Posts Tagged ‘politics’

Paris Hilton’s Energy Policy Is All Wrong

oil gusherAs John McCain and Barack Obama aim for the White House, the fights over experience and age, the war in Iraq and terrorism, and the economy and budget-balancing drag on. But whenever a serious science and technology debate comes up —including education, medicine, and energy—we here at DISCOVER perk up. Even if that debate is being furthered by Paris Hilton.

Granted, the point of Paris’ most recent (and perhaps only) talk about energy policy on funnyordie.com is not to start an energy debate that has teeth, but to make a humorous entry into presidential politics with faux-serious solutions. If this is an effective way to get people to discuss energy policy—an admittedly wonkish and often boring topic—so be it.

And now, let’s discuss Paris Hilton’s “energy plan.”

First of all, Hilton is taking on oil, not energy. She is not discussing nuclear, coal, wind, or solar—just the stuff that is turned into plastic water bottles, heats our homes, and makes cars go “vroom”. So this is not a comprehensive energy plan, but a look at lowering gas prices and shedding dependence on foreign oil.

(more…)

August 6th, 2008 Tags: , , , ,
by Tyghe Trimble in Pollution Solutions (& Disasters) | 4 comments | RSS feed | Trackback >

Bush ♥ Science?

The Bush era of federally funded science was a smashing success. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service took the southwestern bald eagle off of the endangered species list, the Bureau of Land Management endorsed cattle grazing regulations that would prove “beneficial to animals,” and the U.S. Forest Service recommended legislation to protect animals from wildfires, to name a few.

Surprised? Well, there is one problem with these success stories: They’re all examples of political distortion, manipulation, and suppression of scientific research by the federal government.

(more…)

February 22nd, 2008 Tags:
by Lizzy Buchen in Diseases, Injuries, & Other Ailments, Pollution Solutions (& Disasters) | 0 comments | RSS feed | Trackback >