Gore to US: Kick our fossil fuel habit in 10 years

Al Gore made a landmark speech earlier today. This is probably one of the most important speeches so far in my lifetime:


This quote from his speech is very powerful:

We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that's got to change.

NOAA + USGS = ESSA ?

A couple of weeks ago, Science published a short 2-page paper that could have long-term, far-reaching effects on federal science agencies. In a nutshell, the paper lays out a persuasive argument to the next U.S. President to merge NOAA and the USGS into a new independent federal science agency called the Earth Systems Science Agency (ESSA). One reason this paper got everyone's attention is the fact that every co-author has held a senior position in government science agencies:

• Mark Schaefer - Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior, USGS Director (acting)
• D. James Baker - NOAA Administrator
• John H. Gibbons - White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director, Science Advisor to the President
• Charles G. Groat - USGS Director
• Donald Kennedy - FDA Commissioner
• Charles F. Kennel - NASA Mission to Planet Earth Associate Administrator
• David Rejeski - Office of Science and Technology Policy and Council on Environmental Quality

The paper's top recommendation is to merge NOAA and the USGS and build "a strong policy, administrative, and collaborative research bridge to NASA's Earth sciences program." This would effectively fix the mistake made 38 years ago when NOAA was formed from a combination of agencies not including the USGS (U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Weather Bureau, and Bureau of Commercial Fisheries).

Pi-Man!

I was driving through Anchorage listening to Diffusion Science Radio on a local educational talk radio station when I heard a song that just blew me away. The song's called "Pi-Man!" by the Australian indie rock band Unicron's Revenge.  You can listen to or download the full song on the band's website or listen to it right now!

Sell music on itunes at ReverbNation.com