Biofuels are prime cause of food crisis, says leaked report

• Read my lips: To say that biofuels cause food prices to increase is either stupid, misleading or both. First-generation biofuels cause food prices to increase, because first-generation biofuels are made from food plants. Duh. Some companies thought it was opportune to make a quick buck selling first-generation biofuels without regard for impacts on the global food market, and there you have it.
• You’re parroting back at me that hogwash about second-generation biofuels not being marketable yet? Make biodiesel from non-food crops. You can do this in mass quantities or in your backyard. Voila! Second-generation biofuel.

Researchers Mimic Bacteria To Produce Magnetic Nanoparticles

• Well, this is good. We’re going to need smart little nano-critters to destroy all the other smart little nano-critters and synthetic organisms that are released accidentally.
• Then we will have come full circle. Confident that we can do it all, we can then get back to baking bread, fishing in the river and all the other activities that only hunter-gatherers have the leisure time to pursue.

‘Revolutionary’ Carbon Dioxide Maps Zoom In On Greenhouse Gas Sources

• Evidence-based policy at its finest.
• Well, maybe only the evidence part. We’ll see if policy is ever affected, won’t we.

In a Warmer Yellowstone Park, a Shifting Environmental Balance

• Wow, they got up enough courage to mention biodiversity right there at the end. If it hadn’t been for that, I would have thought the real issue was that the grizzlies might change from gophers to tourists. Or something.

Cosmic Clean-Up: Wild Ideas to Sweep Space

• Trillions upon trillions of dollars spent on space programs, and nobody thought about cleaning up after themselves?

Government Reports Warn Planners on Sea-Rise Threat to U.S. Coasts

• Umm, has anybody told the President yet?

Boston Bans Trans Fats

• What an interesting concept. With a precedent like this, city governments could ban all kinds of things, couldn’t they. Automobile emissions, for example.

Thirsty Hybrid And Electric Cars Could Triple Demands On Scarce Water Resources

• Oh, gee. Well, we’d better just stick to fossil fuels, then.

US corn biofuels will expand Gulf of Mexico ‘dead zone’: scientists

• Can anybody say organic ethanol? Or does that only work for broccoli?

Diesel fumes can affect your brain, scientists say

• So, we’ve been inhaling diesel fumes since the end of the 19th century and they’re only just finding this out?
• What about all the other pollutants that have been created since then? I guess we’re supposed to assume they’re completely safe as long as there’s no research that proves they’re harmful. I guess that’s okay — they’ll get around to it in 100 years or so.