs. Fairfax County was just behind with 39.4%, while Alexandria badly trails the state average at just 28.6%.

And if all that wasn't enough to get you excited about recycling, check out this Environmental Protection Agency video:

Time For Ken Cuccinelli To Mann Up & Apologize

Remember Edward Wegman, the George Mason University statistician whose climate denial was repeatedly cited by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli? The one who was under investigation on charges of plagiarism & inaccuracy?

The GMU investigation is still dragging on, but USA Today asked several scientists to review the allegations. Their analysis was damning:

The plagiarism experts queried by USA TODAY disagree after viewing the Wegman report:

• "Actually fairly shocking," says Cornell physicist Paul Ginsparg by e-mail. "My own preliminary appraisal would be 'guilty as charged.'" 

• "If I was a peer reviewer of this report and I was to observe the paragraphs they have taken, then I would be obligated to report them," says Garner of Virginia Tech, who heads a copying detection effort. "There are a lot of things in the report that rise to the level of inappropriate."  

• "The plagiarism is fairly obvious when you compare things side-by-side," says Ohio State's Robert Coleman, who chairs OSU's misconduct committee.

If Ken Cuccinelli was a man, he'd apologize. To Michael Mann, the respected climate scientist whose work Cuccinelli has quixotically targeted. To Virginia taxpayers, for wasting their money on a political witch hunt. And to his own supporters for feeding them a steady stream of complete horseshit.

But Ken Cuccinelli doesn't have a shred of honor or dignity in his body. I expect him to continue to ignore reality & continue flaunting the truth.

For all of Republicans' ranting against fraud & abuse, Ken Cuccinelli has no problem using your tax dollars to campaign for Sarah Palin's affection on the 2012 Crazy Train Ticket.

How Few Jobs Will Wise Co. Coal Plant Create?

Dominion Virginia Power is spending $1.8 billion dollars worth of your electric bills to build a dirty coal-fired power plant in Wise County. How many jobs will that investment of our money deliver? Shockingly few, according to the Virginia Mining Association (PDF):

At the end of July, there were about 1,800 men and women employed in the construction of the 585-megawatt power station. The work force included about 600 people from the local area, accounting for 33.4 percent of total employment. The local area is defined as being within a 50-mile radius of the town of St. Paul, with Wise, Russell and Scott counties accounted for the majority of the local hires. Additionally, the staff that will operate the power station is being formed and trained. After Oct. 4 operations employment will stand at 34 with half of those hires coming from the local area.

Well hey, that's only $106 million of our money per permanent job for local residents. What a bargain!

Meanwhile, a Virginia State Corporation Commission analyst has testified (PDF) that, because the higher rates needed to pay for it, the plant will cost Virginia 1,474 jobs.

Now, apologists for this terrible deal will say, "But The Green Miles! They need every job they can get in Wise County!" By that rationale, why bother actually building the plant? As the Chesapeake Climate Action Network has pointed out, we could pay 75 Wise County residents $100,000 per year and give the county $6 million a year for the next 133 years with the $1.8 billion it will take to build the plant. And in that scenario, we wouldn't have to deal with the 5.4 million tons of carbon dioxide, thousands of tons of other air pollutants & dozens of pounds of mercury the plant will release.

All in all, a terrible deal for Virginia's economy & environment. 

Photo via Flickr's dmott9

Tony Hayward: What Should I Do?

South Park recently ran a series satirizing the BP oil disaster. Here they show former BP CEO Tony Hayward, joined by South Park characters Captain Hindsight (a media parody), Mysterion (Kenny) & The Coon (Cartman), doing his own version of the LeBron non-apology Nike ad:

Mysterion Rises
Tags: SOUTH
PARKEric Cartman,Mysterion,more...

Quick Tip: Adjust Ceiling Fans For Winter

Make sure your fan is set to run clockwise to spread heat evenly through your room. EnergyStar.gov explains proper ceiling fan use:

In the summer, use the ceiling fan in the counterclockwise direction. While standing directly under the ceiling fan you should feel a cool breeze. The airflow produced creates a wind-chill effect, making you "feel" cooler. In the winter, reverse the motor and operate the ceiling fan at low speed in the clockwise direction. This produces a gentle updraft, which forces warm air near the ceiling down into the occupied space. Remember to adjust your thermostat when using your ceiling fan — additional energy and dollar savings could be realized with this simple step!

Energy Star is a joint project of the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection Agency. Yes, when weirdos warn you about creeping big government trying to run your life, this is the stuff they're taking about - Big Brother trying to save you a few bucks on your winter heating bill. Be afraid! Be very afraid! Or maybe just ignore the weirdos & take a second to double-check that you're getting the most out of your fan.

Online vs. In-Person: Which Holiday Shopping Choice is Greener?

According to a 2009 study by Carnegie Mellon University, getting it done online cuts your shopping carbon footprint by 35%.

Wall St. Journal Continues Political Attacks on Climate Science

Great post from Andrew Freedman at Capital Weather Gang. Wish more people who devoted their lives to science were willing to stand up & call out political attacks on scientific fact.

Simpson-Bowles Panel to Skip Low-Hanging Carbon Tax Fruit?

We currently give polluters permission to dump as much carbon pollution into our atmosphere as they want, free of charge. So if the deficit reduction commission led by Alan Simpson & Erskine Bowles was serious about cutting the deficit, asks Matt Yglesias, why not slap a fee on carbon pollution?

