What's This Spring Been Like in DC?

Imagine Seattle. Cold, gray, damp.

Now take away the mountains. And the ocean. And the good music.

Then make all the people really uptight. Oh, and add lots of tourists. Many of them riding Segways.

That's DC in the spring of 2011.

Or, as Federal News Radio's Amy Morris posted to Facebook:

INSTALLING SPRING...
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33% DONE. Install delayed....please wait.
Installation failed. Please try again

Saturday Volunteer Event: Clean Off the 'Shed!

The Alice Ferguson Foundation is organizing its annual Potomac River Watershed Cleanup on Saturday morning (April 9th) from 9am to noon. The Green Miles will be joining the Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment volunteer group at Glebe & Chain Bridge Road, you can RSVP on Facebook. There will be events along the Potomac in DC, Maryland and Virginia, so go to PotomacCleanup.org to find a project near you.

Also, Will Ferrell will be wandering up & down the banks of the Potomac to shout at litterers:

(OK, not really. But that would be awesome.)

Dominion Virginia Power Switching Three Coal Plants to Biomass

Dominion is upgrading three power plants from coal to biomass & it's also moving forward with a study on the transmission of power generated by offshore wind. Read all the details from Lowell over at Blue Virginia.

The Difference Between Climate Science Skeptics & Global Warming Deniers

Richard Muller has been unconvinced so far by data pointing to a warming world. So he did his own study of temperatures, which revealed a definitive warming trend. Muller didn't hide his findings - he presented them to Congress this week. Richard Muller is a climate science skeptic.

When Richard Muller initially announced his study, Anthony Watts hailed it as "good news." But when Muller's conclusions contradicted Watts' political beliefs, Watts ripped Muller as someone with an "agenda" and "an axe to grind". Anthony Watts is a global warming denier.

Hope that clears things up.

New Coal Plants Fall Far Short On Job Promises

A new study by the Ochs Center for Metropolitan Studies finds communities that accept new coal-fired power plants are getting burned on promises of jobs:

“I think the overarching issue here is that for a lot of the communities that are being asked to host these plants, there’s an extremely difficult cost-benefit analysis that they’re being asked to make,” said David Eichenthal, the president of the Ochs Center. “They are aware of the environmental and health issues that you take on when you have a coal plant put in your backyard. But many of these communities are in dire economic straits, and it tips the balance for them to allow this to occur.”

“But what they’re being promised,” he said, “isn’t what’s being delivered.”

The analysis looked at the six largest new coal-fired power plants to come online between 2005 and 2009, including facilities in Pottawattamie County, Iowa; Milam and Robertson Counties, Tex.; Otoe County, Neb.; Berkeley County, S.C.; and Marathon County, Wisc. All were plants exceeding capacity of 500 megawatts. [...]

The results: only a little over half, or 56 percent of every 1,000 jobs projected, appeared to be actually created as a result of the coal plants’ coming online. And in four of the six counties, the projects delivered on just over a quarter of the jobs projected.

What do new coal-fired power plants deliver 100% of? Their admitted emissions. Virginia's new coal-fired power plant in Wise County is projected to emit 4.8 million tons of carbon dioxide, 4,132 tons of carbon monoxide, 604 tons of sulfur dioxide, 1,920 tons of nitrogen oxides, 329 tons of particulate matter, 139 tons of volatile organic compounds, and 5 pounds of mercury. Every single year it's in operation.

Photo via Flickr's Wigwam Jones

Note: This post was updated to reflect the latest permits for the Wise County plant

Vote: Worst Thing Koch Brothers Have Done to America?

Watch this video, then vote here.

White House Getting Ready to Sell Out on Clean Air & Water?

Is the White House getting ready to trade away protections for clean air, the Chesapeake Bay, and Appalachian Mountains & their streams in an attempt to appease Congressional Republicans and their polluter friends? (UPDATE: A friend points out I'm wrong here - "'Trading away' would assume some sort of savvy quid-pro-quo where we actually GET something.")

The Associated Press updates budget negotiations:

The White House said Vice President Joe Biden and budget director Jacob Lew planned to meet Wednesday evening at the Capitol with Senate Democratic leaders.

A Democratic lawmaker familiar with a meeting Wednesday between Obama and members of the Congressional Black Caucus said the administration made it clear that some House GOP proposals restricting the Environmental Protection Agency's regulatory powers would have to make it into the final bill. In order to characterize the White House's position, the lawmaker insisted on anonymity because the meeting was private.

It's not clear which proposals the White House might accept, but those backed by Republicans would block the government from carrying out regulations on greenhouse gases, putting in place a plan to clean up the Chesapeake Bay and from shutting down mountaintop mines it believes will cause too much water pollution.

Sadly, I don't think progressives will find this news all that surprising. These days, from tax cuts for the wealthy to oil drilling, it seems like there's no issue on which the White House will stand up for what it believes in.

UPDATE 3/31 8:10am: In this morning's Environment & Energy Daily (sub. req.), Rep. Jim Moran asks the White House to take a stand:

The chief House Democratic appropriator for EPA and the Interior Department echoed environmentalists' wary response to the speech. It was up to Obama "and his speechwriters" to decide if EPA merited a mention yesterday, Rep. Jim Moran of Virginia quipped before adding that calling the CR riders "totally unacceptable" should be a top priority.

"I hope he understands that promoting more energy -- even more sustainable forms of energy -- is not the same as protecting the environment in all cases," Moran said of Obama. "I just don't see any room for compromise on those riders, and I would hope that he would take a definitive position in that regard."

Sign the Sierra Club's petition asking the White House not to compromise away our clean air & water.

UPDATE 3/31 11:45am: According to Politico Pro (sub. req.), "A White House spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment." Bye bye, environmental protections.

Photos of the 2011 DC Cherry Blossoms

It's cherry blossom time at the Tidal Basin. The Green Miles is skipping it this year because it's been freezing. And added bonus today: Rain mixed with sleet! Which as we all know makes me feel like this.

Fortunately for the cold-and-rain-phobic among us, my friend Sarah visited the blossoms and took some wicked awesome photos:

Obama Compromising With Himself on Energy, Again

In March 2010, President Obama came out for increased oil drilling. Result? He won over exactly no one to his clean energy & climate plan, and had to publicly reverse himself after the Gulf oil disaster.

