The New York Times killed its “Green” environmental blog on Friday after it posted more than 5,300 postings.

Management referred readers to check out the paper’s Caucus blog for green policy news and the Bits blog for technology news. It also provided Twitter accounts for staffers who contributed to Green.

The spiking follows the NYT decision in January to close its environmental bureau.

What was the Times thinking?

The timing of the shutdown is unfortunate. The environment is going to be a major issue during president Obama’s second term in office.

On cue, President Obama today announced the controversial nomination of Gina McCarthy, a frequent punching bag of Republicans, to succeed Lisa Jackson as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Benjamin Cole of the conservative American Energy Alliance said of the nomination: “The EPA will look as different under Gina McCarthy as Cuba looked when Uncle Fidel passed the hammer and sickle to his little brother Raul.”

Bill Wilson, president of Americans for Limited Government, called on the Senate to reject McCarthy as, "unfit to run a Burger King, let alone a Cabinet level agency that threatens our nation's economy through its series of strange and bizarre regulatory rulings."

Wyoming Republican Senator John Barrasso already held up McCarthy’s 2009 nomination for the assistant administrator for air and radiation at EPA based on her plans to regulate greenhouse gas emission. That was a two-month ordeal. In his State of the Union, the president promised an activist EPA during his new term. If she is approved, McCarthy will spearhead that effort. Her confirmation hearings may make the Hagel session look like a walk in the park.

And don’t forget, the Keystone pipeline is back in the news, especially following the State Dept. report finding little fault with the pipeline to carry Canadian dirty oil sands to Texas.

The NYT blog provided an excellent forum for readers to weigh in on green issue. It was the go-to place for green issues, and will be sadly missed.