Earth Day

Another Earth Day has come and gone. In the U.S., private wetlands are finally increasing, air quality is better than any time in recorded history, and New England forests are in better shape
than at any time since the mid-1800s.

Not bad.

In the late 1960's, I remember looking out the window on the 10th floor of Millikan library, at CalTech, and just being able to make out the tops of the palm trees two blocks away. That's smog. Two decades later, they'd put in mountains.

Bill Owens noticed the same thing about Denver's air, and Steven Hayward, of the Pacific Research Institute, has offered to bet anyone who wants to $1000 that air quality will be better in 2009, after two Bush terms, than it was a the beginning. No one is willing to take the bet, probably because it mirrors the famous Simon-Erlich bet that Paul Erlich lost so badly.

Over 70% of Americans surveyed say that they're now pleased with the condition of their environment. Anti-Bush activists are reduced to NYT-like, "fake-but-accurate" reporting about the Bush administration's environmental policies.

Good environmental news, I'd say.

This afternoon, I'm playing a gig for the University of Colorado Environmental Center. It'll be interesting to see what I hear.