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.