Too much smog? Blame Big Oil and car manufacturers

The film details the California Air Resources Board's reversal of the "Zero Emissions" mandate after suits from automobile manufacturers, the oil industry, and the George W. Bush administration. It points out that Bush's chief influences, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, and Andrew Card, are all former executives and board members of oil and auto companies.

Well worth the viewing time.

Available for $9.99 with free ground shipping on DVD at Amazon.com, HERE.

FC
PS: I couldn't help noticing how the name of California's air-quality regulatory agency was changed over the years... yea, like the original "Motor Vehicle POLLUTION CONTROL" was too harsh on car manufacturers. Let's name it something more ambiguous... let's see... mmm... yea... "Air Resources Board" sounds meaningless enough, and no mention of "Pollution" next to "motor vehicles"! ;-)

Agency overview
Formed	1967
Preceding Agencies	Bureau of Air Sanitation Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Board
Headquarters	1001 I Street Sacramento, California
Annual Budget	$759 million
Agency Executive	Mary D. Nichols, Chairman
Parent agency	California Environmental Protection Agency

Earth to BBC: Bring Back Sebastian to HardTalk...

Several years ago... on the brink of the Iraq invasion, I really really enjoyed the Beeb programme "Hard Talk" hosted at the time by Tim Sebastian.

However, for some unknown reason (to me at least), he's been replaced by someone younger but who is not nearly as good.

On the other hand, Sebastian has moved to host "The Doha Debates" a truly boring program with high aspirations, a mix of reality-TV voting system and debate, which ends up being neither.

If I had any power to influence the Beeb, I'd bring back Sebastian to Hard Talk.
I didn't always agree with him, but I really liked his style.

FC