The common thread.

"Every single vector of the jackpot was weaponized by the same disruptor: human nature. Now, it might have manifested itself as selfishness, or venality, or simple stupidity, but at the bottom, it all amounted to the same trait: our persistent, self-destructive resistance to acting for a collective good."

Philippines closing the mines and not even apologizing

NPR had an interview with Philippines Environmental Secretary Gina Lopez today, who shocked world markets by announcing the closure of 23 mines due to environmental concerns. The Philippines, the world's largest source for minerals, including tech-important nickel, is drowning under the global needs of minerals and is paying a heavy cost in resources, human as well as natural. Lopez nixed a proposal from Nickelodeon's parent company, Viacom, for an underwater theme park off the eco-friendly island of Palawan.

Hello, 400 hectares of underwater theme park - you're going to kill our environment, man. You know, people with money, they come in, and then they just do things. Like, the world is not here for you to rape.

And then it happened

After watching and knowing this was on the way, it has happened.
Expect the unexpected.

We have been watching the ice and been sad about it ever since the Ward-Hunt ice shelf cleaved. It's not surprising, but it's pretty sad all the same.

Breathe like you mean it.

"It seems safe to conclude that we won’t be seeing a monthly value below 400 ppm this year – or ever again for the indefinite future," Ralph Keeling, director of the Scripps CO2 Program at the University of California-San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography, wrote in September.

Bees, beware

beekeepers in the U.S. lost 44 percent of their colonies in the past year -- the second highest annual loss reported in the past 10 years.

the facts are clear

Clean energy isn’t pie in the sky – the Germans created 250,000 jobs in less time than it will take for John McCain and Big Oil to drill for oil offshore -- and bring it to market. Failing to invest in new energy means we will continue to fall behind in the competitive race for new jobs and manufacturing.That’s not the road to smart energy independence; it’s a backwards formula for more Exxon dependence.

Ten years to wait for off-shore drilling to come to fruition or a plan that makes a difference in mere weeks? The answer seems obvious, to me. If Obama's plan makes enough sense that environmentalists from all walks of life and with many divergent causes support it, it will be the first time that they can agree on a direction. Now that's what I call progress.