The mere fact that the conservative movement is currently engaged in a massive fit of pretending that greenhouse gas emissions aren’t a problem doesn’t change the fact that greenhouse gas emissions are, in fact, a problem. Taxing them would reduce the quantity of greenhouse gas emissions and help mitigate the problem. It also creates revenue.

If Alan Simpson’s reason for thinking a tax on greenhouse gas emissions is a bad idea is that Simpson is a nutcase who doesn’t believe that greenhouse gas emissions contribute to climate change, then Erskine Bowles should have made him write that on a piece of paper. Then we could look at the proposal and know it’s co-written by a nutcase. It wouldn’t surprise me. There are a lot of nutcases in Washington life. But it’s important to know these things.

Even a small tax on the carbon pollution of only the largest emitters like power plants & factories could bring in billions to reduce the deficit. And if the deficit was ever eliminated, you could refund the tax's revenues to all taxpayers equally. Doesn't that make more sense than slashing Social Security? Apparently, conservative Republicans & right-leaning Democrats agree it's more politically palatable to target the poor than to hold big polluters accountable.

McMansion Misconceptions

Covering the arrest on corruption charges of Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson & his wife, WAMU Reporter David Schultz tweeted on Friday:

Far and away, weirdest thing to come out of today's Jack Johnson proceedings: Johnsons' home heating bill totals more than $1,000/ month ... Judge was going to prohibit Johnsons from making transactions >$1k. their lawyers objected, citing mortgage & pepco bills

I'm very thankful for my tiny apartment power bill as compared to friends with large suburban homes. I tweeted:

Friend in PA with a medium-sized (for this era) house says his highest power bill was $900, so it's definitely possible

David replied:

That's more than I pay in rent, srsly. Insulation folks, it's all abt the insulation.

I realized David was limited to 140 characters here, but when I hear things like this, I worry conservationists have oversold the potential of insulation & energy efficiency. I'm guessing Jack Johnson has an obscenely gigantic house that you could cover in the world's biggest Snuggie & it would still require huge amounts of energy & cash each month to heat.

In the last 40 years, we've seen major advances in insulation like double-paned windows. On top of that, appliances today don't need nearly as much juice as they did a generation ago. So why has per person residential energy use nearly doubled in the last 35 years?

The answer is simple -- we've wasted all those insulation & efficiency gains by building ever-larger houses. The rises in residential electricity use & home sizes have mirrored each other:

Don't get me wrong, efficiency & insulation are critical pieces of the bigger puzzle. But as long as our government policies continue to encourage larger homes, it's the equivalent of attacking the obesity epidemic by encouraging people to order a Diet Coke with their Super-Sized Extra Value Meal.

GOP Fighting to Kill Jobs, Keep Us Addicted to Oil

National Public Radio reported last week on how newly-elected Republican governors are pledging to reject federal funding for high-speed rail. Rejecting rail doesn't just mean more congested roads, more reliance on foreign oil, and more polluted air. It means that in Wisconsin, Gov.-elect Scott Walker may kill jobs in his own state:

Caught in the middle of the backlash are workers for companies such as Talgo, a manufacturer of high-speed trains that just opened a new plant, bringing jobs to Milwaukee.

According to spokeswoman Nora Friend, Talgo will have 40 employees by the end of November, and it plans to hire up to 125 positions. Friend says the company is now faced with telling its workers they might be out of jobs when the trains they are making now are completed.

"If we don't have any more orders, then as a business entity, we have no choice but to shut down the facility," Friend says.

The story also highlights the DC media's nonsensical coverage of the national jobs picture. In this & other instances, Republicans are proactively working to block President Obama & Democrats in Congress from creating jobs. Yet all you hear from pundits is that Obama isn't doing enough to create jobs.

Small Nudge, Big Benefits: Arlington's Hybrid Taxis

As I was walking out of the East Falls Church Metro station in Arlington tonight, I noticed three of the four cabs at the taxi stand were hybrids.

If you just moved to Arlington, you might not think that was a big deal. But just three years ago, there were literally zero hybrid cabs in Arlington. Couldn't get one if you tried.

Then the Arlington County Board approved a small fleet of EnviroCab hybrid taxis. Arlington residents liked being able to cut the carbon pollution of their cab ride for the same price, while drivers liked cutting their fuel costs by nearly half.

Today, it's hard to find a taxi stand in Arlington without a hybrid waiting. And hybrids are clearly a marketing tool -- Red Top & Yellow Top hybrids have HYBRID TAXI written in huge letters on every side to make sure you don't pass them by for an EnviroCab.

Amazing that such a relatively small nudge (85 cabs in a fleet of over 700) delivered such huge benefits -- more profits for drivers, more satisfied customers, cleaner air & reduced oil use. After all, we're always hearing from conservatives that the free market is perfect & that if there was any demand for something, the invisible hand would deliver it. Have the demands of the market completely flipped in just three years? In this case, the market was failing to meet demand until it got a nudge from regulation.

Reality doesn't always fit with purist free market theory. The market is run by people, who may be resistant to change.

Look at Virginia's smoking ban in bars & restaurants. In the "free market" world, a lot of people were unhappy & forced to accept the unwanted cost of dirty air. The smoking ban took years to pass over opposition from business & free market conservatives who screamed nanny state & predicted economic ruin. Then it took effect & you never heard another word about it -- a lot more people are happier & healthier at an extremely low (if any) cost.

So when conservatives say we shouldn't provide nudges on things ranging from clean energy, efficient technologies because if they were worth doing the free market would already be doing them ... I have to wonder if their purist theory is supported by reality. And that's before you consider that new environmental regulations almost always cost less than predicted.

