Best of the Web - April 30 2010

It's been quite a week for Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.

There he was quietly preparing to unveil the bi-partisan climate bill he has spent months working on, when he caught wind of rumours the Democrats were going to bump the bill in favour of immigration reforms.

Cue one spat dummy, and a media response that ranged from the New York Times hailing him as "the bravest politician in the country, bar none" to Jon Stewart asking EPA administrator Lisa P Jackson: "Do you feel like Senator Graham is a big fat baby? And would you like to say to him, right now, on the show, 'Wahhh, wahh, wahh, wahh Lindsey Graham'?"

Offshore wind v offshore drilling

The US also gave us the two different very different faces of offshore energy this week as the authorities finally gave the go ahead to the Cape Wind offshore wind farm project and the Deepwater Horizon leak threatened ecological armageddon.

Slate celebrated the Cape Wind decision with the back to basics article "why are wind mills always white?", while there was also much lamenting US plans for more oil drilling in the wake of the escalating Gulf of Mexico leak.

As one tweet put it: "If one of these Cape Wind mills blows up at least it won't create an oil slick the size of Rhode Island."

Talking of oil, edie reported today that a Norwegian compost company is set to launch a moss sponge that could help clear up the slick, although there is little chance it will be rolled out in time to help the Louisiana coast.

Green IT

Closer to home we ran a serialisation of a detailed new guide to green IT this week, and if you need convincing that green IT matters take a look at this nifty graphic charting the environmental impact of computing.

Walking the green walk

Finally, Harvard joined forces with Institute of the Bleedin' Obvious to produce a report showing that young people prefer to work in walkable and culturally diverse city centres, with access to shops, parks, schools and cafes.

Perhaps they could generate energy while they trot around those culturally diverse urban centres using a pair of shoes that generate energy as they walk. CleanTechnica could only provide an artist's impression of the new shoes, so let's just hope they are not as unfashionable as these remarkably ugly power-generating sandals that were launched back in 2008.