The ultimate urban adventure ride

This is going to have to go down one of these Sundays:


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Beach, mountain, urban jungle, park, cliffs, hills and food - all in a single 30-mile cruise.

Saving it here for my posterior.

A glimpse behind the curtain - WSJ climate science wingnuttery

First, a disclaimer: the Wall Street Journal's news reporting on climate science, clean energy and related environmental issues is and has always been stellar. To a person, the reporters understand the underlying science, are subject matter experts in each of the relevant fields and, when it comes to cleantech, are the lodestars of accuracy, healthy skepticism and a desire to understand the complex, cascading set of issues.

Then there's the Journal editorial page. The page is known for its unabashed defense of ... well, of its own quirky ideology. Despite its passionate pleadings to the contrary, the editors are not exactly free market purists - they favor rigged markets that benefit their ideology. They're also not exactly capitalists; they like profits when they're privatized, as long as the related costs are socialized. But one thing's for certain: they disparage anything that they consider "green" or, heaven forbid, "liberal." A chance to combine the two - well, that's fodder for a week's worth of material.

Usually, the wacky, unsigned opinions on the Journal's editorial page give little insight into the personalities behind these, um, "unique" outlooks. At least, that was the case, until they started recording themselves on video and posting it on the internets. In this sample, James Freeman and Joe Rago discuss Kansas's decision to ban new coal-fired power plants. The state's officials based their decision on the basis of the unreasonable carbon risk they pose to ratepayers - that is, the hidden, "socialized costs" the proponents, Sunflower Electric, want to force unwittingly on Kansas electricity customers.

(Brief related note: I first wrote about this likely outcome four years ago.)

Rago begins with the quickly falsifiable claim that "everyone agrees Kansas needs more baseload coal-fired electricity," follows up with how carbon dioxide is "necessary for all life on the planet," and generally gets more "creative" from there. Watch:



Ouch. Are these the men you want to trust with your economic future? Amazing that millions of Journal readers uncritically accept advice on climate science and energy policy from a couple of guys who are all CEED talking points, no cattle.

Oh, and Joe? That little claim that Kansas' decision is "unprecedented, the first in the nation?" Once again, the facts are heavily biased against your opinion ... California banned new coal-fired power plants two years ago. Heck, even Idaho has banned them due to negative health and environmental effects, and Florida's Republican Governor (that's your party, Joe) rejected new coal plants because they were too expensive and environmentally unsound. Texas rejected plans for several new coal pants in favor of investments in efficiency, wind and some natural gas. A half dozen other states have either de-facto bans, or are considering them.

But you don't have to go all the way to Kansas to find opposition to coal, Joe - just take a cab uptown to JP Morgan.

That, Joe, is what you call a "nationwide trend." But then again, those are facts - annoying little things, ain't they, Joe?

Amusingly, Joe has a history of being fact-addled - so much so, in fact, that even Hugh Hewett has had some fun at Joe's considerable expense:

HH: Joe, you’re 23.

JR: Sure.

HH: Can you be expert in anything? And I’m serious here.

JR: I think I can write a thoughtful article, even though I’m 23.

HH: That wasn’t…the question is, can you be expert in anything at 23?

JR: No, I don’t think so.

So next time you read a Wall Street Journal opinion piece about climate or energy policy and want to tear your hair out, take pity instead - Joe Rago needs all the sympathy he can get.

Generation Debt

I met Anya Kamenetz a few weeks back in San Francisco - she came out for a nightmarish week of conferences on clean energy, carbon markets and efficiency (nightmarish because they were all the same week - and to my untrained eye, seem to all be on the same topic! Oy.) Anya wanted to meet with one of my clients to talk about urban renewal and the very real roles that cities can (and should!) play in creating a sustainable future.

Anyway, I read up on some of her work, and ... she's good. The issue of America becoming a debtor nation is not trivial, and lots of ink being spilled on the topic these days. But Anya saw it coming, wrote about it extensively for some pretty smart publications, and has an excellent blog on the topic. Shout out to you, Anya, you're a smart cookie (mmmm, cookie!)

Gone skiin'

For the first time in a couple of years, I managed to get in some good skiing this season - incredibly deep powder up in Bend over Christmas, followed by some great (and deep and fresh) ski touring in Tahoe and Colorado.

Rather then write about it - after all, writing about skiing is bor-ring - I made a video. Not much less boring, but there is a killer wipe-out at the end involving a sled, a poorly-timed jump and two lovely lady friends.

