There's a great article in today's Oil Daily about the critical importance of top-notch energy information from the US government.   Why on earth have we let this capability atrophy over the past decade or so, especially as we've become ever more dependent on imported oil?  Priorities, priorities...gotta fund tax giveaways to rich people, massive pork barrel spending, and of course the wonderful Iraq war! Anyway, here are some excerpts...

According to the 2005 Index of Environmental Sustainability, a measure of overall progress towards environmental sustainability (based upon a set of 20 core "indicators"), the United States basically sucks with regards to the environment.  

Well, I guess it doesn't suck if you think that ranking 45th in the world, behind Botswana, Bhutan, Guyana, Uruguay, Argentina, Japan, most of Western Europe, and even Russia (#33) for god's sake, is a good thing.

But then again, the United States is the country where people don't believe in evolution, think global warming's good because it makes the winters less uncomfortable, and vote for George W. Bush as President.   So what can we expect?  Gentlemen, start your Hummers...vroom, vroom!!

There's a fascinating, passionate debate raging in the environmental community right now over the question:  "Is Environmentalism Dead?"  The debate wsa kicked off with an essay ("Yhe Death of Enviromentalism") by Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus, released at an October 2004 meeting of the Environmental Grantmakers Association.  

As a pasionate environmentalist myself, I find this whole debate fascinating, but also frustrating and depressing, as the environment continues to deteriorate around the world while environmentalists bicker and form the "circular firing squad."  

Even more than environmentalism, though, I feel like the conclusions reached by Shellenberger and Nordhaus could be applied to liberalism/progressivism in general.  For instance, if we substitute the word "liberal" for "environmental" in the following comments, it makes perfect sense:

Someone on another blog suggested that we wear black on on Inauguration Day in protest.  I thought that was a good idea, given how much there is to protest these days.  Here's a short list:

Geez, can't this guy stay out of trouble?  First he takes on General Motors in "Roger and Me".   Then, it's more corporate scumbags in "The Big One".  Next, he's after the poor, beleagured gun manufacturers (not to mention Charlton Heston!) in "Bowling for Columbine".  Finally, he has the nerve to go after the Big Cheese himself, President Dick Cheney, in "Fahrenheit 911".  My god, what next?  Will Moore attack Cheney's assistant, George "Dumbya" Bush, as well?   Or even the Rumsfeld the Conquerer?

Wait, before you troll rate me for the title, it's not ME who believes that.  No, it's ultra-conservative crackpot Adam Yoshida at it again.  Yes, he's baaaaaaack!!!

Last we heard from this Asian male version of Anne Coulter, he was defending Don Rumsfeld (12/21), railing against "The Gay Attempt to Rape the Memory of Honest Abe" (12/19; no, I'm not kidding), and -- my personal favorite -- defending torture (12/16)!  So, you ask, what has gotten Generalissimo Yoshida all riled up now?  You got it, the "Democratic Coup in the State of Washington."  

Once again, in the dark of night -- in fact the Night Before Christmas Eve -- the Grinch Administration has struck once again in its ongoing "Stealth War on the Environment."

This time, it's the forests again -- "the biggest change in forest-use policies in nearly three decades," according to the Washington Post.

This morning, UN climate change talks collapsed once again, and the US is largely to blame.  Yawn!!! And, once again, the United States finds itself on the same side of a critically important global issue as big OPEC oil producers.  Hey, but what what else is new with the crazy, radical, dumbass Bush Administration?  Nothing to see here...move along.  Wake me up when it's over.  Wait a minute, though! The story's not completely finished, and there is still hope left for the polar bears and that maddening, silly, big-brained species known as "homo sapiens."

From The Center for American Progress, as referenced by the League of Conservation Voters, here's your new Energy Secretary.  Enjoy!

On Dec. 9, MoveOn.org, sent out an e-mail stating: "In the last year, grassroots contributors like us gave more than $300 million to the Kerry campaign and the DNC, and proved that the Party doesn't need corporate cash to be competitive. Now it's our Party: we bought it, we own it, and we're going to take it back."   This has prompted a feeding frenzy on the right.