Big Govt. in Richmond Keeping Arlington Dirtier Than It Should Be

Anyone who's taken part in a stream or park cleanup with Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment knows what a pervasive problem plastic bags are. They get tangled up in the branches of bushes & trees or among the rocks & sticks in a stream bed and can stay there for months or years until someone comes to remove them, one by one. If the bag washes out to the Potomac River, it ends up in the open ocean, degrading into smaller & smaller pieces of plastic that work their way into the food chain.

A small incentive to use reusable bags could go a long way towards keeping Arlington cleaner AND bring in some much-needed revenue. So what's the holdup? Under Virginia's antiquated Dillon Rule system, Arlington has to ask Virginia's General Assembly for permission first:

County Board members will again next year ask the General Assembly for permission to either ban single-use plastic bags at retail outlets, like supermarkets and convenience stores, or to be given the authority to tax them.

You'd think Democrats & Republicans would be able to come together on giving communities a greater degree of home rule -- what does a Republican from Botetourt County care if Arlington wants to get rid of plastic bags?

But this is less an issue of politics than it is of power. General Assembly members like being able to tell communities what they can & can't do. After all, why would they want to give up their ability to pass along unfunded mandates to communities? They can take credit for making something happen without having to take the blame of raising taxes to pay for it. Sounds like a win-win! For 140 politicians in Richmond, anyway.

Remember That Whole Global Warming Thing?

Despite the best efforts of our elected officials to move on to more easily-demagogued issues, as The Onion reports, apparently global warming is still a problem.

Blocking Climate Action: Republican, But Not Conservative

Bracken Hendricks of the Center for American Progress says that when it comes to the climate crisis, Republicans are putting big money politics ahead of principles:

[F]ar from being conservative, the Republican stance on global warming shows a stunning appetite for risk. When faced with uncertainty and the possibility of costly outcomes, smart businessmen buy insurance, reduce their downside exposure and protect their assets. When confronted with a disease outbreak of unknown proportions, front-line public health workers get busy producing vaccines, pre-positioning supplies and tracking pathogens. And when military planners assess an enemy, they get ready for a worst-case encounter.

When it comes to climate change, conservatives are doing none of this. Instead, they are recklessly betting the farm on a single, best-case scenario: That the scientific consensus about global warming will turn out to be wrong. This is bad risk management and an irresponsible way to run anything, whether a business, an economy or a planet. [...]

The investment needed to slow carbon pollution might total from 1 to 2 percent of global GDP each year for several decades, according to a 2006 study by the British government. This spending would pay for advanced technology, better land use and modern infrastructure. The same study put the cost of inaction - including economic harm from property damage and lost crops - at 5 to 20 percent of global GDP, lasting in perpetuity, with the risk of vastly higher catastrophic damage. You tell me which option is more fiscally responsible.

This new video from the Post Carbon Institute illustrates the choices we face:

RIP, "Clean" Coal

Rest in peace, "clean" coal. Such a tragic death -- killed by the people who claimed to love it. With "clean" coal's best interests at heart, they blocked the only thing that could've kept it alive: A comprehensive climate & energy bill.

"Clean" coal's death came late Tuesday night when the usual midterm party pendulum swing pushed a group of Tea Party Republicans into power & installed several new self-proclaimed fiscal conservatives in the Senate. They're talking about cutting the budget -- a death knell for the absolutely enormous sums of money "clean" coal needs to escape from Imaginationland.

The American Clean Energy & Security (ACES) Act that passed the House had an estimated $177 billion dollars for carbon capture & storage (CCS) research & development and implementation, negotiated in large part by ... Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA), who was defeated last week. The moment for a big climate & energy bill - when George Voinovich would go along with it because it had "clean" coal subsidies & Bernie Sanders would go along because it had a carbon cap - is gone.

President Obama has pledged to keep pursuing energy goals in smaller pieces. Energy efficiency, nuclear loan guarantees, natural gas and even a renewable energy standard all stand a chance by being able to claim (rightly or wrongly) that they won't add to the deficit. But CCS needs tens of billlions of dollars in research & development -- plus tens of billions more to subsidize its high cost. If "clean" coal has to stand alone, it faces a much steeper hill to climb to get even a fraction of the support it could've gotten under a climate bill.

What's the biggest sign "clean" coal's moment has passed? Big Coal's allies are panicking. Look at newly-elected Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV). He hasn't even been sworn in yet and he's reportedly threatening to switch parties unless Democrats will seat him on the Energy & Natural Resources Committee (where he'd be able to most directly shill for coal) and support a pet project to convert coal to diesel fuel.

It's not like Big Coal wasn't warned. When the Senate punted on a climate & energy bill this summer, Grist's David Roberts predicted the coal industry would regret it:

Big Coal will be back begging for cap-and-trade: No, really. Right now there are EPA rules in the pipeline that are going to shut down a third or more of the existing coal fleet. No new coal plants are going to get built -- they're not cost-competitive with natural gas or wind, and every one runs into a buzzsaw of grassroots opposition. In other words, carbon caps or no carbon caps, Big Coal is in trouble. Sooner or later, the industry will realize that the funding it can get from cap-and-trade, to support carbon capture and sequestration, is its only path to survival. Robert Byrd tried to tell the industry the truth before he died. Byron Dorgan tried to tell it the truth just the other day. By 2012, certainly by 2015 when many of the rules kick in, the industry will be forced to acknowledge this basic truth. And they'll come begging Congress for cap-and-trade.

