New Bill Would Cripple America's Most Important Pollution Law, Despite Strong Public Support for Clean Air Act, Some in Congress Are Taking Yet Another Swipe at Repealing It

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2011/clean-air-act-03-03-2011.html

Center for Biological Diversity, March 3, 2011

WASHINGTON— Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) plan to introduce legislation today to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from implementing a U.S. Supreme Court order and curbing carbon dioxide and other dangerous greenhouse gas pollutants under the Clean Air Act. The bill is the latest in a string of attacks on a law that has dramatically reduced air pollution while at the same time producing tremendous public-health and economic benefits.

“Poll after poll shows that the public supports the EPA and the Clean Air Act. Study after study finds that the economic and public-health benefits produced by the Act far outweigh the costs of curbing pollution. But clearly, to some in Congress, big polluters’ profits matter more,” said Kassie Siegel, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “It’s sad, but not shocking, that fossil fuel interests have captured so many members of Congress. Now’s the time for true leadership by President Obama to do what is right and what the American public wants."

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"Sonali Kolhatkar" - The Afghan War is Brutal, Expensive, Unpopular, and Ineffective – So Why Are We Spending Billions on It?

Published on Thursday, March 3, 2011 by CommonDreams.org

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/03/03

Leading Afghan Feminist Wants the U.S. and NATO to Leave Her Nation

by Sonali Kolhatkar

"The sad truth is that Obama’s war policies have turned out to be even more of a nightmare than I expected.” – Malalai Joya, A Woman Among Warlords

While millions of Americans are experiencing unemployment, wage stagnation, rising tuition, dwindling social services, and poverty at levels not seen since the Great Depression, an unjustifiably large proportion of our taxes are being used to cause death and destruction in Afghanistan. With Afghanistan being the longest war the U.S. has ever officially waged, we should carefully examine the costs of the war - financial and otherwise - and ask ourselves, is it really worth it?Afghan activist and former Member of Parliament, Malalai Joya, wants the U.S. and NATO out of her country. She will soon embark on a new US speaking tour to help reinvigorate the war debate.

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Fareed Zakaria" - U.S. Decline in Global Arena: Is America No Longer No. 1?

By FAREED ZAKARIA Fareed Zakaria 2 hrs 59 mins ago

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/08599205661000;_ylt=AuENtGpt2DYp0W_Usq35xPus0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNrNmVmNDB2BGFzc2V0A3RpbWUvMjAxMTAzMDMvMDg1OTkyMDU2NjEwMDAEY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3BvcwM2BHBvcwMzBHB0A2hvbWVfY29rZQRzZWMDeW5faGVhZGxpbmVfbGlzdARzbGsDYW5hbHlzaXNhcmVh

I am an American, not by accident of birth but by choice. I voted with my feet and became an American because I love this country and think it is exceptional. But when I look at the world today and the strong winds of technological change and global competition, it makes me nervous. Perhaps most unsettling is the fact that while these forces gather strength, Americans seem unable to grasp the magnitude of the challenges that face us. Despite the hyped talk of China's rise, most Americans operate on the assumption that the U.S. is still No. 1.

But is it? Yes, the U.S. remains the world's largest economy, and we have the largest military by far, the most dynamic technology companies and a highly entrepreneurial climate. But these are snapshots of where we are right now. The decisions that created today's growth - decisions about education, infrastructure and the like - were made decades ago. What we see today is an American economy that has boomed because of policies and developments of the 1950s and '60s: the interstate-highway system, massive funding for science and technology, a public-education system that was the envy of the world and generous immigration policies.

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"Richard Ingham & Laurent Banguet" - World's sixth mass extinction may be underway -- study

by Richard Ingham and Laurent Banguet Richard Ingham And Laurent Banguet 1 hr 4 mins ago

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110303/ts_afp/environmentbiodiversityextinction;_ylt=At_KYIFejYvEEo9_5QbC2Vqs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTQ3dXFrc3AzBGFzc2V0A2FmcC8yMDExMDMwMy9lbnZpcm9ubWVudGJpb2RpdmVyc2l0eWV4dGluY3Rpb24EY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3BvcwMxMARwb3MDNwRwdANob21lX2Nva2UEc2VjA3luX2hlYWRsaW5lX2xpc3QEc2xrA3N0dWR5d29ybGRzcw--

PARIS (AFP) – Mankind may have unleashed the sixth known mass extinction in Earth's history, according to a paper released on Wednesday by the science journal Nature.

Over the past 540 million years, five mega-wipeouts of species have occurred through naturally-induced events.

But the new threat is man-made, inflicted by habitation loss, over-hunting, over-fishing, the spread of germs and viruses and introduced species, and by climate change caused by fossil-fuel greenhouse gases, says the study.

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“BBC” - Ex-FBI agent Robert Levinson missing in Iran 'is alive'

3 March 2011

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12641909

Mr. Levinson has been missing since March 2007

Robert Levinson, a retired FBI agent who disappeared on the Iranian island of Kish four years ago, is alive, the US Department of State says.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said there were indications he was being held somewhere in south-west Asia.