Obama also promised massive subsidies for nuclear power plants. Result? The senators he was trying to win over, Lindsey Graham and John McCain, walked away from the clean energy & climate bill anyway, and now Obama is faced with the prospect of yet another public reversal after the Japanese nuclear disaster.

Now it looks like President Obama is once again giving up ground on energy with no guarantee of anything in return:

Many facets of his program will be familiar. The president will propose wider use of natural gas, including incentives to use it to fuel fleet vehicles such as city buses. He will back greater production of biofuels and will vow to establish at least four commercial-scale refineries producing cellulosic ethanol or advanced biofuels within the next two years. He also will pledge to establish higher fuel-efficiency standards for heavy trucks, just as he did for passenger vehicles early in his administration.

Obama will also urge oil companies to make greater use of the federal leases both onshore and offshore to prop up domestic oil output. The oil industry and GOP lawmakers have been loudly complaining about delays in the permitting of offshore drilling in recent months. But an irked administration, which had pledged tougher scrutiny of drilling applications after last year’s massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill, fired back Tuesday with an Interior Department report that revived earlier debates about whether oil companies were exploiting the leases they already have.

There are some good ideas, like increased fuel efficiency for trucks. But they're more than outweighed by the bad ones:

• We've already been drilling for more oil recently under the failed Bush/Cheney energy policies. And how are gas prices doing?
• Natural gas may be less polluting than oil at the tailpipe, but comes with major concerns about the safety of a drilling procedure called fracking.
• And politicians have been touting next-generation biofuels for ... well, for a generation. Now it's 2011 and they're still not ready. Why throw more money down that hole when wind, solar and electric cars are ready now?

For all these giveaways, what exactly does the White House expect to get? Does anyone expect Congress to get off its butt and act on energy when GOP leaders seem happy to cash polluter checks and blame others for our national energy inaction?

In the face of Congressional inaction, President Obama should be defining the choice for voters. They're for buying more polluting oil from countries that hate us - I'm for making America more self-sufficient with home-made clean energy. If voters want the latter, they need to not only give Obama another term, but give him a Congress that will pass real reform.

Instead, we get more White House attempts to negotiate with people who want them to fail, and more "me too" energy policy, always a disaster for Democrats.

Have national Democratic leaders learned nothing from the 2009 & 2010 elections? Seems like they think the lesson is they haven't compromised enough, adopted GOP-lite stances enough, or depressed the progressive base enough. Sounds like a perfect prescription for more of the same on energy, and more of the same in the 2011 & 2012 elections.

Insignificant Nuclear Risk: Terrifying! Guaranteed Widespread Coal Deaths: Yawn.

Even though "multiple monitoring systems across the Commonwealth continue to show no levels of public health concern," the Virginia Department of Health is warning residents to avoid drinking rainwater collected in cisterns.

You have to wonder: If insignificant health risks posed by a distant nuclear disaster are worth a health update, why isn't VDOH giving constant updates on the known devastating effects of coal?

Mercury contamination is so widespread that one out of every six pregnant women have mercury levels in their blood high enough for levels in the fetus to reach or surpass the EPA's safety threshold for mercury.

According to the latest government data, this means that 630,000 children are born each year with a strong chance of developing serious mercury-related health effects.

According to the American Lung Association, 24,000 people a year die prematurely because of pollution from coal-fired power plants. And every year 38,000 heart attacks, 12,000 hospital admissions and an additional 550,000 asthma attacks result from power plant pollution.

Now that's truly terrifying. Dozens, hundreds, even thousands of people may be killed in rare nuclear disasters (to say nothing of the risks posed by uranium mining). But coal kills tens of thousands of people every year by design.

Unfortunately, the risks we've known & lived with for years aren't nearly as good at scaring up ratings as the new & unknown ones. Isn't that right, Nancy Grace?

Crappy Car > Christmas Cookies?

You know what sucks? Christmas cookies! And pets! You know what's awesome? A car that gets a terrible 18 miles to the gallon city and that Edmonds.com says is a lousy choice!



Call me crazy, but considering their target audience thinks driving sucks, you'd think it would make more sense to gear their message around "our car will help you do the things you like and let you do them more often by saving you money on gas" rather than "our car will make life worth living."

If The Clean Air Act Didn't Block Pollution, Where Would It Go?

The "American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity," a coal industry front group responsible for sending forged letters to Rep. Tom Perriello, is on the air in the DC area with ads shamefully attacking the Clean Air Act.

But as this video points out, if the Clean Air Act wasn't keeping pollution out of our atmosphere, it'd be going someplace else:



Please take a moment right now to contact Sen. Jim Webb and ask him to stand up for full enforcement of the Clean Air Act. You can also "like" the Clean Air Act on Facebook.

Claw on Pa: More National Zoo Lion Cub Cuteness

After the National Zoo's entertaining Hop on Pop lion video, there's a new slideshow I think we should refer to as Claw on Pa:

Japan Disaster Proves Wind Power's Sustainability

In the wake of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, Japan's food supply is being poisoned by nuclear radiation. That's after oil refineries and natural gas storage tanks exploded and burned. But wind power - whose reliability is constantly questioned by advocates of our energy status quo - survived the disaster without a scratch:

While Japan's water-dependent nuclear power plants suck and wheeze and spew radioactive steam, "there has been no wind facility damage reported by any [Japan Wind Energy Association] members, from either the earthquake or the tsunami," says association head Yoshinori Ueda.

Even the country's totally badass Kamisu offshore wind farm, with its giant 2 MW turbines with blades big as the wings on a jumbo jet, and only 186 miles from the epicenter of the largest quake ever recorded in Japan, survived without a hiccup thanks to its "battle proof design." As a result, the nation's electric companies have asked all of its wind farms to increase power production to maximum, in order to make up for the shortfalls brought about by the failure of certain other aging, non-resilient 20th-century technologies.

Wind's clutch performance is especially notable in light of how much Japanese power companies have resisted it.

Here in the United States, when we're making our energy choices we ignore things like how well they'll survive a disaster, or how vulnerable they'll leave us to global price shocks, or how many cases of asthma they'll cause. Instead, we pick our energy sources almost solely on how cheaply they can produce a unit of electricity. We get low prices in the short term, but like Japan's shaky nuclear construction, what long-term bills may come due?