Note that the threat isn't just that coal won't be "clean" - it's that without comprehensive legislation that carves out a place for coal, the industry may not survive at all. Dorgan told Politico, "The reason I have reached out to the coal industry is that they’ve been on the defensive position, not negotiating with anyone, and they’re going to lose under that. With or without carbon regulations, there will be a substantial conversion to natural gas, and coal will lose."

Sure enough, while Big Coal was pouring millions of dollars into obstructing a comprehensive climate & energy bill, the price of natural gas was dropping. As Fortune.com's Shelley DuBois asked after the Senate bill died, "if natural gas is accessible, cheap, clean, and getting cleaner, should the government keep spending billions on clean coal?"

Great question -- but one the coal industry didn't consider until after "clean" coal had gasped its dying breath.

Scott Wipes Away Cardboard Waste

Scott is eliminating the cardboard tubes in its Naturals line of toilet paper. Why might this be the start of something big? I was going to write it up, but Under One Roof beat me to it & did a great job, so check out their post.

The Green Miles Gets Parodied

I actually have no idea if this is parody or just coincidence, but it was fun to see my name in an article from Brown University's student satirical newspaper, The Brown Noser, Students Outraged Over Murderer's Use of Non-Biodegradable Bags to Store Victims' Limbs:

Police first received word of Partridge's criminal act from one of his neighbors, Miles Grant, who discovered Partridge's grisly handiwork on a routine trip to the neighborhood compost bin.

"It was the most terrible thing I ever saw," says Grant. "I'm taking my petunias to the compost bin and I see something sort of reflective poking out of the leaves. I brush the area off and then blam, I see 'em. Bags and bags of bloody body parts. I mean, did he really think people wouldn't notice that there were plastic bags in the compost bin?"

UNACCEPTABLE. Besides, as everyone knows, only plant matter goes in the compost bin. Can't have raccoons dragging your victim's leg across the street. I mean, that's just green psychopathy 101.

How I Feel On Days Like This

When you work for a conservation group, the most common icebreaker at meetings is, "If you were an animal, which one would you be?" On cold, rainy days like today, I have to go with gorilla. Why? I hate schlepping through the cold rain & sitting at my desk all day with wet pant cuffs & wet shoes.

Ever see a gorilla in the rain? God, do they look miserable. Gorillas have a combination of the ability to physically express their emotion & no concern about suppressing it. That leads to photos like this, in which the gorilla looks like he's plotting murder.

And gorillas live in the RAIN FOREST. Not ideal planning. 

Photo via the National Geographic Print Store

Will the New Safeway Steal My Business from Harris Teeter?

The Green Miles just returned from Virginia's 5th Congressional district, where Rep. Tom Perriello wasn't able to swim against the GOP tide. But our efforts did help make it closer than anyone expected, with Tom losing by just 3 points. In the words of Tom's consolation email to supporters, "I can see last night as a victory for conviction and hard work for the idea that when you fight for the people, the people win."

Upon returning home, the first thing I had to do was ... buy the new NBA Jam for Wii since I spent hundreds of quarters on that game as a kid & needed something to take my mind off politics. But the SECOND thing I had to do was go grocery shopping since I hadn't done that in about a month.

Since I could acquire the coveted Jam at the Target on Route 50 in Falls Church & there's a newly-remodeled Safeway next door, I decided consolidate trips & skip the drive into Ballston to my usual Harris Teeter. My quick green review:

• Many of the Safeway store-brand organic line seem a bit cheaper than their HT counterparts
• Overall organic selection is more limited in scope & in quality than HT (Safeway seemed to have far fewer name-brand organics) 
• Very disappointing that Safeway's small checkout lanes made reusable bags awkward to use. What's the point of remodeling if you're not accommodating modern needs?
• Several items listed as on sale in the aisle didn't ring up at the correct price. Not an environmental thing, I know. But I treat saving money at the grocery store as a competition.

The bottom line: I'll hit Safeway for quick needs, but will stick with Harris Teeter for my main grocery shopping trips.

Oh, and the third thing I did? Sleep for 11 hours.

UPDATE 3/12/2011: Over at GreaterGreaterWashington.org, Steve Offutt points out the Safeway sidewalk's shortcomings.

OK, Robert Hurt: Let's Talk About Your Support for Uranium Mining

I did not wake up this morning planning to write a post about Robert Hurt's support for risky uranium mining here in Virginia that would profits in the hands of a few while putting all Virginians at risk. But Robert Hurt wants to talk about his support for risky uranium mining, so let's talk about it.

You see, Robert Hurt has just filed a lawsuit against conservation groups & TV stations over an ad about Hurt's uranium connections:

The ads, produced and paid for by the Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters, say Hurt’s father “has a financial interest in uranium mining” and has received campaign contributions from the uranium mining industry.

Hurt’s lawsuit notes that the Committee on Rules of the Senate of Virginia determined that Hurt “does not have a personal interest in the consideration of Senate Bill 525 and that his obligation to vote on matters before the Senate should be honored.”

Well, I can't think of any better group to determine if a Virginia state senator has a conflict of interest than a panel of Virginia state senators, can you? Politicians would never protect other politicians ... right?

You'd think if there's anything Robert Hurt wouldn't want to talk about the day before the most important election of his life, it's his support for uranium mining.

Why? I've been here in Virginia's 5th Congressional district for most of the last week & voters know uranium mining in Virginia is about socializing risks & privatizing profits. Uranium mining has never been done east of the Mississippi & could pose risks to Virginia's drinking water supply. Hurt's position favors a handful of wealthy donors at the expense of 5th district voters. That's what he wants to focus on?

