China, Coal, and Costa Rica April 29, 2009March 13, 2017 CONGRESSWOMAN BACHMANN ON THE ENVIRONMENT Kevin Rasmussen: “If you like clips of politicians exposing their lack of understanding of basic science, check out Phil Plait’s blog on the Discover Magazine website. That post has a hilarious clip of Rep. Michele Bachmann explaining why CO2 isn’t a bad thing.” YOUR CARS WILL BE ELECTRIC . . . . . . and may be made by this Chinese firm 10% owned by Berkshire Hathaway. But whoever makes them, you’ll get home at night, plug in, and – perhaps from solar-generated electricity, not coal – power up. That’s 10 or 20 years off, but it seems like a sensible way to get off fossil fuels.* (Another way: the cold fusion “60 Minutes” reported on that I linked to last week, in case you missed it.) *Peter Huber makes a powerful case, here, that we can’t get off coal and that trying to will only make things worse. His solution: plant a zillion more trees. I’m for that – and for dramatic conservation efforts, as simple as turning things off when not in use, and living lighter on the land. How much of the rest of his argument we should buy – nuclear power and the hopelessness of our making a dent in carbon emissions – I am still trying to process. Informed commentary welcome! 100 DAY IMPACT ON YOUR STATE Take minute to check out this interactive map. More exciting to me are the increased emphasis on funding basic research, on rebuilding infrastructure, and the like. But that may be because I don’t have to worry about losing my job or providing a poor child with health insurance or making ends meet. PARADISE BREEZES They love us in Minnesota (“‘beautiful’ does not do this place justice … ”) . . . and in Dallas (“all it was advertised to be and more …”) and New Jersey (“in all my life I’ve never had a better vacation … ”) – and those are just guest reviews from the past month. Click here for the whole lot of them. [Full disclosure: I have an interest in the place.] Note the recession pricing.* *And note the rainy season is about to begin . . . but note, also, that fares to and from Chicago (for example) to San Jose next December (for example, when it’s cooooold!) run as low as $109 each way (with either a very long but scenic drive or a short puddle-jump from San Jose).