This Squirrel Is Either Blind Or Has Brass Balls

I came around the corner the other day to find this scene, a squirrel nosing around for stray bird-feeder seeds on my patio as a sharp-shinned hawk watched from the patio fence. The squirrel is bigger prey than could be handled by a sharpy, America's smallest hawk. But ... a chance worth taking? I say no.

A few moments later, the hawk turned around and plunged into the holly bush on the other side of the fence, sending sparrows scattering. It came up empty, but returned a few minutes later to make another dive. The more you pay attention to wildlife, the more it ruins your preconceived notions - I'd assumed hawks were only maneuverable in open air, but turns out they're adept at chasing down birds in dense brush.

This is now the third time I've seen a sharpy in my backyard. Looks like I've got great sharpy habitat:

The population of USA and Canada has rebounded since and might even exceed historical numbers today. This is probably due to the combination of the ban on DDT and the proliferation of backyard birdfeeders in North America which create unnaturally reliable and easy prey for all Accipiters.

Think I can train the hawk to catch only invasive sparrows & starlings while leaving the cardinals, wrens and other natives alone?

The Green Miles & Tom Coburn: BFF?

I couldn't disagree more with Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) on a wide range of issues, like woman's right to choose, or climate science, or Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) being a slimeball.

But suddenly this year, I've found myself agreeing with Tom Coburn. I agree with him on cutting excessive mortgage subsidies. And I agree with him on cutting corn ethanol subsidies.

What's next? Will Coburn get behind repealing oil subsidies? Could we be seeing a new partnership between conservationists & fiscal conservatives on environmental issues that make economic sense?

I'm not holding my breath - but I won't turn my nose up at progress either, no matter what strange bedfellows are uniting behind it.

Video: Why Congestion Pricing Works

Why not do congestion pricing in DC & give the money to Metro?

Senate to Launch Surprise Late Night Attack on Clean Air?

As NRDC's Pete Altman reports, the U.S. Senate could be planning a late-night vote with limited or no debate on a bill that would gut Clean Air Act protections:

A common strategy for passing unpopular legislation is to launch a swift sneak attack that doesn't allow for much discourse or debate ahead of time and enables lawmakers to get through the process with as little scrutiny as possible.

That's what is happening right now in the US Senate, where Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is trying to amend a small business bill with the unrelated language from Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton's Asthma Aggravation Act of 2011 (more formally known as HR 910) in order to sneak through a law that would block the Environmental Protection Agency from making badly-needed updates to clean air safeguards to protect public health from carbon pollution.

As Pete reports, a full 64% of Americans think Congress should let the Environmental Protection Agency do its job - and that even includes 57% of Republicans. It's clear that any senator voting for this bill would be ignoring what Americans want to do the bidding of the billionaire polluter Koch brothers.

Please call Sen. Mark Warner at 202-224-2023 and Sen. Jim Webb at 202-224-4024 and ask them to oppose the Inhofe-Upton bill.

Rainbow Six: Bird Feeder Edition

One of the biggest myths of wildlife-watching is that you have to be at a zoo, a state or national park, or a wildlife refuge to see anything.

But here in East Falls Church, my simple bird-feeder stocked black oil sunflower seed continues to attract a wide range of birds. In fact, a bird showed up last week that I don't think I've ever seen before. When I first saw it, my brain thought "blue jay lite" - blue back, white chest, crested head - but it was way too small and not nearly as shrill. My National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Birds told me it was a tufted titmouse. (Yes, I keep a bird guide under the window. If the interns at work are going to call me a dorky old man, why not own it?)

The titmouse crept up on the feeder in a precision assault, picking off one seed at a time, always in the same fashion - from a tree across the parking lot, to my fence post, to the feeder, to the balcony upstairs to eat - pausing for only a moment at each stop to reassess the situation.

Another first-time visitor showed up the same day: A Carolina chickadee. The bird guide indicated that likely wasn't a coincidence, as the titmouse is known to hang out with other birds, maybe for protection in numbers.

So far, the species I've spotted in just the few months since I started putting out birdseed:

• Tufted Titmouse
• Carolina Chickadee
• Sharp-Shinned Hawk
• Carolina Wren
• Northern Cardinal
• Mourning Dove
• English Sparrow
• European Starling

And of course, plenty of squirrels. The National Wildlife Federation can teach you more about making your own yard (or even a porch, patio or balcony) a friendlier place for wildlife. I wouldn't be disappointed if all you get is sparrows the first few weeks, especially if you're right in the city. But spotting even one cardinal or blue jay in the morning can make the commute to work seem a little less dreary.

UPDATE 3/15/2011: The original post referred to the second bird as a black-capped chickadee. However, I told the story to my NWF colleague Doug Inkley, who says it was much more likely a Carolina chickadee. Doug says the two birds look nearly identical, but in this region the black-capped hangs out at higher elevations (like the Appalachian Mountains) while the Carolina is at lower elevations (like Falls Church).

A Look At Flooded Potomac River At Great Falls

With the Potomac River swollen by last week's heavy rain & having crested just above floodstage on Saturday, I went to Great Falls Park on Sunday for a look:



While the Potomac provided an amazing sight - the most powerful rapids I've ever seen that close up - the river remained far from the record. That takes a lot more than a few inches of rain. For example, the near-record flood of 1996 followed not just two feet of snow, but 60 degree temperatures accompanied by an inch of rain. All that combined to cause the Potomac at Great Falls to rise a mind-boggling 85 feet in just two days. Capital Weather Gang has the story & some incredible photos.

Today's river level couldn't touch that, but it was plenty to provide some interesting images:

High Gas Prices Not Cramping Style of Virginia Democratic Party Staffers

Don Mark, political director of the Democratic Party of Virginia (DPVA), tweeted the picture at right with this note:

About to hit he road with @davemillsVA to Wytheville in our sweet Grand Cherokee.

Dave Mills is DPVA executive director. Depending on the model, a Jeep Grand Cherokee gets 14-16 miles per gallon city & 20-23 mpg highway. With Virginia gas prices ranging from $3.19 in Troutville to $3.79 in Alexandria, should DPVA employees be blowing members' money on a gas guzzler?

I tweeted:

@donmark82 @davemillsVA Maybe a little tone-deaf to be bragging about driving SUV at time of $3.50+ gas, no?

Dave's response:

actually guys, we're riding horses to Wytheville. Don's horse is named Grand Cherokee.

Ha ha?