Tom Perriello, on the other hand, supports objective analysis of the risks & rewards and doing what's best for Virginians as a whole.

Politifact Virginia called the ad in question barely true, but that's not even the standard Hurt's lawsuit needs to achieve. Hurt needs to prove the ad is completely false AND that the conservation groups & TV stations KNEW it was false and aired it anyway.

Extremely strange that Hurt would put so much at risk by spotlighting this issue when it looks like he has such a steep hill to climb. I'm sure Tom Perriello's campaign is thrilled to have yet another opportunity to talk about Robert Hurt's connections to special interests.

Help Support Perriello's Volunteer Surge

UPDATE 2:35pm: Over $600 in contributions from 14 individuals - thanks for your support!

I was in Rep. Tom Perriello's Danville campaign office last night when his regional field director said that while he was thrilled with the unexpectedly huge flood of volunteers the campaign is seeing, he'd love to have more cars & vans to get them from the office to voters in far-flung areas. Well, I said ... I know some blue Virginians who might be able to chip in to help out.

While not all of us can get to the 5th Congressional district, this is a great chance to support Tom's volunteers. Can you spare $25 or more to help Tom's volunteers be supplied with the resources they need to get out the vote?

I'm working out of Rep. Tom Perriello's Danville office through the election on behalf of the National Wildlife Federation Action Fund, which has endorsed Tom. I can't overstate how much energy there is for Tom here in Danville. Tom's office has been flooded with so many volunteers, they've expanded into additional office space across Main Street -- phone banks on the south side of the street, canvasses launching on the north side. In just the short drive to my canvass location tonight, I passed two other Perriello volunteers. Yard signs density in some neighborhoods is greater than I've ever seen for any candidate.

Most importantly, voters who came out to cast ballots for Obama/Warner/Perriello in '08 are closely engaged in this race. In my talks with voters last week, I had to do very little persuasion -- voters were already committed to coming out for Tom.

Swing voters told me they'd been turned off by Hurt's inactivity. "Hurt's been in Richmond for 10 years -- what's he done?" one asked me. "Why won't Hurt defend himself? Why's he dodging all these debates?" another wondered, noting that Hurt turned his nose up at a recent public forum to instead hobnob with donors & Gov. McDonnell.

Last week, even a tornado warning didn't slow down a late evening phone bank -- as seen here, the crew in Tom's Danville campaign office just brought laptops & cell phones to the basement, being sure to call only homes outside the warning zone.

Meanwhile, I've yet to see any evidence of an active Hurt campaign. I just asked a volunteer if Hurt had a Danville office. She said, "It's on Piney Forest Road" -- the same road I'd just driven on my canvass. Turns out I've already driven past Hurt's office at least four times over the last week & have never even noticed it.

Losses in tomorrow's election are inevitable. The Democratic tide in 2008 washed some candidates into office in districts that just aren't hospitable to progressives in the long run. But Rep. Tom Perriello has the right combination of values, integrity & work ethic to last. And Robert Hurt? Do we really need more blow-dried, unresponsive, valueless, daddy's-little-rich-boys in Washington?

This race is our chance to take a stand -- whoever else goes down, we're all in for Tom. If you can spare $25 or more, don't put this off until later -- the polls open in less than 24 hours and there's no time to waste. Please show your support Tom right now. Thanks in advance!

Tom Perriello (VA-05)	$

Last-Minute Request to Help a Clean Energy Champion

Please read this. Thanks!

Jim Moran's "Opponent" on Environment: I Ruined It! On Purpose! (Video)

Perriello's Clean Energy Jobs Push Paying Off

The Green Miles is in Danville, VA this week, working on the campaign of Rep. Tom Perriello on behalf of the National Wildlife Federation Action Fund, which has endorsed Rep. Perriello for re-election. Why is Rep. Perriello's push for clean energy so critical for places like Danville? Watch:

2010 Seeing Abundance of Acorns

A couple of years back, the DC area's wildlife struggled through an acorn shortage, leading to an odd sight on my stoop. But TBD.com reports this year, acorns are mounting a record-breaking comeback:

[T]he number of acorns falling on car hoods and driveways is at an all-time high in Allegany County, MD, which is located in the far western Maryland panhandle. There are an average of 25.65 acorns per oak branch. How is this fact known? Well, the Maryland Wildlife & Heritage Service keeps track of acorns on branches; this has been done every year since the 1970s.

The article I read said that lack of a major frost in the spring coupled with a dry summer helped the acorn crop breed furiously this year.  Of course, this makes it difficult to walk outside to get the morning paper and even maintain the lawn. Wildlife likes the acorns, however, so food is plentiful for them.

Watch National Wildlife Federation Naturalist David Mizejewski explain why acorns are so critical for wildlife.

If They Vote & You Don't, Virginia Edition

The Green Miles is spending the week in Danville, VA. The National Wildlife Federation Action Fund sent me down to work on the campaign of Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA), one of America's most vocal advocates of clean energy & climate action.

I spent the day knocking on doors in a predominantly African American neighborhood. Contrary to the polls I've read, most of them were very excited to vote for Tom on November 2nd.

As for the ones who weren't? I told them about this truck, parked outside Rep. Perriello's Danville office. I told them that guy is going to vote. I told them if that guy votes, and we don't, everyone loses.

