For those who think corporate tax evasion is a serious issue, some light comedy.

The EU Council has adopted the legislation allowing the EU to formally ratify the second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol.

With this measure, EU, its Member States and Iceland (by separate agreement - Iceland is not in the EU) commit to jointly achieve a 20% reduction in combined greenhouse gas emissions for 2013-2020 (compared to emissions in 1990, or their chosen base year).

This measure binds the EU member states to act accordingly but is only technically effective on the EU itself: EU Member States (and Iceland) are still working separately on the national ratification process.

Lots of folks in the US claim that there is no difference between Democrats and Republicans.  In some ways, this tends to be mostly true (look at the bipartisan lack of any serious crackdown on the financial industry, not matter what they do).  As for climate change - not just policy details, but actually even admitting it's a thing - there is a difference, especially when looking at Presidential candidates.  It's basically a choice between the current three Dem candidates, who know it's a thing, and the umpteen Republicans, who start with a little shoulder shrug and go towards lunatic denial from there.

I may have to read it again, but the premise of this article in the Guardian seems to be that neoliberal capitalism is up against some serious future problems (climate change, migration, energy depletion), and that therefore what we are seeing now (basically, "information," the sharing economy, food co-ops in Greece, Uber, whatever is hip to talk about) must be somehow starting to bring it down or reform it from the cracks within.  Somehow - because it seems to be cranking along pretty happily to the edge of the cliff, to me - its beneficiaries and those towed along happy to draw as much from the doomed enterprise as possible before it goes over, rather than start an orderly transition.

Any thoughts?

Per the Guardian climate blog, it appears the oceans are warming faster than models have been predicting.

This is a well-written and valuable blog for cycling issues.

http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com

The author and his wife also provide cycling tours so people can experience first-hand dutch cycling infrastructure.

This is the first post.  This will be about environmental issues, sustainability, urbanism, attempts to shift the coming human reality slightly to the less horrific and doomy, and related things on which I may or may not have expertise - will try to call in such as needed.  Thanks to Brian Eno for the name, sort of.