Many readers, I would think, are familiar with the 2002 thought-changing book, "Cradle to Cradle," by Virginia architect William McDonough and German chemist Michael Braungart, a founder of Germany's Green Party and an activist of wide influence. I have read most of it once — I had to return it to the library or risk punitive measures — and I'm just picking it up again, from the beginning, now that I've decided that this, clearly is a book to keep, not borrow.

Top and center of Page 1 today, the Boston Globe's Jenn Abelson writes about the people who have decided to sell their Rams and MDXs and Hummers and 4-Runners because they can no longer bear the $80 fill-ups that have resulted from gas-price increases.

Barack calls Hillary's "idea" (McCain said it first, she larded onto it) to get the oil companies to pay the 18-cent-a-gallon federal gas tax instead of motorists symbolizes a candidacy consisting of "phony ideas, calculated to win elections instead of actually solving problems."

Link.

And: previously:

McCain is dead to me
and

People want to know: Is NStar's announcement yesterday that, beginning in July, customers willing to pay an extra fee will be able to get half or all their electricity from wind generators a big deal, or just a bunch of hot air?

The answer is, neither. It doesn't give Massachusetts utility customers any greater ability to support the development of wind power than they already had, but it may accelerate the trend, regardless.

Even among those of us who want to be part of the solution to global climate change, there is a lot of confusion on how to get there. Buy a Prius? Put a solar cell on the roof? Grow your own vegetables? All helpful ideas, but is any of those the best way to proceed?

The problem, of course, is that there is no one right answer. It's true that if you take one of those actions, you'll likely be helping. But we're on a deadline here: The level considered safe is 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and we're already at 385 and growing by 2 ppm a year.

I've mentioned that I'm currently one of the volunteers for Greater Boston Green Drinks, an e-mailing list of about 525 people interested in, or working in the fields of, environmental responsibility. We draw lots of advocates, engineers, builders, policymakers, analysts, students and the just-plain-interested.

I've been going a year, and for much of that time, we met once a month, on the first Tuesday. Beginning last month, we decided to add a second gathering a month, on the third Wednesday.

I labeled a post of a couple of days ago, "John McCain is dead to me," about his asinine proposal to suspend the federal gas tax for the summer.

Dumb idea — we need the money it brings in for infrastructure repairs and suspending the tax would lead to more driving, which means more CO2 in the atmosphere. And, it's pandering, because the 18 cents a gallon is hardly going to make a meaningful difference in the lives of people.

The larger disappointment for me was that McCain's stunting was proof that he would bring no commitment to environmental change if elected.

With its four wind turbines, Rock Port, Mo., is the first town in America to get all its electricity from wind, according to the Columbia Daily Tribune, via EcoGeek.com. The turbines can generate a max of 5 megawatts daily, which the post says would be more than twice what the town of 1,300 needs. It's worth noting, however, if you go there: There's lots of skepticism in the comments.

I'm still typing from flat on my back, which continues to lead to fewer posts and shorter posts. But I came across a list of 50 ways to help the planet, and thought it could help just about anyone do one more thing. That's my request/suggestion: No matter how many of these you do, how 'bout taking on one more?

A bit more than a year ago, the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA had to regulate greenhouse gases. (They need to court to tell them what any 10-year-old could figure out? If not them, who?)

At the beginning of this month, the House select committee on global climate change subpoenaed the EPA for related documents.