Kill your gender!
My ‘angry’ entry for photofriday this week which I vaguely remember climbing up a tree to take. Looking at it now, she’s rather placid and not that angry at all. I like the blissfully oblivious bloke in the bottom right.
{ Monthly Archives }
September 2006
So, there’s a new album by The Lemonheads
Happily, Dando has resurfaced in recent years having survived too many purple parallelograms and even that no-good Noel Gallagher. He proved he hadn’t lost his voice to crack either with 2003’s country-ish solo effort Baby I’m Bored. Now he’s resurrected The Lemonhead’s moniker, borrowed a rhytm section and released a new self titled, album.
Look, as a former 90s teenager, I’ve got a considerable emotional investment in this band. So I was worried, I hate it when bands I like release tripe with money on their mind. I shouldn’t have been though. The first single ‘Become the Enemy’ didn’t move me but the catchy ‘Poughkeepsie’ has been on high rotation at mine. I also like the ubiquitous Smudge cover in the form of ‘No Backbone’ which comes complete with an appearance from Dinosaur Jr’s J Mascis. IIt
In short, it gets 8/10 from this listener so there are stupider ways to spend your money kids! You might also want to check out the podcast/interview over at The Times - plus there’s a list of 2006 tour dates here.
California sues car makers over emissions
In an unpreceedented move, the state of California yesterday filed a lawsuit against Ford, GM, Toyota, Honda and Nissan alleging they have contribute to global warming. California’s Attorney General Bill Lockyer who filed the complaint claimed the goal was “to hold these automobile manufacturers accountable for the monies taxpayers are spending to address these harms.”1 Unsurprisingly the companies concerned countered that they’re already producing cleaner cars. The move has also been branded as vote grubbing by some in automotive industry.
California has led the fight against global warming in the USA. While George W. Bush has refused to ratify the Kyoto protocol preferring a “voluntary” approach2to reducing greenhouse emissions, California is about to be the first state in the US to mandate a reduction, setting a target of 25% by 2020. Governer Arnold Schwarzenegger has even criticised Bush for his lack of leadership on climate change. Furthermore, a law passed two years ago in California will also force car manufacturers to cut exhaust pipe emissions by 30% is currently the subject of a legal challenge from the car makers. This law suit would seem to be the latest move in California’s battle with carbon dioxide.
Lockyer is suing on the basis that car makers have created a “public nuisance” by contributing significantly to global warming. It has much in common with a suit curently on appeal in New York. Connecticut and several other states including California sued five electricity providers to get them to reduce greenhouse gas emission. The earlier suit fell at the first hurdle when a district court judge said it tried to address political issues.
The automotive industry, in a show of solidarity with the utilities companies, argued that if proved, the Connecticut suit would open “the door to lawsuits targetting activity that uses fossil fuel for energy.” An independent representative of the auto industry also questioned the timing of the suit which was tabled just 48 days before the Novemeber elections in which Lockyer is standing for Treasurer of California. Climate change is clearly the flavour of the month and a headline grabbing move like this could conceivably win Lockyer some crucial votes.
I’m no lawyer but I would be surprised to see this suit gather much momentum. It looks like a bit of a political stunt. Furthermore, I’m all for getting the automotive indstry to clean up after itself but finger pointing ignores the fact that for decades governments have encouraged cars to flourish by cutting public transport spending and building road after road. That said, California’s laudable 2004 exhaust law is still being fought in the courts, showing that the automotive industry doesn’t mind suing the state. Yet, given that all these companies seem to care about is the bottom line, maybe this is the answer… Anyway, I’m off for a bike ride.