Check it out.

Tears of joy

I am crying for change as the waves lap the Marin headlands and the shores of Baker Beach,

My chest tightens when visions of UItah's Dead Horse Point rush into view,




I am weeping and watching the Sunday crowds stroll down 7th Avenue in the West Village,




My breath heaves as I am transported to the tall grass prairies that wave beneath Montana's Rocky Mountain Front,




My tears well up as orca whales surface and sink in the icy waters off Juneau,




My legs shiver at the sound of Chuck Brown's funky horns blasting at a DC nightclub,



or bluegrass brewed fresh in Nashville,



The cries of a hundred thousand starlings soaring above a coast range grove -



I have never been alive when a true leader has arrived,



only to turn around and say, "Your lead."

Yes we can ...

Advance: Bush's State of the Union (excerpts)

A well-placed friend in DC just sent me what she claims are excerpts from President Bush's State of the Union speech tonight - these are from his comments on energy and climate change. Seems legit (*note - read carefully - it's easy to miss the nuance from a man of such lofty genius.

- “That’s why I’m calling on the Congress to fully fund my Administration’s Future Gen program to build clean coal power plants that will reduce our competitivity with foreign sources of oil and increase our commitment to carbon emissions.”

- “Congress needs to fully permit and fund the development of our oil reserves on the outer continental shelf. These reserves can be developed with clean, cutting edge technologies with no environmental damage, because nobody lives in the ocean.”

- “We have got to develop carbon capture and rendition technologies so we can keep the carbon locked up before it attacks America again.”

- “My administration believes in the promise of solar, I believe in the sun. In fact, top scientists with the Department of Energy have evidence that the sun comes up every single day, rain or shine. We need to study this and, if confirmed, Congress should set aside significant funding to confirm these studies.”

- “Finally, America can not achieve its energy and climate goals without learning how to pronounce the word ‘nukular.’ Tonight, I am announcing a new initiative through the U.S. Department of Education to train America’s children in the appropriate spelling and diction of nukular technologies. I am committing $14 trillion dollars to this program, which is about what it would cost to build two or three nukular power plants by the year 2075 – enough to dramatically reduce our discussion of carbon dioxide emission reductions while accelerating the deployment of kerosene lanterns, candles and dung fires. Together, we can take America back to the future, which, with my commitment, looks a lot like the past we all miss so dearly. Thank you and God Bless.”

Running

I am running through the Presidio and the scents of eucalyptus and the ocean rush at me in the wind I create as I run. My route cuts down to the water on a trail that begins near the entrance to the park at 15th Avenue, where the old veterans hospital glares across a parking lot, graffiti and sheets of plywood for windows. The trail is sandy through the trees, these eucalyptus that sharpen the air but don’t belong here: pungent occupiers of ancient sand dunes.

I am running, it is after work and I am tired but need to run to clear my head of the day’s malodorous scraps -- angry colleagues and arguments with managers and one too many stories of war atrocities. I struggled today to focus attention on the feeling of the smells as they passed across my nostrils, just observe the sensation and not react, but the odors overwhelmed my concentration and reach my mind and so my day is shot, thinking of how nice it will be to run.

I run toward the ocean and the smell of the trees recedes and that giant wilderness takes over my senses, gentle waves burning my eyes and taking back the sand and sharing a mist with the succulents that creep from the edge of the forest. I run and face across my shoulder, toward the sun and the sea, and the waves that crash and climb on the headlands across the water are not like the waves here beside me: they travel unimpeded across the great ocean and are not ready to stop at Marin. These waves lap the shore metrically, but those waves well up suddenly and explode and disappear and reappear.


Baker Beach
Originally uploaded by iandhd


I am running along the beach and there are three fishermen, I run under their lines and wonder why they fish on a beach. What do they catch? I want to stay here on the beach and watch them, come back tomorrow when I’m supposed to be on a conference call and drink beer and lay in the sun til my chest is burnt. I run and the foam from the waves washes toward me and I dance along the rim with the sandpipers, my shoes don’t get wet.

I run up and away from the water and my legs burn and my mouth fills with saliva and I spit, and my face is bright red. I wonder how far I will run, which route I will take to return.

I am running on a path beside the road and the bridge climbs out from behind the trees. My legs are past their initial fatigue and my breath has found its rhythm and my mind wanders, place receding in the dull comfort of exertion.