Prop 23: California Sabotage

Ken Buck's Facebook Page

U.S. Senate candidate Ken Buck (R-CO), like all but one GOP candidate for U.S. Senate this year, is a climate science denier. The League of Conservation Voters, which named Buck to its Dirty Dozen, takes us inside his Facebook page:

Tea Partiers Only Trust Elites Who Make Money Off Them

The NYTimes today reports on how the Tea Party is being spoon-fed climate denial by big polluters like Koch Industries, conveniently laundered by conservative media mouthpieces:

“It’s a flat-out lie,” Mr. Dennison said in an interview after the debate, adding that he had based his view on the preaching of Rush Limbaugh and the teaching of Scripture. “I read my Bible,” Mr. Dennison said. “He made this earth for us to utilize.” 

Skepticism and outright denial of global warming are among the articles of faith of the Tea Party movement, here in Indiana and across the country. For some, it is a matter of religious conviction; for others, it is driven by distrust of those they call the elites.

Distrust of elites? Rush Limbaugh made $285 million from 2001 through 2008, then signed a contract with salary & bonuses totaling $400 million from 2009 through 2016! Telling Tea Partiers whatever they want to hear so they'll keep listening has been great for business.

But let's say you're a climate scientist like Michael Mann (science denier Ken Cuccinelli's favorite target) at Penn State University. Using the estimates at indeed.com, a scientist like Mann would have to work 588 years to make what Limbaugh does in one year. Who's the real "elite"?

Finally, I don't recall the part of the Bible where the Lord instructed man to take his creation and act like we're holding the Miami University Pi Beta Phi spring formal. But Genesis 2:15 does say, "The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it."

Sidewalk Closed. Detour Plan: Run!

Would a construction crew walk out into the middle of an intersection & drop "road closed" signs without plans for detours?

Then why would a crew in Arlington start jackhammering the sidewalk at one end of the heavily used Sycamore & 17th St crosswalk with no pedestrian detour?

I've talked to Arlington County Board members & staff about issues like this before and I know it drives them as crazy as it does me. But it would be nice if the road crews got the message as well.

America's #1 Bird Killer Nearly Strikes on My Patio

No, not my cat -- my windows.

I was working at my computer last weekend when I heard a barely-audible thump on the glass, so quiet that the noise itself didn't prompt me to get up to investigate. It was my cat's interest that got me to come look at the tiny bird that had bounced off my patio door.

The bird was sitting up with its wings splayed, blinking fast & looking dazed. I checked my National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Birds & identified it as a brown creeper, a common bird usually seen hopping up & down trees snacking on bugs.

Since it seemed more stunned than seriously injured, I closed the shades so my cat wouldn't stress it out & gave it some time to recover. (In general, it's best to only touch wildlife as a last resort -- an untrained person handling birds & animals can make the situation even worse.) Sure enough, a few minutes later when I went to lock my patio door, it heard the rattle & immediately flew off.

Windows are the single biggest killer of birds in America. Birds simply don't see them. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to matter if you put a sticker or two on the window -- unless it has a covering at least every two inches, it won't be 100% effective. Hence, solutions for bird-proofing windows aren't very attractive.

What can you do? The Fish & Wildlife Service has a good tip sheet (PDF):

• Use window feeders or place bird baths & feeders either very close to a window (less than 3 feet) or far away (more than 30 feet)
• Close your blinds & turn off unused lights at night
• Support programs like Audobon's Lights Out designed to reduce bird impacts

Ironically, just a few days ago I'd been walking through my parking lot thinking, "There are tons of house sparrows here, but with huge tulip poplars all around me, why am I not seeing more interesting birds?" Little did I know a new-to-me species was about to try to fly into my living room.

Webb Turns Back on Appalachia, Cozies Up to Big Coal

To understand Jim Webb's shocking flip on the coal industry, you have to understand where he began. Here's what he wrote in his book, Born Fighting, just six years ago:

The ever hungry industrialists had discovered that West Virginia, eastern Kentucky and southwest Virginia sat atop one huge vein of coal. And so the rape began. The people from the outside showed up with complicated contracts that the small-scale cattle raisers and tobacco farmers could not fully understand, asking for "rights" to mineral deposits they could not see, and soon they were treated to a sundering of their own earth as the mining companies ripped apart their way of life, so that after a time the only option was to go down into the hole and bring the Man his coal, or starve. The Man got his coal, and the profits it brought when he shipped it out. They got their wages, black lung, and the desecration of their land.

Now Jim Webb is standing before those very same industrialists & pledging to do their bidding. This video from a recent Virginia Chamber of Commerce event shows Webb promising to fight any effort to rein in coal's destructive, polluting, poverty-sustaining excesses. Webb's pandering to corporate polluters stands in contrast to Sen. Mark Warner's appearance at the same event making the case for energy reform.

Who else is Webb fighting for these days? The ultra-rich, pledging to protect them from having to do their fair share to reduce America's deficit.

Speculation so far has centered on whether Jim Webb wants a 2nd term in the Senate. But I'm hearing more & more Virginia Democrats question whether we should want six more years of Jim Webb.

Thursday: Discuss Arlington's Clean Energy Future

On Thursday, Arlington is hosting a forum to discuss Arlington's energy future:

What: Community Energy Forum
When: Thursday, October 21, 2010 6-9 pm (check-in at 6pm, presentations & discussion begin at 6:30pm)
Where: Wakefield High School Cafeteria (use entrance #1), 4901 S. Chesterfield Road, Arlington
Speakers: Jay Fisette, Arlington County Board Chairman & Peter Garforth, Principal of Garforth International LLC

Also, attendees will receive a free compact fluorescent light bulb. I'm totally getting mine signed by Jay Fisette.

