Since this:

Plenty of snarky, snide, vicious little jabs at Birkenstocks, lentils, tie dye, tree hugging, and any critique of capitalism -- just so yesterday, m'dear.  Trying to make it clear that Pretty Wealthy People Green-ness is a whole new, fashionable, stylish and above all upper-crusty thing, not some dreary shtick about, you know, serious ideas discussed by nonphotogenic vegetarian anoraks who drive old cars or godforbid ride a bike.

completely cracked me up. Especially the very well placed  "you know". Holy cow. You deserve a four and a free cookie point in itself for that.

I've read some on MTR mining - and am more than appalled. Nobody wants to hear this but I would predict that with continuous increased metals demand and prices this development will move even further out of hand. MTR is beyond bad; it's about redesigning the earth's surface entirely. Toss the incremental slow processes of surface modelling, glacial ice sheets, natural river drainage, slope stability, soil erosion, fauna diversity, etc etc, out of the window - man can do it too, and better. Let's not even begin on ocean floor mining, or I might blow your cap.

On an upbeat track, did you (or anyone) read the National Geographic of this month (May 2006, the one with the Judas Gospel)? There's a intersting feature on what Prince Charles is doing with his Duchy in Cornwall. It's sustainable life and culture protection - the English way. Not everything I read I could agree on, but it did read like one step in a direction you've been promoting from day one I've been reading you.