She added that the US had asked the Iranian government to make a humanitarian effort to return him safely to his family.

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“BBC” - Food prices hit new record highs, says UN food agency

3 March 2011

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12638085

Global food prices have hit record highs, and could rise even further, according to the United Nations.

The UN's Food Price Index rose 2.2% in February to the highest level since the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) began monitoring prices in 1990.

It also warned that spikes in the oil price could make the "already precarious" situation in the food market even worse.

Apart from sugar, the FAO said all commodity groups had risen in price.

Oil prices recently hit two-and-a-half year highs due to political unrest in North Africa and the Middle East.

The FAO said the volatility in the oil markets was adding to an already difficult and uncertain situation.

"This adds even more uncertainty concerning the price outlook just as plantings for crops in some of the major growing regions are about to start," said the FAO's David Hallam.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it was "extremely concerned" about the situation.

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“Tanya Somanader” - Scott Walker’s Budget Bans Birth Control Coverage And Eliminates Access To Health Care Services For Women

By Tanya Somanader on Mar 3rd, 2011 at 11:48 am

http://thinkprogress.org/2011/03/03/walker-birth-control-women-health/

In the midst of fighting his union-busting crusade, Wisconsin’s embattled Gov. Scott Walker (R) unveiled his budget on Tuesday. Insisting on balancing the budget without raising taxes or fees, Walker proposed a two-year plan in which he expects students, participants in the SeniorCare prescription drug plan, poor families receiving health care or welfare, and local schools to make sacrifices. As one state lawmaker put it, his $900 million cut in state aid to schools is “an absolute annihilation” of public education. But targeting students, teachers, seniors, and poor people is not enough. He is also proposing to repeal Wisconsin’s Contraceptive Equity Law because, apparently for Walker, a budget also has to attack women’s health:

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“Brad Johnson” - Committee From Koch’s Upton Calls Carbon Health Threat A ‘Myth’

By Brad Johnson on Mar 3rd, 2011 at 6:51 pm

http://thinkprogress.org/2011/03/03/koch-fred-upton-myth/

Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) today introduced legislation with Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) to block the Environmental Protection Agency from implementing Clean Air Act protections against global warming pollution, rejecting the counsel of America’s public health advocates. A boon to Koch Industries and the other polluters who supported his campaign, Upton’s legislation would nullify the EPA’s Supreme Court-mandated scientific finding that burning fossil fuels is damaging our climate system. At a climate hearing on this week Upton justified his legislation by claiming the threat greenhouse gases pose to air quality and public health is a “myth”:

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“Kaid Benfield” - Are ‘smart cities’ not as smart as they think they are?

by Kaid Benfield

3 Mar 2011

http://www.grist.org/kingdom/living-green

Cross-posted from the Natural Resources Defense Council.

"Intelligent cities" and "smart cities" are all the rage right now, especially in corporate image advertising related to emerging technology. But is there a downside?

I think there may be, insofar as those phrases are used to describe tech-based panaceas for urban problems whose roots lie not in a lack of sophisticated information flow, but in a half-century or more of dumb growth patterns, central-city disinvestment, and poor neighborhood design.   

Just a couple of days ago, I mentioned the clearly discernible trend of large, multinational corporations working to get ahead of the sustainability curve and position themselves as leaders in 21st-century management systems that can help cities. This is mostly a very good thing, since more forward thinking by corporations about solving our environmental and social problems can indeed help. Many of us have already seen how smart-phone apps of various kinds, real-time information at transit stops, and tech-based tools like Google Earth and Walk Score have empowered planners, civic leaders, and ordinary people like you and me to live and work better. More of this is to be applauded.

But futuristic technology won't fix many of our basic urban problems, any more than "gizmo green" add-ons to buildings will overcome the unsustainability inherent in lousy building locations or lousy architecture. Sprawl will still be sprawl; disinvestment will still be disinvestment; traffic will still be traffic; sprawl-aided obesity will still be obesity.

Here's my friend Steve Mouzon on "gizmo green":

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“Lisa Hymas” - Not actually cheaper by the dozen. Are rich Americans having more kids?

by Lisa Hymas

http://www.grist.org/article/2011-03-03-are-rich-americans-having-more-kids

 In Tina Fey's recent piece in The New Yorker, she writes that elite Manhattanites seem to be trying to outpopulate the rest of us: 

I thought that raising an only child would be the norm in New York, but I'm pretty sure my daughter is the only child in her class without a sibling. All over Manhattan, large families have become a status symbol. Four beautiful children named after kings and pieces of fruit are a way of saying, "I can afford a four-bedroom apartment and $150,000 in elementary-school tuition fees each year. How you livin'?"

Are the super-rich really having more kids? In the last few years -- particularly before the economic meltdown -- anecdotes and frothy trend pieces on the subject proliferated. Actual data have been more elusive. 

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