Setting a better example was Del. David Englin, who tweeted, "heading to NYC on Bolt Bus for weekend getaway w/family & friends." A ticket on Bolt is not only cheaper than a single day's worth of parking in NYC (never mind gas & tolls), you can get work done with their free WiFi instead of grinding your teeth in traffic on I-95. And oh yeah, your energy use & carbon pollution will be rock bottom.

I'm aware the Bolt Bus doesn't stop in Wytheville. But a Ford Focus would be just as capable of handling that gritty, tough off-road drive on ... um, I-64 right to I-81. And it wouldn't send the message that energy, environment & fiscal responsibility take a back seat at DPVA.

Japan's Nuclear Crisis Reveals Difference in Communication Styles

Shortly after the earthquake & tsunami in Japan, statements by Japanese nuclear officials prompted both TPM's Josh Marshall and Matt Yglesias to express hope that the plants in question were out of danger. But if you go back and read the statements, Japanese officials weren't saying there would never be any danger; they were specifically saying "no release of radiation had been detected" so far.

I wonder if there's a cultural difference there - while we're used to hearing nightmarish warnings from U.S. officials, Japanese officials have simply related the current facts without inference, speculation or prediction.

Why the difference? Some U.S. officials say nothing short of the worst-case scenario will get Americans to heed any threat. And even then, they may ignore emergency instructions - among the Galveston, TX residents who heard the dire warning they faced "certain death" if they didn't evacuate ahead of Hurricane Ike, 50% stayed put anyway.

So when Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary says "there is no immediate danger" after this morning's blast at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, who can be sure what to expect next?



Text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation to help those affected by the earthquake in Japan and tsunami throughout the Pacific.

The GOP's Disastrous Budget Cuts

We already knew that in the face of the building climate crisis, Republicans want to block climate pollution rules & gut clean air laws. And that Republicans think monitoring deadly volcanoes is a waste of money.

Now as a tsunami devastates Japan, with Hawaii & the West Coast dodging a bullet, we learn the House GOP budget would slash funding for federal government tsunami tracking, warnings & response.

Sen. Webb Takes Stand Against Corn Ethanol Giveaways

While I disagree with his disinterest in climate action, I strongly support the effort by Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) to end the $6 billion a year subsidy for corn ethanol fuel. And maybe next we can eliminating the $4 billion in subsidies we shovel to Big Oil every year while oil companies turn record profits?

Do Environmentalists Have a Fear of Heights?

Must-read article from The Atlantic on why, in most cases, conservationists shouldn't support height restrictions on new construction.

Genuine or Greenwashing: Fortune's Green Stars

My friend Every Day Father asked for my quick take on Fortune magazine's 8 green stars at Most Admired companies.

My problem with articles like this is that there's no yardstick for measuring results. Is it nice that McDonald's has turned three of its locations into LEED-certified green buildings? Sure, but what about the other 13,000 U.S. locations? Is Coke switching its bottles from a petroleum base towards a sugar base a net positive? Probably, but sugar has its own problems and the article makes no effort to quantify the difference. (To be clear, I'm questioning the quality of the reporting, not the quality of Coke's efforts.)

I'm more impressed with Fortune's write-up of the efforts at FedEx and Amazon, using new technology to do the same work using fewer resources and at lower costs - an obvious win-win. In Amazon's case, smaller packaging might actually improve their customer service ratings - the article mentions that The Green Miles isn't alone in his concern about Amazon's excessive packages.

Diners in Danger of Becoming Breakfast

A birdfeeder doesn't just bring birds - as I learned a few years ago in Arlington, it brings the birds that feed on the birds.

As I was getting ready for work the other morning, I noticed a hawk sitting on my patio fence and was able to take a quick Flipcam clip before it flew off. Nice to work at the National Wildlife Federation where I can ask a certified wildlife biologist for help identifying it. Here's what Doug Inkley had to say:

This is definitely either a sharp-shinned or Cooper’s hawk. They look very similar and hard to tell apart. The Cooper’s hawk is larger and much less common.

Banded tail, gray back, reddish eye and probably looking for songbirds around a bird feeder. My money is on a sharpy.

Bye Bye, AAA Credit Card

The Green Miles had a AAA-affiliated Visa card since shortly after I graduated college. A friend had gotten me a AAA membership as a college graduation gift and AAA called offering a card with something like a 5% rebate on gas. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

But as the years went on and I learned more about AAA's anti-smart growth, pro-oil lobbying, I let my AAA membership lapse and eventually stopped using the card.

Thanks to David Alpert's reminder at GreaterGreaterWashington.org this week that anyone who cares about building a better community shouldn't give their money to AAA, I finally got around to canceling the card today. When the customer service agent handling my call asked why I was canceling and I told him it was because of AAA's political policies, he didn't miss a beat. Made me wonder if he heard that from customers fairly often.

WTOP Believes in the Plastic Bag Fairy

WTOP apparently thinks plastic bags are created for free by magic fairies and delivered fresh each morning to the steps of your local grocery store.

"It'll soon cost you more to go to the grocery store." That's how an anchor began a story this week on a proposal to put a fee on plastic bags in Maryland's Montgomery County.

Plastic bags cost retailers $4 billion a year, a cost they pass along to us in the form of higher prices. As DC's experience shows, a small plastic bag fee can dramatically increase reusable bag usage. That cuts overhead for the store, prices for consumers, and taxes for all of us as communities spend less money picking up plastic bag litter.

Learn more at TrashFreeMaryland.org and TrashFreeVirginia.org.

Blame Canada: Another Dirty Energy Threat

Just two days ago, I was telling you about the threat posed by Canadian tar sands giant TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline proposal. Today Mary Rafferty of the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter has an op-ed in the Danville Register & Bee detailing how another energy company with ties north of the border wants to play a high stakes game with Virginia's uranium deposits:

Uranium mining would benefit other nations, not America: Despite the downhome name, Virginia Uranium Inc. is a majority-Canadian owned company.

While some of the uranium mined and milled in Virginia might eventually be sold in this country, it will be part of a global market. If extracted and processed today, uranium from Coles Hill would most likely be sent to countries with the highest demand, mainly China and India. According to a letter published last week, VUI’s lead lobbyist Whitt Clement even agrees that uranium produced in Virginia may not stay in America.

All that can be guaranteed to stay in Virginia is the 29 million tons of mill tailing waste that would be created by the project.

