global warming

Just how far are some people willing to go to keep driving their SUVs?
Check out this (hopefully tongue in cheek) video of techo fixes for global warming.

Wacky? The New York Times reported last year that most scientists and governmnt agencies used to think so,
"But now, in a major reversal, some of the world's most prominent scientists say the proposals deserve a serious look because of growing concerns about global warming."

Hmmm. Sounds like another video. What was it called? Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying about SUVs and Love the Bomb:

Biofuels may increase, not decrease global warming because they result in farmers clearing natural vegetation for crops, according to studies published Thursday in the leading journal Science and reported in the New York Times.

The studies indicate that even biofuels produced on already existing cropland could increase global warming as farmers in other areas clear rainforests and other natural areas to take advantage of a resulting rise in commodity prices.

Of course, biofuels are a renewable, not fossil fuel and may have other non-global warming advantages such as supporting farmers and world peace. The U.S. is unlikely to invade Iowa for its corn.

Scientists are also studying how to some day produce biofuels economically from agricultural bi-products, which would eliminate the land-use impact.

Took yesterday off from the blog for, you know, writing purposes. The print paper can be demanding. Crazy old media. (I'd insert an emoticon here, but isn't that just so obvious?)

1. Wine in the news. Saves lives in Greece (though the story is tragic) and especially in the Willamette Valley, heralds global warming.

2. L.A. catching up with Eugene. OK, maybe surpassing us. But Weyerhauser and NextStep do a great job even if they're not city-sponsored.

3. Pollution kills. Watch out for that rising economy thing, China.

4. More "Californication." Actually, I got nothing against Cali, but plans to screw the lower Columbia and Coos Bay don't make me happy.

5. Bush may be an idiot. But he's a loyal one!

6. Got art? Got debt? If you're a college, sell off that art! Or maybe not.

7. Stupid city ordinance. I kind of fell in love with the blog posts about xeriscaping here. (But if you're into dahlias, you'll also be happy.) Extra cool: It's by Ketzel Levine. She lives in Portland. I heard a rumor that she used to work at KLCC, but I can't find any documentation of that. Yes? No? Readers?

8. Fear and photos. A bad combination for civil liberties and common sense.

9. Idaho is a gorgeous state. But one of its senators ain't lookin' too good right now.

10. Were you awake for the lunar eclipse?

This is what it looked like in San Francisco.

A Stanford trained global warming scientist that has been biking around the world to raise awareness about global warming will be in Eugene on Thursday.

David Kroodsma will give a presentation at 5:30 pm on Thursday, August 30th in the Bascom/Tykeson Room, Eugene Public Library.

Over the past two years, Kroodsma has biked from California to the southern tip of South America and has recently biked from Boston to Seattle. He is now biking south and will finish this journey in the San Francisco Bay Area in September, according to a press release. For more information, check out his website.

From a press release sent to EW on July 30, 2008.

August 4-12, nearly 1,200 members of the American Association for Nude Recreation (AANR) will gather in Marcola, Oregon at the Willamettans nudist resort, to celebrate this year's convention theme "Here Comes the Fun."

I'm a little confused on the theme here. OK, so I just arrived at the convention. I've unpacked my two bottles of sunscreen. Finally stripped to my birthday suit after many long and sweaty and clothed hours driving out to Marcola. I step out of my RV and see a big banner that proclaims "Here Comes the Fun!" and so I smile a little, thinking maybe the message is directed towards me. But then by the sixth morning, when I step out of my RV with a slight headache from all the mint juleps I drank the night before while chatting up a fellow nudist on the bocce ball court, and see that banner, won't I think maybe the fun has already arrived, that it's been here for quite some time, and that maybe I'm just not getting it until ... finally ... it hits me: Holy Moly! It's a play off of a Beatles Song! Because, you know, I'm a 55 year old retired chiropractor and former Flower Child who thinks the Beatles were, like, the Kings of Rock and still are the Kings of Rock. My life comes back into focus. I finally feel a bit ... you know ... mature for being able to enjoy this resort without desiring anything more than a good game of shuffleboard and many hours cooking my wrinkled, melanoma-kissed skin in the dry hot heat by the volleyball courts.

Well, while writing out this scenario I wasn't aware that the R-G took this same press release and turned it into a feature story. But, now that I've read that piece, I'm mostly thinking of the guy they quoted in their Aug. 5 article:
"You can't bowl totally nude, you have to wear shoes," said Chicago area resident George Morrison, 75, who drove his RV about 2,000 miles to make the first day of the convention on Saturday.

Hmmm, driving RVs (that get less than 10 mpg) over 2,000 miles across the country to attend a convention in the nude ... it just makes me proud to be an American, really.

Let's endure some more freedom!