Ranking Environmental Disasters + An Excerpt from The Ecology of Oil

In Saturday’s New York Times, Justin Gillis spoke with several scholars – including Cambridge authors Don Worster (co-editor of our Environmental History series) and Ted Steinberg – on the subject of where the Gulf Oil Spill places on a hierarchy of environmental disasters. Could it really be the worst yet?

The consensus seems to be that there is no definitive answer. The depth of our assessment appears to correlate more to a disaster’s impact on the lives and livelihood of those affected, and less to the environmental ramifications of the event. Read more over at the NYT for a fascinating take on the “shades and complexities” of natural and man-made environmental disasters.

While on the subject, here’s an excerpt from Myrna Santiago’s award-winning The Ecology of Oil: Environment, Labor, and the Mexican Revolution, 1900–1938 – discussing the disastrous social and environmental consequences of oil extraction. This detailed case study finds unique overlaps between labor and environmental concerns, taking a snapshot of history through the lens of the 1938 expropriation debate in Mexico. Santiago argues that oil production generated major historical and environmental transformations in systems of land use which, in turn, revolutionized the social organization of the country.

After Deadline on the Dictionary

Word nerd alert!  The New York Times announces the 50 Most Frequently Looked-up Words of 2010.  Check out Philip Corbett’s observations on 50 Fancy Words…

Remembering Martin Gardner, Mathematical Magician

“I’m strictly a journalist.”

– Martin Gardner

Martin Gardner had no formal mathematical training. A newspaper reporter, publicist, freelancer for Esquire, caseworker, magician, skeptic, Navy sailor, and most famously, “Mathematical Games” columnist for Scientific American, Gardner displayed a boundless energy and enthusiasm for intellectual inquiry. A tireless advocate for science, his popular books and articles painstakingly argue against the dangers of pseudoscience in all forms.

On Saturday, Gardner passed away at the age of 95 in Norman, OK. TSoTP takes a look back.

Authors in Action: Reclaiming Justice Denied

Marci Hamilton of the Cardozo School of Law has joined forces with the Stop Abuse Campaign to promote the passage of the Child Victims Act of New York (A02596) before the end of the state’s session in June.

A leading constitutional law scholar specializing in church/state issues, Hamilton sounds a clarion call for incest/family victims to organize in their push to raise awareness of the CVA. Her book, Justice Denied: What America Must Do To Protect Its Children, has proven a source of inspiration – providing a platform pushing to end arbitrary statutes of limitation for childhood sexual abuse, and allowing survivors past and present to have their day in court. Part of the problem, Hamilton argues, is the presence of formidable opponents to the bill – the insurance industry, the higher-ups of the Roman Catholic Church – as recently addressed in an editorial by the staff of the New York Times last Sunday.

What does the bill actually say and where does the Times Editorial stand and how can you find out more on the Stop Abuse Campaign?

NYT Op-Ed: Overspending Is a Bipartisan Affliction

With tax season and budget cuts raining down on us, Jeffrey M. Stonecash takes a closer look at how New York state ended up drowning in debt in an op-ed for this weekend’s New York Times. Stonecash is Maxwell Professor of Political Science at Syracuse University and an author of three Cambridge books: Reassessing the Incumbency Effect (2008), Dynamics of American Political Parties (with Mark D. Brewer, 2009), and the forthcoming Counter Realignment: Political Change in the Northeastern United States (with Howard L. Reiter, October 2010).

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The New York Times, March 28, 2010, Op-Ed Contributor

Overspending Is a Bipartisan Affliction

By JEFFREY STONECASH

New York has some of the highest state and local taxes in the country, as well as high (and rising) debt from years of borrowing. Why? Because both political parties have electoral bases that support spending.

For most of the 20th century, Democrats were out of power in the Legislature. But beginning with victories after Watergate in 1974, they began building a majority in the Assembly, drawing votes from people in New York City and upstate urban areas. That base wanted spending on Medicaid, social service programs and schools. Gradually, Democrats appealed to suburban voters who also wanted more school aid.

Until last year, the Senate had been held for decades by the Republicans, who win more seats in suburban districts that are generally more affluent. They might have been a voice for fiscal restraint — if it were not for the fact that Republican Party enrollment in the state has been steadily sliding, from 50 percent of voters in 1957 to only 25 percent today. Senate Republicans have fought to preserve what votes they have by delivering more school aid for the suburbs.

Keep reading at The New York Times > > >