Jordan Wirfs-Brock's Library tagged "elizabeth kolbert" →  View Popular, Search in Google

This blog post from Jonah Lehrer is an ode -- or anti-ode, as in this case they amount to the same thing -- to the McGriddle and the greasy, fatty, energy-filled satisfaction it brings mankind. He quotes Elizabeth Kolbert's recent round-up in the New Yorker of obesity books and research (http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2009/07/20/090720crbo_books_kolbert?currentPage=all which I read yesterday...) and adds in a Duke study.

The money quote:
"Let's imagine, for instance, that some genius invented a reduced calorie bacon product that tasted exactly like bacon, except it had 50 percent fewer calories. It would obviously be a great day for civilization. But this research suggests that such a pseudo-bacon product, even though it tasted identical to real bacon, would actually give us much less pleasure. Why? Because it made us less fat. Because energy is inherently delicious. Because we are programmed to enjoy calories."

jonah lehrer obesity fat calories dopamine elizabeth kolbert mcgriddle psychology

Elizabeth Kolbert (swoon!) writes a profile of Van Jones (swoon again!). Jones' optimism is a much needed dose of refreshment at a point where I have to admit I've become a little disillusioned about "new environmentalism."

Here's a favorite excerpt:

"Jones began by talking about the financial crisis. 'The floor has been torn out from under the American people,' he said. 'That’s the bad news. People are losing their jobs, their homes, their pensions, their 401(k)s. But I know from my personal life sometimes something really bad has to happen before something really good can happen. It’s when you get dumped or fired or fail that test that you have to look at yourself and figure out, What am I going to do now? And we’re at that moment. Sometimes a breakdown can lead to a breakthrough.'"

van jones elizabeth kolbert new yorker environmentalism green jobs green collar social work

A piece by Elizabeth Kolbert (my professional idol) on "midnight regulations." I was happy to see this because Charles Wilkinson just spoke about this issue last week in the Scripps Fellows seminar. It just so happens that a lot of the midnight regulations Bush's administration is trying to pass involve environmental policy.

Bush certainly isn't the only one. From the article:

"According to the National Journal, by the time Clinton left office 'the journalists who cover the White House had thrown up their hands at the prospect of keeping up.'"

Also, attempting to undo them may be futile:

"(President Bush, for all his grumbling—and despite Republican control of Congress for much of his tenure—ended up implementing more than three-quarters of the midnight rules that Clinton had left him, including the one on arsenic, just as they were written.) Alternatively, once in office, Barack Obama could ask his agencies to go through the rule-making process all over again. But, by the time that was finished, a good deal of the damage might already have been done. Once a power plant has been rebuilt, it can’t readily be unrebuilt.

"The Bush Administration, probably as a result of its own experience, is now trying to craft rules that are as difficult as possible to reverse."

Oh, for gosh sakes, I'm excerpting too much... just go read the darn thing!

new yoker elizabeth kolbert president bush clinton obama midnight regulations legislation government

elizabeth kolbert gary hart presidential climate action plan center for american progress e360 PCAP climate policy