The Overstory by Richard PowersMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
My favorite book of 2019. A great book about people and trees, and a good antidote for complacency and cynicism.
View all my reviews
Sunday, December 29, 2019
The Overstory
The Overstory by Richard PowersMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
My favorite book of 2019. A great book about people and trees, and a good antidote for complacency and cynicism.
View all my reviews
Our Living Ancestors: The History and Ecology of Old-growth Forests in Wisconsin by John BatesMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Northern Wisconsin Naturalist John Bates has written a great book about remnants of old growth forests. This book is not only a social and natural history of these bits of forest, it is also a great guidebook, so if you like exploring Wisconsin, this will be a must-have book to take along with you.
View all my reviews
Thursday, November 21, 2019
Evers' Law
Governor Evers inexplicably signed an ALEC bill making protests that take trespass on pipeline property a felony. Laws against trespassing already exist. This is about keeping the fossil fuel flowing through the pipelines.
Fossil Fuel companies know that their biggest immediate threat isn't legislation, but loss of Wall Street support. Investors are starting to get itchy about fossil fuels. Pipelines are expensive, and the returns are not as sure as they used to be as, in the long run, renewables become cheaper. These companies know they have a short window of time to get their planet-destroying product extracted and sold.
Protests that hinder pipeline expansion even for a year or two create a loss of confidence for investors.
Hence the reason behind the Felony protest bill, now to be called "Evers' Law". Fossil Fuel corporations are going to try to get pipeline expansion done as quickly as possible, before law suits are settled, so that their existence is a fait accompli "a done deal".
Protests that actually impede expansion slow things down, giving courts time to look at environmental impacts and the rights of landowners and tribes. Investors start looking elsewhere for a sure thing.
Its hard to know why Governor Evers knifed his allies on this. Politically, it will not win him one ally in the State senate or Assembly. It will take some of the energy out of his claim to care about the environment. It won't be enough for newly energized young people, environmentalists, civil libertarians, and tribal members that he is "better than the Republican alternative".
The first time someone is sentenced under this bill (and it will happen!) we need to call it "Evers' Law" I really hope he can recover from this. He could start by having his Climate Task force research place a moratorium on pipeline expansion in the State.
Fossil Fuel companies know that their biggest immediate threat isn't legislation, but loss of Wall Street support. Investors are starting to get itchy about fossil fuels. Pipelines are expensive, and the returns are not as sure as they used to be as, in the long run, renewables become cheaper. These companies know they have a short window of time to get their planet-destroying product extracted and sold.
Protests that hinder pipeline expansion even for a year or two create a loss of confidence for investors.
Hence the reason behind the Felony protest bill, now to be called "Evers' Law". Fossil Fuel corporations are going to try to get pipeline expansion done as quickly as possible, before law suits are settled, so that their existence is a fait accompli "a done deal".
Protests that actually impede expansion slow things down, giving courts time to look at environmental impacts and the rights of landowners and tribes. Investors start looking elsewhere for a sure thing.
Its hard to know why Governor Evers knifed his allies on this. Politically, it will not win him one ally in the State senate or Assembly. It will take some of the energy out of his claim to care about the environment. It won't be enough for newly energized young people, environmentalists, civil libertarians, and tribal members that he is "better than the Republican alternative".
The first time someone is sentenced under this bill (and it will happen!) we need to call it "Evers' Law" I really hope he can recover from this. He could start by having his Climate Task force research place a moratorium on pipeline expansion in the State.
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
A Look Around the Place
I had a Coleridge-Kubla Khan moment (sans the opium)the other day. I'd been thinking about restarting a blog for the past few months, or perhaps starting a new one. I awoke from a nap the other day with a great name for a blog focusing on walking and the environment. It seemed such a good name that I decided to start a new blog. About an hour after waking up, I completely forgot the name. It was something like "A look around the place" but it was much better. So, anyway, instead of starting a new blog, I am going to continue with the old one. I do know a bit how Coleridge felt, though..
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