What's "mill tailing waste"? This by-product of uranium mining needs to be stored for up to 1,000 years because it's radioactive and harms human health. It's worth repeating: This one project at Coles Hill would generate up to 29 million tons of radioactive mill tailings waste, plus associated waste water and chemicals in the tailings.

While the uranium industry would have us believe we have to choose between a healthy environment & a thriving economy, the truth is the two are interdependent. The real question is whether Southside will choose a clean energy future - or sign its future over to the uranium mining industry.

March 8: Community Meeting on Westover Market Beer Garden

Want to voice your opinion about Westover Market Beer Garden? Come to this Tara-Leeway Heights Civic Association meeting on Tuesday March 8th at 7pm at Westover Library:

Please plan to attend a community forum to discuss the Westover Beer Garden on March 8 at 7pm in the Westover Library. The Beer Garden is working with the county government to resolve the various issues associated with continuing this much-loved Westover institution. Once its plans are in place, it will go before the county board for final approval, probably in April or May. The idea of the forum is for all members of the community to come together to agree on common positions regarding the beer garden. One issue we have discussed is how the noise from the garden affects the immediate neighbors. The forum will seek to find compromise solutions to all issues so that hopefully the four civic associations surrounding it can present a united front of community support to the county board, based on consensus agreement, to keep the beer garden going while ensuring that it maintains good relations with its immediate neighbors.

Story via ArlNow.com; photo via Flickr's Thundercheese

Progressive Blogs Sell Out To Big Oil

If you're not familiar with dirty Canadian tar sands, let me give you a quick rundown of the process & where things stand right now:

1. Oil companies bulldozes the pristine forest to dig up tar sands, oil mixed with dirt. Leftover sludge is dumped into "tailings ponds" where it kills thousands of birds.
2. The mining & refining process releases three times the global warming pollution compared to conventional oil
3. Canadian tar sands giant TransCanada is currently pressuring the Obama administration to let it build a new Keystone XL tar sands pipeline to deliver its dirty fuel to the Gulf Coast, where it would be refined & shipped with no guarantee the oil would be sold to American consumers. What would be guaranteed? Massive profits for Koch Industries.
4. Homeowners along the proposed pipeline route have already gotten a menacing letter from TransCanada warning eminent domain could be used to seize their homes if they don't sell out now (where's the Tea Party eminent domain anger on this?)
5. Here's the kicker: The tar sands pipeline would actually increase gas prices in the Midwest

So how are national progressive blogs reacting to the story? By cashing in! DailyKos sold its top-of-page banner and its wallpaper to TransCanada today:

Talking Points Memo sold a banner, the wallpaper AND an inset ad above its top story:

FireDogLake sold TransCanada its banner to go along with not one but three BP inset ads on its front page:

Even the Center for American Progress - a progressive nonprofit - has a BP inset ad on ThinkProgress.org:

Worth mentioning that Huffington Post right now doesn't have any ads from TransCanada or BP. If you see any other TransCanada ads on progressive blogs I've missed, email me.

As a friend told me today, "When you're spending $11 billion on a house, loose change can buy a lot of wallpaper." What I don't understand is why progressive blogs think it's OK to cash checks from people who make their money by destroying our air, water & wildlife.

Before your blood stops boiling, be sure to ask the Obama administration to say no to tar sands.

Like Mosquitoes? You'll Love White-Nose Syndrome

Even with just a few warm days last week, bugs were already buzzing around in my backyard. And this summer's swarm of mosquitoes could be even larger than usual thanks to a new plague that's wiping out bats - white-nose syndrome:

Scientists are comparing this onslaught to the devastation of the buffalo, the passenger pigeon and the American chestnut tree.

And all the bats want to do is eat the mosquitoes that make us miserable and the bugs that damage our crops and gardens.

It's now moved into Virginia:

Virginia scientists check the bats in about 20 key caves every other year. The 2011 count began last month, and the numbers are bleak.

At Coon Cave in Bland County, for example, the number of little brown bats fell from nearly 1,300 in pre-white-nose times to 94 — a 93 percent drop.

What's the government doing to stop it? Not much. While local government spend an estimated half a billion dollars a year to fight mosquitoes, the federal government is only spending a little over a million a year to investigate white-nose syndrome:

Mollie Matteson, a conservation advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity, a national environmental group, said the federal government needs to move more quickly and put up more money to fight white-nose.

"Four million dollars over a number of years is really pretty peanuts," she said.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) has introduced the Wildlife Disease Emergency Act of 2011 to better understand diseases like white-nose syndrome. But considering Republicans these days don't see danger in volcano eruptions, I'm skeptical about their ability to take white-nose syndrome seriously.

To learn much more about white-nose syndrome, check out National Geographic magazine's chilling article, Bat Crash.

Corn Syrup Blondie Definitely Wouldn't Have Been As Catchy

The Green Miles lived in Plattsburgh, NY for two years. Living on the shores of Lake Champlain, it's impossible to avoid developing a hardcore addiction to Vermont maple syrup. So when I saw Ben & Jerry's Maple Blondie ice cream, I had to try it.

But I was disappointed the ice cream lacked a true maple bite. The Impulsive Buy's review nailed it - if I hadn't seen the package, I'd have guessed it was butterscotch ice cream.

A look at the ingredient list helped explain it - the ice cream contains more cane sugar and corn syrup than maple syrup:

I'm guessing this is an example of a company cutting corners to keep all its products the same price (and keep them delivering the right profit margin). But I'd rather pay more for maple ice cream that actually tastes like maple.

In a related story, Ben & Jerry's has agreed to phase out its use of the phrase "all natural" after being pressured by The Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Stand In The Place Where I Live (Now Face East)

A sliver of spring arrived in my apartment this week in the form of a ray of sunshine. It's not much, and only stays for a few minutes every morning, but considering my apartment hasn't seen any direct sun since last fall, it's enough to make me want to break out my This Is Why I'm Hot t-shirt.

The Green Miles' apartment in East Falls Church faces to the east. What that means is I got hours of direct sun in the summer & no sun at all in the winter - the opposite of what you'd want for optimal heating & cooling. Ideally, as many of your home's windows as possible should face south - that way the sun passes overhead in the summer but gives you lots of free heat in the winter.

And now I give you the video for REM's "Stand," which looks so dated it makes 1988 seem like a lot longer than 23 years ago ... wait, 23 years IS a long time. Apparently I'm just old.

