Gleaning the Green 5.28.09

Grist: King Corn, meet Big Oil

If I were the National Corn Growers Association, I think I might start getting nervous. They’re already in the fight of their lives with the EPA and Congress over corn ethanol’s place in the Renewable Fuel Standard and cap-and-trade legislation. Now they have to deal with Big Oil as a direct competitor.

Nature: Arctic thaw could prompt huge release of carbon dioxide

Thawing Arctic soils could release a billion tonnes of carbon every year by the end of this century, new evidence from test plots in Alaska suggests.

Bloomberg: Exxon Mobil Says Transition From Oil Is Century Away

Exxon Mobil Corp., the world’s largest refiner, said the transition away from oil-derived fuels is probably 100 years away. Petroleum-based fuels including gasoline and diesel, as well as hydrocarbons such as coal and natural gas, will remain the dominant sources of energy for factories, offices, homes and cars for decades because there are no viable alternatives, Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson told reporters today after Exxon Mobil’s annual shareholders meeting in Dallas.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington: You Don’t Know Jack

You Don’t Know Jack is an interactive graphic illustrating the intricate web of special interests Rep. Jack Murtha (D-PA) has spun around him. For many years, Rep. Murtha has been treating our tax dollars like his own personal piggy bank, doling out funds to donors, friends, and family members who ingratiate themselves, currying his favor. In exchange, Rep. Murtha greedily demands and receives tribute in the form of generous campaign donations, employment for relatives, and charitable contributions.

The Good Human: We Must Stop Living Throw-Away Lives

Nothing actually “goes away”, even when it leaves your house for places unknown. While it may not be your problem anymore, now it is everyone’s problem – either through land taken up for burying it in or the pollution coming from incinerating it. More and more “throw-away” stuff is being sold in stores now, which means these problems are only going to continue to get worse.

Mother Nature Network: EPA greenlights the ‘Appalachian Apocalypse’

500 square miles of Appalachian forest is gone forever due to illegal mountaintop mining, and the EPA doesn’t seem to mind. Last week I had the good fortune to attend an NRDC event with Robert Kennedy Jr. who spoke out against what he is calling “a crime against humanity” and the “greatest act of environmental destruction ever perpetrated by mankind.”

And it’s all completely and totally illegal.

Image: lepiaf.geo at Flickr under CC License

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