Category Archives: Environment

A Question For the Physicists: Is Lockheed’s Hydrogen Fusion Real or Vaporware?

Posted on March 4, 2013 by mikethemadbiologist

This is way outside of my expertise, but, if real, this seems like a critical technological breakthrough (boldface mine): At Google’s Solve For X, Charles Chase describes what his team has been working on: a trailer-sized fusion power plant that … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Environment | 13 Comments

The Conservative Bias of Our Not-Liberal Media: The Environmental Beat Edition

Posted on February 17, 2013 by mikethemadbiologist

Recently, I noted that certain policies, even those are quite popular, never get discussed (forget about being enacted into law). One reason is that large scale media outlets have a bias–and it’s definitely not liberal (boldface mine): Peter Dykstra, who … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, News Media | 1 Comment

Reconsidering the Easter Island Collapse (and the Irony of Jared Diamond’s Interpretation of It)

Posted on January 24, 2013 by mikethemadbiologist

Barbara King recently asked “Why Does Jared Diamond Make Anthropologists So Mad?” It’s not my place to speak for anthropologists (I’m not Mike the Mad Anthropologist), but I do know what has made me very skeptical of Diamond’s claims: his … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Easter Island, Ecology, Environment | 3 Comments

I Hope You Survived Frankenstorm

Posted on October 30, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

As far as I can tell, most of Boston did alright, but New York City was hammered. Last night, NYU Medical Center’s Neonatal and Pediatric ICUs had to be evacuated, and Coney Island Hospital could not be reached by emergency … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment | 1 Comment

The Politics of Pythons

Posted on August 15, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

If you read the scientific bloggysphere, you might have come across posts describing how ‘escaped’ snakes–often pet Burmese pythons–are devouring the Everglades’ native wildlife (they’re usually not snakes that got loose, but were let loose by morons who realized that … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservatives, Democrats, Environment, Fucking Morons | 3 Comments

Dear Former Climate ‘Skeptic’: The Coalition of the Sane Does Not Need Your Validation

Posted on July 30, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

So go fuck yourself. Seriously. I agree with William Connolley: Muller has done nothing more than re-confirm something which had already been reconfirmed years ago. We knew then global warming is largely due to human emissions of greenhouse gases, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservatives, Environment, Fucking Morons, Global Warming | 3 Comments

On Boston’s Fishweirs and the Demise of Coral Reefs

Posted on July 16, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

Andrew Revkin, in response to a NY Times op-ed claiming that the coral reefs are doomed, finds some other marine ecologists who disagree. Frank Bruno states: It is scary, but is it true? I don’t think so. I have been … Continue reading →

Posted in Boston, Ecology, Environment, Fish, Food, Lobstah! | 2 Comments

The Problems With Carbon Taxes

Posted on June 7, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

Noah Smith has a really good post about the problems with carbon taxes. I want to raise two more. The first involves a slight disagreement with Noah, who writes: 1. Carbon taxes are politically infeasible in the U.S. A few … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Energy, Environment, Taxes | 2 Comments

Why We Can’t Have Nice Things: The Co-opted Sierra Club Edition

Posted on April 3, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

Author and environmentalist Sandra Steingraber explains her decision to ‘break up’ with the Sierra Club (boldface mine): But more than a month has past since your executive director, Michael Brune, admitted in Time magazine that the Sierra Club had, between … Continue reading →

Posted in Bidness, Environment, Progressives | Comments Off on Why We Can’t Have Nice Things: The Co-opted Sierra Club Edition

Japan Now Has to Create a Third-Best Option for Energy Generation

Posted on March 15, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

I’ve described nuclear power as the second-best option. Just to be clear, I don’t like nuclear power, but, in my opinion, decommissioning nuclear power plants should be the last step on the path to renewable energy, not the first. Well, … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Environment, Global Warming, Nukular Stuff | Comments Off on Japan Now Has to Create a Third-Best Option for Energy Generation