Metro Funding Update, LCV Scorecard & New Climate Studies

I don't usually do a links roundup, but it's a busy morning, so ...

• With national Republicans targeting your commute, Fairfax's Rep. Gerry Connolly & Del. Scott Surovell call for Gov. Bob McDonnell to put Virginia's needs ahead of partisan politics
• The League of Conservation Voters has released its updated Congressional scorecard, here's a direct link to the report for Virginia's delegation
• And as Congress debates whether it should do even less about the climate crisis, two new studies say global warming is fueling extreme weather

Gas Price Hikes Only OK When Money Goes To Big Oil

In the Washington Post, Steve Pearlstein says raising the gas tax by 60 cents last year would've been seen as political suicide. But gas prices have gone up 60 cents just the same, and instead of funding desperately needed repairs to Metro or our crumbling roads & bridges, the money has gone to BP, ExxonMobil, Hugo Chavez, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the list goes on.

And what's been the impact of those gas price hikes?

During that same period, private businesses created 1.2 million jobs and recorded near-record profits, stock prices rose by more than 20 percent and auto sales were brisk enough that General Motors recently handed out $4,000 profit-sharing checks to each of its unionized workers.

History will also record that, during that same time period, not one politician that I am aware of took to the floor of the House or Senate to denounce this "job-killing" 23 percent increase in the price of gasoline.

Doesn't exactly sound like the predicted Armageddon, does it? What anti-tax ideologues will never admit is that there are certain taxes - the gas tax, cigarette taxes, the estate tax - that you can raise with limited economic impact (and contrary to conventional wisdom, an increase in the gas tax is not regressive).

Even though gas prices are back above $3 a gallon, consumption remains near historic highs. Gas consumption just doesn't respond to price changes very quickly - if the price of beer goes up today, I can switch to wine tonight; but if the price of gas goes up today, it might take months or years to change my habits or living arrangements - and if I have kids in school, my hands might be completely tied.

The best way to reduce energy costs for drivers is by increasing vehicle fuel efficiency, which the Obama administration is doing. But when consumption goes down, gas tax revenue goes down, meaning we have less money for transit, roads & bridges. So a gas tax increase makes sense, but as the Car Talk guys famously pointed out, politicians are too wussy to do it.

Congressional GOP Targets DC Commuters

The DC region's Metro system is already facing a $72 million budget gap. Now, to close .01% of this year's federal deficit, Republicans in the U.S. House want to slash another $150 million from this year's Metro budget:

House Republicans have proposed a "continuing resolution" to fund the federal government with deep cuts, including no federal payment for Metro repairs and cuts to many federally-funded DC services including the courts.

The list of cuts removes the entirety of the $150 million annual capital contribution to WMATA, which just began last year. The federal government makes no other contribution for Metro beyond general formula transportation dollars that go to states and localities.

But hey, why should House Republicans & their staff worry about Metro? Taxpayers fund their free parking.

And if Metro breakdowns force more commuters onto the roads? That's not really such a big deal for the GOP either - they have to come into work less these days anyway. Under Speaker John Boehner, the GOP is taking fewer votes & spending much less time in session than did their Democratic counterparts.

Of course, the Metro cut is just the tip of iceberg of suckitude that is the House Continuing Resolution. It slashes funding for education & health care while protecting billions in subsidies for Big Oil & hundreds of millions more in pork barrel spending for Speaker John Boehner's district.

This Valentine's Day, Can Eric Cantor Find Polluter Love?

Greenpeace has updated PolluterHarmony.com for the 112th Congress:



Guess who's among the featured profiles? Virginia's own Rep. Eric Cantor.

Who'll Be Virginia's Next U.S. Senator?

With Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) announcing he won't seek another term in 2012, Tim Kaine & Tom Perriello are at the top of the list of potential Democratic candidates.

While I'd certainly give Kaine my full support against an oil shill like George Allen, Kaine wasn't willing to stand up to coal special interests while he was Virginia's governor.

Perriello, on the other hand, was one of America's top fighters for clean energy & climate action while he served Virginia's 5th Congressional district, and wasn't afraid to tell his colleagues in the upper chamber to get moving.

I'd strongly encourage you to "like" Draft Perriello on Facebook.

"Here's The Chicken You'll Be Enjoying. His Name Is Colin."

Are you a smug treehugger? Or can you laugh at yourself?

Watch the new IFC series Portlandia starring Fred Armisen & Carrie Brownstein and you'll find out:

2011 Southeast Sustainable Seafood Guide

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has updated its indispensable Southeast Sustainable Seafood Guide (PDF) for 2011. If you find it hard to know which fish to buy & which to avoid when you're at the grocery store or out to dinner, print it out & stick it in your wallet. Other regions are available at MontereyBayAquarium.org.

WTOP Earns Golden Ostrich Nomination

Last night as I was listening to WTOP radio, Shawn Anderson read a story about how polar bears are struggling with less ice and how the Pacific walruses is now considered threatened - without using the words "climate" or "global warming."

(Puts on Jon Gruden voice) Now, Shawn Anderson, you talk about THIS GUY, you talk about a guy who knows how to keep his head down. I mean, this guy knows if you point out scientific fact, people who find that politically inconvenient are just gonna get mad at ya! So why do it? YOU DON'T! I'm tellin' ya, you could put this guy in the middle of any controversy in any era - cigarettes causing cancer, CFCs destroying the ozone layer - and this guy's gonna give it his all to avoid giving you the whole story.

See the rest of the Golden Ostrich nominees, or if you see or hear a story that avoids or obfuscates climate science, email me your nomination.

The Conservationist's Guide to Hating Redskins Owner Daniel Snyder

Don't watch football? Maybe you don't even follow sports? It's OK - if you care at all about the environment, sustainability or conservation, you can still hate Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder.

When The Green Miles moved to the DC area nine years ago, I put myself on the Redskins season ticket waiting list, figuring that by the time my name came up, I'd be following the home team. But when my spot came up several years back, I realized that while I consider myself a Nationals fan and follow both the Wizards & Capitals ... I kinda hate the Redskins.

It's nothing against their players, coaches or fans. It's that they have one of the worst owners in professional sports (bad owners must thank their lucky stars every day for the continued existence of Donald Sterling, far & away the worst owner).

