Yesterday, the New Jersey Legislature took some baby steps toward promoting energy independence in this State.  Our legislators have started posting bills in furtherance of our New Jersey State Energy Master Plan (the Master Plan was previously diaried, here: http://www.dailykos.com/... )

More below the fold:

What follows is old school.

It is a paper I wrote this past semester about electronic waste in China, exploring an important environmental issue that most people never think about because it is so far removed from their daily experience.

I say "old school" because everything that follows is referenced in academic journals that aren't distributed on the web unless you pay for them.

It is followed by policy recommendations that you can disseminate freely as you like.  All of the writing that follows is my own, and you can distribute it as you wish, provided that you credit my sources as referenced.

Join me below the fold for a discussion about e-waste.

NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard driven opposition to some form of change) is a challenge to moves to a sensible energy future not just in America but around the globe.  Whether solar panels, drying clothes outdoors, white roofing, subways, or otherwise, a good number of paths toward a better energy future face opposition from those outraged over perceived impositions on their way of life, or at least their views in some way.  Perhaps the most visible battles: over wind turbine installations.

Today, the New York Times took us to the Greek isles and a battle over a renewable energy future.

Reading about nuclear waste repositories around the world (eg Yucca Mountain), I stumbled on a 2005 proposal to have Australia store the entire planet's nuclear waste.  At a glance, this actually looks like a great idea, since it seems to have the best physical and social conditions for long-term waste storage.  It does look better than Yucca, and Yucca seems better than, say, the sites in Europe.  The rest of the world would pay it to store the waste, so Australia would probably come out ahead.

As with the US nuclear storage issue, local politics (read: NIMBYism)  appears to be the crucial barrier.  However, the plan did receive some support Down Under.  Perhaps we could help out with some international political nudging?

(Note:  This diary has absolutely nothing to do with the following:  leaving the Democratic Party, calling people purity trolls, the I/P flame war, or any other flame war for that matter.  This is merely a bit of good news in all the craziness from the last few days.  Sorry to disappoint you--GoldnI)

Last month, a New York-based developer thought it would be a BRILLIANT idea to place a Bible-themed amusement park in Rutherford County, Tennessee, just outside of the rapidly growing city of Murfreesboro and only 45 minutes from Nashville.  Check out Sidof79's diary for the background on this story.  As progressives, we were frustrated by yet another attempt by the Christian right to shove religion down everyone's throats (and do so in such a way that would coincidentally make themselves a tidy little profit), and we figured the residents of this fairly conservative area would go along with it.  What Christian wouldn't want to go to a theme park where you enter through the "Gates of Jericho"?

Quite a few, actually.  And now they're saying... Not In My Back Yard!!

In response to this growing crisis there is tremendous opportunity, especially in the area of renewables.  Jerome and others in Kosslandia have done a worthwhile job bringing attention to these opportunities.  Many profess to support various renewable energy sources - solar, hydro, wind - except, of course, when it comes time to actually build it.

More hypocrisy on the flip.

New Orleans, the city I love so dearly, has a knack for taking bad situations and screwing them up further.  The latest problem, with a nod to George Carlin, is NIMBY: the "not in my backyard" approach to infrastructure.  While our city's economy wobbles uncertainly between "barely recognizable pulse" and "dead," some locals are fighting to keep the perceived rabble out.

More below

This may sound like a pretty harsh title [Robert F. Kennedy Jr is a lying, deceitful, pathetic NIMBY SELL OUT] about someone who is known as a great defender of the environment and environmental causes, but, believe me, it is fully justified in view of his nasty, slimy, unsubstantiated Op-Ed yesterday in the New York Times (An Ill Wind Off Cape Cod).

I commented it briefly yesterday in my diary, but as I read it again, I got more and more annoyed, and felt that this hitjob deserved a more thorough refutation.

So here it is.

Update [2005-12-17 9:7:7 by Jerome a Paris]: I now see via the comments that an obviously well read diary on this topic came out yesterday: The Real Reason RFK JR. Opposes the Nantucket Wind Farm by angry young man. I apologise for the repeat diary, but I will leave this diary as I think this topic deserves all the exposure it can get.

A Washington, D.C., mental health legal advocacy group says the recommendations of the Mayor's Social Service Task Force would violate federal law if they were adopted.