How about politics played in the name of science and the environment? The environmental group, Greenpeace, recently led a coalition that bought the land designated for the expansion of London’s Heathrow airport. The group, which included actress Emma Thompson, owns the land that was allocated for Heathrow’s third runway. The director of Greenpeace, John Sauven, told the Associated Press that the new owners would never sell the land to the airport or government. The environmental group is concerned about the increase in greenhouse gases from the increased air traffic. They’ve written: Our Climate, Our Land on the Property. The disagreement has ended up in the British Cabinet, which “appears divided over the issue, which pits environmental concerns—and Britain’s commitment to controlling climate change by reducing carbon emissions—against economic growth and job creation.”

Not politics as usual for the environment? During Lisa P. Jackson’s (Obama’s nominee) recent confirmation hearing to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.), she promised that scientists would not take the back seat to political decisions. Jackson vowed that the environment and science would come first under her leadership. Both Jackson and Senator Barbara Boxer, chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, claim the Bush Administration let politics interfere with sound environmental policy.

“Science must be the backbone of what E.P.A. does,” Ms. Jackson said in her prepared opening statement according to the New York Times. “If I am confirmed, I will administer with science as my guide.”

We wish you the best Ms. Jackson, but somehow politics always rears its head—for better or for worse.

And in animal news…. In the eleventh hour, the Bush Administration recently announced its plans to remove the gray wolves in the western Great Lakes and northern Rocky Mountain regions from the federal endangered species list. However, the gray wolves in Wyoming will remain on the list because the state hasn’t provided adequate protections for the species. Although some scientists claim the wolf populations have rebounded, environmentalists and animal rights groups think this plan could be a last ditch effort to remove federal protections.

And now that you’ve started on your green resolutions for 2009, how about a detox? We all had a lot of fun during the holidays. We probably drank and ate too much. Some of you may be interested in getting those toxins (like excessive alcohol, smoking, caffeine, etc.) out of your system. Well, Planet Green offers 5 ways to detox your mind and body, which may “help you lose weight, think clearly and feel good.” The site suggests cutting out processed foods, caffeine, alcohol; breaking a sweat; and even doing yoga. Maybe one of those detoxification methods would work for you!

]]> http://www.popandpolitics.com/2009/01/15/the-green-report-science-and-politics/feed/ 0 http://www.popandpolitics.com/2009/01/05/cheapthrills-from-desegregation-to-our-first-daughters-first-day/ http://www.popandpolitics.com/2009/01/05/cheapthrills-from-desegregation-to-our-first-daughters-first-day/#comments Tue, 06 Jan 2009 05:54:46 +0000 ryan barrett http://www.popandpolitics.com/?p=10528 From the Little Rock 9 to the Obama girls’ first day at Sidwell Friends…

…what a difference half a century makes.

____________

This post originally appeared on Ryan Barrett’s blog.

Early voting in Florida is just one example of how busy election day will be … voting started Monday in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, and voting officials are already calling for more machines to help ease long lines. “We’ve never had this kind of crowd on the first day,” an election spokesperson told the Miami Herald.

Barack Obama is leaving the campaign trail … to spend Thursday and Friday with his seriously ill grandmother in Hawaii. Madelyn Dunham, 85, raised Obama during his adolescent and teenage years while his mother was in Indonesia. He speaks often of Dunham on the campaign trail, and had this to say about her during his acceptance speech of the Democratic nomination: “She’s the one who taught me about hard work. She’s the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me.”

Bank consolidation will likely continue … the New York Times is reporting. An anonymous official in the Treasury Department says the government doesn’t want to prop up weak banks with its $250 billion rescue package, and will encourage “super-regional banks” like KeyCorp in Cleveland and the SunTrust Banks in Atlanta to merge and absorb their suffering rivals.

So much for picking sides … We advised Barack Obama on Monday to avoid the temptation of rooting for the Tampa Bay Rays in the World Series to pick up votes, especially since the Rays eliminated Obama’s team, the Chicago White Sox, earlier in the playoffs. While Obama has officially said he is rooting for the Philadelphia Phillies, he was getting awfully chummy with Rays players at a campaign stop in Tampa Monday. “I have said from the beginning that I’m a unity candidate, bringing people together. So when you see a White Sox fan showing some love for the Rays and the Rays showing some love back, you know we’re onto something here,” Obama said.

The best lede of the day … goes to the London bureau of the Associated Press, which filed a breaking-news story starting with this awesome sentence: “Gwyneth Paltrow is helping her friend Madonna through breakup of her marriage.” In classic AP fashion, it cuts right to the heart of the story.