Daniel Snyder possesses an amazing ability to make Redskins fans hate themselves for caring about his team. Making the same mistakes in building a team, over & over. Getting caught squeezing every last cent out of his customers, over & over. And within Washington City Paper writer Dave McKenna's indispensable (and now infamous) The Cranky Redskins Fan's Guide to Daniel Snyder, we find plenty of reasons for conservationists to hate The Danny, too.

Daniel Snyder vs. Pedestrians

"Whaddya mean you couldn't walk into the stadium??" People are always dumbfounded when they hear Daniel Snyder once had pedestrians banned. It's like a perfect storm of nonsense & evil:

Safety: Bogus excuse used to get a ban on pedestrian traffic into FedExField on game days in 2000. After a class action lawsuit alleged that the ban was really intended to increase parking revenues at the stadium, the ban was overturned. In 2007, Snyder again cited safety to get offsite parking banned by the town council in Agawam, Mass., home of Six Flags New England. Parking rates at the theme park tripled after his 2005 takeover of Six Flags. When the Agawam council learned about the earlier pedestrian-safety controversy at FedEx, it undid the ban.

Yes, Daniel Snyder thinks pedestrians are bad for business. All that free, zero-carbon travel keeps Snyder from charging up to $35 for parking! (On top of their generic stadium being inconveniently located, the Redskins Fan Cost Index is 9th-highest in the league.)

What about Metro? When a federal rules change meant WMATA couldn't provide service, the Redskins refused to provide bus service. Granted, it's only a 20 minute walk, and with game-day traffic, the Metro bus didn't make it there any faster, so taking a pass on the shuttle wasn't unreasonable.

What WAS ridiculous was the reason the Redskins gave: The shuttle would've been too expensive. That's right - the team with an annual operating income of $104 million couldn't spare a few bucks to give fans a ride to Metro. That'd mean one less ivory back scratcher for Daniel Snyder!

Daniel Snyder vs. Trees

What good is having a mansion overlooking the Potomac River if there are hundreds of vertical structures blocking your view down the hill?

Unobstructed View: What Snyder wanted of the Potomac River from the back of his Montgomery County home. To accomplish this, he cut down trees protected by the National Park Service. The episode marked one of the rare times Snyder got crisis PR help. He retained Mike Sitrick, who helped with damage control for the Michael Jackson family after the pop star’s death and Paris Hilton after one of her arrests.

Snyder paid a $37,000 settlement & re-planted new trees, but with no old growth trees to hold the soil in place, erosion has killed many of the new trees. As of 2010 - six years after Snyder's original tree-cutting - the hill was still in disrepair.

Daniel Snyder vs. The Air We Breathe

The Redskins conservation program seems to consist entirely of some recycling & using products made of recycled or environmentally-friendly material. Which would be awesome, if this was 1979.

Meanwhile, the Redskins' division rival Philadelphia Eagles are blowing the Redskins' meager efforts away - using 100% clean energy, planting trees, and recycling more than three times as much annual waste as the Redskins do.

We're in an era when even Fenway Park has solar panels. Yet according to the Redskins' website, the team is  doing nothing on clean energy or local environmental outreach.

Worse yet, Daniel Snyder & the Redskins are major contributors to Republicans who deny we need to do anything about global warming, from George W. Bush to Bob McDonnell to Frank Wolf.

Daniel Snyder vs. The First Amendment

To punish the Washington City Paper & Dave McKenna, Daniel Snyder is threatening to sue City Paper & is demanding McKenna be fired. As TBD.com has pointed out, with the lawsuit's shaky factual basis, the McKenna demand may be a tell - Snyder may be looking for retribution against a journalist whose reporting has cost Snyder money.

If you don't think billionaires should be able to bully news organizations whose accurate reporting casts them in an unflattering light, consider making a donation ($10? $25? $50?) to the Washington City Paper's Legal Defense Fund.

And for all the latest on the lawsuit, follow Deadspin's We Are All Dave McKenna series.

Virginia Senate Votes to Render "Renewable Energy" Meaningless

Addendum to this morning's rant.

The Virginia Senate has voted unanimously that coal-bed methane - created by the decomposition of organisms over the course of more than 300 million years - is now to be considered "renewable" energy.

Up next - a unanimous vote to consider bloodlettings as valid health care?

A Brief Rant On This Year's Virginia General Assembly Session

The thing that's bugged me about this year's Virginia General Assembly session isn't so much that, aside from a few notable bright spots, progressives are getting their asses kicked. I know Republicans control the House & governor's mansion and that Democrats hold only a slim margin in the Senate.

It's that Democrats are getting their asses kicked and they don't even seem to know it.

First an anti-livability bill passed the House with the support of five Democrats. Then the Senate unanimously passed a bill to continue shoveling millions in subsidies to coal companies that don't need them.

And today, we learn the House passed - again, unanimously - a bill to insulate factory farms from charges of animal abuse.

Doesn't the Democratic Party of Virginia have paid staffers and an allegedly full-time chair? It looks like they haven't put out a press release in two weeks. And if you click DPVA news, you get basically a blank page, which seems appropriate. What the hell are they doing with their days?

Oh, right. Important party business.

/rant

Webb's Clean Air "Obstruction By Another Name"

A New York Times editorial slams attacks on the Clean Air Act that are being supported by Sen. Jim Webb:

There are a half-dozen other such measures in circulation, at least one of which would weaken the agency’s long-held powers to regulate conventional ground-level pollutants like soot and mercury.

One or another of these bills has a real shot in the Republican-controlled House. Their chances are slimmer in the Senate, where the bigger danger is a proposal by Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, that would block any new regulations on power plants and other industrial sources for two years.

That is just obstruction by another name. It would delay modernization and ensure that more carbon is dumped into the atmosphere. History shows that regulatory delays have a way of becoming permanent. [...]

In his State of the Union address, President Obama promised to protect “common-sense safeguards” to the nation’s environment. The rules under siege in Congress will help clean the air, reduce toxic pollution in fish and slow emissions of greenhouse gases. It is hard to imagine anything more sensible than that.

As Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said, "There is a case to be made that, in the contest between corporate profits and children's lungs, someone should be standing up for children's lungs." Will Sen. Webb really choose to stand on the side of corporate profits?

Have Vehicle Fuels Advanced Since "The Dukes of Hazzard"?

