“I have never been one to quit,” replied Alberto Gonzalez to requests for his resignation as Attorney General.  This statement, and all of the antics caused by Gonzalez over the past few months, have been selfish.

There are many reasons why Gonzalez should step down, but the most compelling reason is that he cannot be an effective Attorney General anymore.  He is immersed in scandal and distracted from his job, and it is unlikely he will get anything done while under this kind of pressure.

Ignore the fact that he’s probably committed perjury and maybe didn’t even read important documents sent to him pertaining to the firing of US attorneys.  It’s relevant, but not nearly as important.  Mr. Gonzalez can no longer be an effective Attorney General.  If you love your country, Alberto, you’ll quit.

It’s kind of a running joke among my friends to call me out when I do something that is not 100% eco-friendly.  It isn’t because my friends have particular views about the environment.  Rather, it’s just easy to point out when someone who writes an environmentally friendly blog has to drive somewhere, or accidentally leaves a light on.  It’s all in fun, of course, and I take no offense.  In a first-world country it’s practically impossible to have no carbon footprint.

Yet over the past year, anti-environmentalists have tried - at every opportunity - to accuse Al Gore of being a hypocrite.  In addition, they imply that Gore’s supposed hypocrisy is prima facie evidence that climate science is flawed.  I am writing this article to assert two things.  First, Gore’s actions do not show that he is a hypocrite in the sense that anti-environmentalists claim.  Secondly, even if Gore were a hypocrite, his actions do not prove nor disprove climate science.

The second assertion is relatively self-explanatory.  No principle of climate change has anything to do with Al Gore.  Al Gore could decide climate change doesn’t matter anymore, and this would not change climate science at all.

More on “Political Teams” via NPR [link].  This link is about a new book out called “Mistakes Were Made (But not by me).”  It’s about the assertion that our brains try to make us think we’re doing the right thing, even if there is strong evidence that we’re not.  This looks like an interesting read for anyone interested in knowing how people make political and other similar decisions.

I saw this a week ago, and totally forgot to post it on gimme-five.  According to a new study, solar activity is not responsible for climate change.  Solar activity driving global climate was one of the central claims of many anthropogenic climate change skeptics, so this is big news.

A new scientific study concludes that changes in the Sun’s output cannot be causing modern-day climate change.

It shows that for the last 20 years, the Sun’s output has declined, yet temperatures on Earth have risen.

It also shows that modern temperatures are not determined by the Sun’s effect on cosmic rays, as has been claimed.

Writing in the Royal Society’s journal Proceedings A, the researchers say cosmic rays may have affected climate in the past, but not the present.

Basically, it looks like the scientists measured solar output compared to Earth temperatures, in the same way that the authors of the film: ”The Great Global Warming Swindle” did.  I haven’t seen TGGWS, but the authors of this study allege they show solar output and temperature on a graph all the way through 1980, where they are highly correlated.  However, this study shows after 1980, solar activity and global temperatures diverge.  The implication is beyond 1980, humans are having such a large effect on global climate that it overshadows (pun intended) the sun’s effect.

My cousin once told me that heavy societal debate on climate change could actually be somewhat harmful, because it diverts attention from other important environmental problems.  Popular Science Magazine addressed five important environmental problems that can cause serious harm that are not related to climate change.  They are:

1. Desertification of Land.  More and more land is turning to desert because topsoil anchoring plants are being destroyed, costing the world $42 billion per year in lost food, livable land, etcetera.  Popsci projects it would cost $2.4 billion per year to combat desertification.
2. Excessive Nitrogen.  Nitrogen accelerates algae growth, which can dramatically harm ecosystems and poisons humans when it gets into our food and water supply.  60% of “fixed nitrogen” comes from fertilizers.  [Note that corn production uses nitrogen fertilizer.  Yet another reason corn-based ethanol is a poor solution to the transportation problem.]
3. Water Problems.  1 billion people on earth do not have adequate drinking water, and that number is increasing steadily as old water infrastructure falls apart in developed countries and pollution makes water undrinkable in developed and developing countries.
4. Arctic Haze.  Pollution around the arctic is accelerating its warming and melting the arctic ice.
5. Coral reefs dying off.  Coral reefs are essential for many marine ecosystems, however, they are dying off for many reasons, including overfishing and pollution.