Senate Energy Committee: Drill baby drill!

The Senate Energy Committee just approved an amendment to allow oil and gas drilling just 45 miles off Florida's West Coast, and even closer in the "Destin Dome" area of the Gulf of Mexico, off the Panhandle.

The amendment, which passed 13 to 10, was sponsored by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. It was also supported by the committee's chairman, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and stands a good chance of being included in a broader energy bill expected to clear the committee as soon as Thursday.

N.S. beehives hit hard by harsh winter

Nova Scotia beekeepers are hoping for a hot, dry summer to help their bees rebound from a run of bad weather.

Beehives across the province have lost twice as many honey bees as they normally do, Paul Kittilsen, a beekeeper in Debert, said Monday.

"Our winter loss is about twice what we usually expect," said Kittilsen, who lost 35 per cent of the bees from his 1,200 hives over the winter.

Alarmist Phil Plait: I’m skeptical of denialism | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine

I have used the phrase "global warming denialists" in the past and gotten some people upset. A lot of them complain because they say the word denial puts them in the same bin as holocaust deniers.

That’s too bad. But the thing is, they do have something in common: a denial of evidence and of scientific consensus.

Moon hoax believers put themselves in this basket as well; they call themselves skeptics, but they are far from it.