Post Food Critic Stiffs Arlington, Disses Ray's Hell Burger

Washington Post Food Critic Tom Sietsema just released his Fall Dining Guide. Alexandria led Virginia's dining scene with 3 picks & Falls Church made a strong showing with 2 picks. But completely absent from the list was Arlington. And adding insult to injury, Sietsema's recommendation of the Dupont location of BGR takes a shot at Arlington's best known burger joint:

Ray's Hell-Burger in Arlington has its charms, but if President Obama ever decides to alter his burger run, he ought to consider another home-grown mini-chain, [BGR] from entrepreneur Mark Bucher. ... The Dupont Circle branch, with blond-wood booths, purple walls and Christmas-light chandeliers, is closest to the White House. Got that, Mr. President?

Arlington has made a lot more headlines this year for harassing up & coming restaurants than supporting them -- first Screwtop & Bakeshop and now Westover Market Beer Garden. But things are looking up. Restaurant 3's Bacon Week will be featured on this week's nationally televised Redskins game. (Bacon? Hogs? Get it?) And the owners of 3-starred Birch & Barley are opening a new Rustico in Ballston. Will it be Arlington's best restaurant the moment it opens its doors?

We're Not #1: The Price of Virginia's Energy Inaction

Virginia's elected officials -- both Republicans & Democrats -- have stubbornly refused to reform Virginia's energy policies, which heavily favor more energy use, particularly polluting coal-fired power. We can't change, they say, it might cost more!

How's this for a cost of refusal to reform? Virginia just lost the #1 spot in Forbes' "Best States for Business" rankings. One of the top reasons for the slip to #2? Rising energy costs.

Green Geekery: The Mayor of East Falls Church Park

The Green Miles recently got a Blackberry & started using FourSquare. It allows you to "check in" to a location, see what other users are there, and see where your friends are. You become "mayor" when you check in at a location more than any other user.

FourSquare has actually gotten me to go to parks more often. It creates a little incentive to do something positive by telling your friends LOOK AT ME I'M SO GREEN & HEALTHY & INSUFFERABLE. Joking aside, if something makes me even 5% more likely to get off the couch & get some exercise, it's valuable.

This week I became mayor of East Falls Church Park in Arlington along the W&OD Trail. It's just a basketball court & a patch of grass barely big enough for a game of catch:


View Larger Map

Mini tangent: Tiny urban parks like this one deliver huge value. There's no other public place to play basketball within a mile of here. A park like this will deliver a lot more bang for the buck than parks located far from populated areas.

From now on, if I'm ever shooting baskets with anyone there, I will insist on being referred to as Mr. Mayor. And refer to myself that way in the third person. The mayor is open! Pass it to the mayor! The mayor for three! That sort of thing.

Saturday: Arlington E-CARE

Arlington County hosts an event every year called E-CARE that allows residents to recycle, donate or dispose of odd items -- everything from computers to eyeglasses to paint. Get all the details on what, where & when at the Arlington Department of Environmental Services website.

Super Grover on Saving Energy

A Sesame Street flashback:

Dirty Energy Puts the Hurt on Virginia Consumers

Robert Hurt, the GOP challenger to Rep. Tom Perriello in Virginia's 5th district, doesn't think it's worth seeing energy prices go up one cent to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, cut the carbon pollution that causes global warming, or create clean energy & technology jobs here in Virginia.

But raise energy prices through the roof to pad the profits of his dirty energy donors? Robert Hurt says yes every time:

Great Moments in Clean Energy Hysteria

BestWeekEver.TV declares that the subject of a New York Times article on the faint hum of wind turbines is so self-important that they deserve whatever they get.

Cuccinelli Fine With Fraud If It Backs His Political Views

The people who squawk the loudest about "scientific integrity" & "sound science" often have absolutely no problem with outright scientific fraud, as long as it supports their pre-existing political opinions.

Just take the example of Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (and speaking volumes by their silence, Gov. Bob McDonnell & Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling). Rather than accept the simple, straightforward, proven proposition that the planet is warming & manmade emissions are to blame, Cuccinelli instead conjures a world ruled by a vast conspiracy by thousands of unrelated climate scientists, including former University of Virginia Professor Michael Mann.

But even the little actual proof Cuccinelli claims to cite is now in doubt:

A leading skeptic of climate change science whose work was cited last week by Virginia Attorney Gen. Ken Cuccinelli is himself under investigation on charges that his work contained plagiarism and inaccuracies, a George Mason University spokesman confirmed Friday.

What's Edward Wegman accused of? As DeSmogBlog reports:

Wegman, who was chair of the National Academy of Sciences’ (NAS) Committee on Applied and Theoretical Statistics, was tapped in '06 by Republican representatives Joe Barton and Ed Whitfield to assemble a so-called "expert panel" to critique the famous hockey stick, a graph illustrating a thousand-year temperature record as reconstructed by climate scientists Michael Mann, Raymond Bradley and Malcolm Hughes. But Silicon Valley entrepreneur John Mashey has since demonstrated that, rather than convene a group of experts, Wegman tapped a couple of grad students and together they produced a report that was generously plagiarized from Bradley's own work and then twisted - or just misrepresented - to appear to undermine the hockey stick and its creators.

Will the loss of credibility of a prominent climate denier prompt the slightest change in the stances of McDonnell, Bolling & Cuccinelli? I'm skeptical.

If They Vote, And You Don't ...