When The Green Miles was 5, I was a huge Dukes of Hazzard fan. So when I couldn't find anything to watch the other night & an episode was just starting, I figured what the heck.

The episode, titled High Octane, features the Duke family entering an alternative fuel contest sponsored by the Department of Energy. They submit a batch of Uncle Jesse's moonshine whiskey & the judge not only gives him top prize, but pronounces it the best tasting fuel and/or whiskey he's ever had.

But shortly after the episode aired, oil prices came back down, President Reagan took office and slashed incentives for alternative energy & conservation, and vehicle fuels have puttered in neutral ever since. We're still putting gas or the equally-bad corn ethanol in our vehicles. And our cars & trucks don't get much better gas mileage than they did in the days of the General Lee:

Fortunately, President Obama has taken bold moves to change that, pushing for significantly higher fuel efficiency standards. The new rules will save 2 billion barrels of oil.

That 2 billion barrels works out to 40 billion gallons of gas. At $3 a gallon, that's enough to buy Americans 8 billion bottles of whiskey. Seems a much better use of the money, don't you think?

Side note: Now I know why my parents refused to watch the Dukes of Hazzard with me. Felt like they only had enough plot for 15 minutes & the writers did all they could to stretch it to an hour. I've seen dogs being taken to the vet that dragged their feet less. Also, fun to watch the General Lee jumps again. Seemed completely plausible when I was 5.

DC Moves To Protect Pedestrians With New Cameras

During the first 6 months of 2010 (the most recent data period available), 8 pedestrians were killed by cars in DC & 41 pedestrians were run down in Virginia, both sharp increases. Recently, The Green Miles wondered if traffic cameras were possible to protect pedestrians.

Turns out it's not only possible - Lisa Sutter, the head of the MPD’s photo enforcement program, wants to bring crosswalk cameras to DC:

The D.C. police are hoping to install smaller, more mobile cameras in neighborhoods around town, catching drivers who fail to yield to pedestrians at crosswalks, block the box at intersections, or even fail to fully stop at stop signs, among other potential violations. The portable units would probably be battery- or solar-powered and affixed to small concrete pads set up around town, making them far more versatile than the permanent streetside cameras or cruiser cameras now in use. Their modest size would allow them to be used in areas where cameras couldn’t go before. [...]

The department would be continuously moving the cameras around to keep drivers guessing, and they’ll be accompanied by more signs telling drivers to obey the speed limit and stop for pedestrians. With the new technology, the units may be able to detect when a pedestrian has come to a crosswalk, then capture the plates of drivers who fail to yield. “I want to stigmatize [drivers] blowing past pedestrians,” Sutter said.

The new cameras could be on the streets this summer. Any chance we can get some over here in Northern Virginia?

I do have to wonder: Has Lisa Sutter considered the alternative of giant cats?

Short Version Of GOP Complaints About Obama's Energy Plan

How dare President Obama try to pick winners & losers among energy sources that are killing our climate, health & national security, and those that are not?

Yes, Global Warming Has Helped Trigger Past African Unrest

With ClimateProgress.org's Joe Romm linking Egyptian unrest over rising food prices to the climate crisis, Keith Kloor sneeringly dismisses Romm:

Let the record state that Egyptians have previously taken to the streets over food. For example, there were the “bread riots” in 1977, and in recent years the food riots in 2008 (which hit other parts of the world, as well). Was global warming involved in these instances, too?

Yeah, Joe! What now?

What's that you say? Maybe you should actually check if global warming contributed to an African crisis of the 1970s before using it in a taunt? I suppose:

In 2005, a series of climate modeling studies performed at NOAA / Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory indicated that the late 20th century Sahel drought was likely a climatic response to changing sea surface temperature patterns, and that it could be viewed as a combination of natural variability superimposed upon an anthropogenically forced regional drying trend.Using GFDL CM2.X, these climate model simulations indicated that the general late 20th century Sahel drying trend was attributable to human-induced factors; largely due to an increase in greenhouse gases and partly due to an increase in atmospheric aerosols. In IPCC future scenario A2 (CO2 value of ≈860 ppm) Sahel rainfall could be reduced by up to 25% by year 2100, according to climate models.

Kloor concludes that he marvels "at the hubris of someone who sees a global warming angle to the Egyptian revolt."

OH SNAP! Who'd ever link global warming to political revolt?

Huh? The Penta-what-now?

Fat Tire Rolling Into DC Area

Until just a few years ago, New Belgium Brewing's beer wasn't available east of the Mississippi River. It's been creeping slowly towards Virginia for several years, but now New Belgium is making a big move, expanding into the entire DC region:

New Belgium Brewing, maker of Fat Tire Amber Ale, announced plans today to expand their market territory along the eastern seaboard. The Colorado brewer will open Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. in September of 2011. The added territory will bring the nation’s third-largest craft brewer to 29 states.

But New Belgium isn't just coming to DC to sell beer. It'll also be pushing for clean energy & climate action:

New Belgium Brewing, the nation’s third largest craft brewery, today announced it is joining the fast-growing Business for Innovative Climate & Energy Policy (BICEP) coalition, a group of major American businesses pushing for passage of comprehensive energy and climate legislation in the U.S.

“New Belgium has long strived to be a sustainable business role model, but we also recognize that legislative advocacy is vital to creating the conditions for widespread sustainable business practices,” said Jenn Orgolini, Sustainability Director at New Belgium. “We view BICEP as our ally in D.C., giving us the opportunity to join other business voices in advocating for aggressive energy and climate policies that address the tremendous challenges and opportunities facing our country.”

New Belgium Brewing, based in Fort Collins, CO, is considered a leader in sustainable business practices in the craft beer industry. In 1998, New Belgium became the first brewery in America to subscribe to wind energy for its electrical needs. The brewery currently produces 15 percent of its electricity onsite, by harvesting methane from its process water treatment facility to fire a co-generation engine. New Belgium recently installed the largest private solar array in Colorado at 200kW and boasts one of the lowest water-to-beer production rates in the industry.

New Belgium may not focus on using organic ingredients, but their clean energy leadership is far more critical. And don't discount the water factor out West, where the climate crisis is worsening droughts just as it is here in the Southeast.

The Green Miles has been rooting for New Belgium's Fat Tire to come to DC since he first tried a pint more than three years ago in California. It's as tasty as a craft brew, but drinkable enough that on a hot summer night you could have a couple and not feel like Mr. Creosote.