Saturday: Canvass for Climate Champs Connolly & Moran

Northern Virginia Congressmen Gerry Connolly & Jim Moran were two of the American Clean Energy & Security Act's biggest supporters, helping them earn the Sierra Club's endorsement. On Saturday, the Sierra Club will join with Arlington Young Democrats, Organizing for America & others to say thanks:

Date: Saturday, October 9, 2010
Time: 2:30 PM
Location: Woodrow Wilson Library, 6101 Knollwood Dr, Falls Church, VA

Let's go door to door and spread the word about what this election means for our country, our environment and our future!

Hope you can spare a couple of hours to help out! RSVP at MyBO or on Facebook.

The Green Miles Encourages You To Buy A Dead Tree?

You should go to the store & buy the latest issue of Rolling Stone. Yes, even though it's printed on a freshly-killed tree. Yes, even though you can read it free online.

You know the old get out the vote saying -- if you don't vote, you can't complain? If you don't use your power as a consumer to support great journalism, you can't complain.

With great journalism getting harder & harder to find, where else can you find an extended interview with President Obama asking him exactly the questions progressives want answers to? Or a first-person report on how corporate interests & GOP insiders built the Tea Party monster?

Best $5 you'll spend all day.

Sierra Club Flunks McDonnell on Chesapeake Bay

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell ran claiming to be a sensible moderate. But his governance record is clear -- from trying to privatize Virginia ABC stores at a massive loss to taxpayers to ignoring Metro's desperate need for funding, Bob McDonnell puts big business first & the little guy last.

Nowhere does that record become more stark than on environmental issues. McDonnell has made it clear that the agricultural interests like cigarette companies & pork processors that have given him over $1 million come first & the Chesapeake Bay comes last.

Now the Virginia Sierra Club has issued its Chesapeake Bay Report Card, making it clear that when it comes to the Bay, Bob McDonnell has been a total failure:

Minor Quake Hits Central Virginia

According to the Washington Post, a minor earthquake struck central Virginia yesterday:

An earthquake, which many people felt and recognized, rumbled through part of the Washington region Saturday, authorities said.

The quake, recorded as a magnitude 3 by the U.S. Geological Survey, shook the ground in east central Virginia, between Fredericksburg and Richmond, about 4:15 p.m.

No damage or injuries were reported.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, it was centered about 20 miles north of Richmond. If your experience is anything like ours from the recent DC-area earthquake, get ready to hear anyone who's ever been in California sanctimoniously tell you how this wasn't a real earthquake.

Walking as Transportation? Are You Crazy?

Capitol City Brewing's Oktoberfest in Shirlington is one of my favorite events of the year. The weather's often perfect like it is today, sunny & 70, so it's a great excuse to spend a fall afternoon outdoors. The longer you live in Arlington, the more old friends you bump into while you're wandering around the booths. And it's where I've discovered some excellent local beers, like Shenandoah Brewing's Old Rag Mountain Ale.

With no Metro stop in Shirlington, I usually get there by bus or carpooling with a designated driver or in a cab. But this year, I told people I was thinking about walking from new place in East Falls Church.

They reacted like I was crazy. That's so far!

Some of that is just mental geography -- since people picture things in relation to Metro & highways, they don't realize East Falls Church & Shirlington are relatively close via back routes. In fact, the W & OD Trail provides a nearly straight-line connection (and some great scenery along the way).

But it's also America's separation of exercise & transportation. The same people shocked I'd walk 5 miles for transportation will themselves run 10 miles for exercise. I mean, people drive to the gym. How crazy is that? For most people, anything over a 10 minute walk & you're supposed to drive, or at least take public transportation. It's even worse for people who grew up in the suburbs, accustomed to driving as the only option.

Oh, one more thing. As an added benefit of my long walk, I'll burn somewhere around 600 calories. I will then immediately invest those calories in beer & kielbasa. Did I mention I love Oktoberfest?

The GOP's "Certainty" Fraud

We need to extend the Bush tax cuts for the rich now, says the GOP -- businesses need certainty!

Can't pass health insurance reform, financial reform or energy reform, says the GOP -- businesses need certainty!

But the Environmental Protection Agency's regulations on the climate pollution of the largest emitters under the Clean Air Act that have been in the works for years? For the GOP, it's fine to try to screw around with those just a few months before they're set to take effect.

I suppose they're correct in one regard -- we can be completely certain where deregulation takes us.

As If You Needed More Evidence Fox Is Not News

Fox continues its formal transition to officially becoming the broadcast wing of the Republican Party:

News Corp., the parent company of Fox News, contributed $1 million this summer to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the business lobby that has been running an aggressive campaign in support of the Republican effort to retake Congress, a source close to the company told POLITICO.

It was the second $1 million contribution the company has made this election cycle to a GOP-aligned group. In late June it gave that amount to the Republican Governors Association. [...]

Specifically, the chamber has said it plans to spend $75 million in connection with the 2010 election, and has so far has directed substantial amounts to Republican Senate candidates. As of Sept. 15th, the group had spent $6,747,946 airing more than 8,000 ads on behalf of GOP Senate candidates, according to a study (PDF) from the Wesleyan Media Project.

What's comical is that Fox still goes through the song & dance of pretending to be a "news" channel. When the Republicans of Fox act like journalists, it's clearly no less of a charade than Stephen Colbert puts on every night at 11:30pm. So why do it? I guess Fox viewers like telling themselves they're not being spoon-fed one big ad for the Republican Party?

Cross-posted from Blue Virginia