just completed an excellent piece for the August 13th edition of Newsweek that exposes the tactics that oil companies and DC lobbyists have used to prevent legislative action to combat global warming. It is a very long article, but well worth the read.
In this one excerpt, Begley explains how special interests rely on Republican lawmakers to kill legislation aimed at energy independence. Lawmakers and lobbyists write talking points that use words such as "uncertainty" or "lack of understanding" to put doubt in the minds of Americans about there being sufficient evidence to support the on global warming:
Killing bills in Congress was only one prong of the denial machine'scampaign. It also had to keep public opinion from demanding action ongreenhouse emissions, and that meant careful management of what federalscientists and officials wrote and said. "If they presented the sciencehonestly, it would have brought public pressure for action," says RickPiltz, who joined the federal Climate Science Program in 1995. Byappointing former coal and oil lobbyists to key jobs overseeing climatepolicy, he found, the administration made sure that didn't happen.Following the playbook laid out at the 1998 meeting at the AmericanPetroleum Institute, officials made sure that every report and speechcast climate science as dodgy, uncertain, controversial—and thereforeno basis for making policy. Ex-oil lobbyist Philip Cooney, working forthe White House Council on Environmental Quality, edited a 2002 reporton climate science by sprinkling it with phrases such as "lack ofunderstanding" and "considerable uncertainty." A short section onclimate in another report was cut entirely. The White House "directedus to remove all mentions of it," says Piltz, who resigned in protest.An oil lobbyist faxed Cooney, "You are doing a great job."
As a culture, we trust experts: auto repair, medicine, cooking -- you name it. So when an issue as large as our very existence is at stake, why are the experts being discounted?
The global warming effect in the Arctic is causing a major rift in US-Canadian relations. Canada has dispatched to the Northwest Passage in a show of force to fend off that those are international waters. Canada, obviously, insists that the water is part of Canadian territory. In the end, the dispute is -- you guessed it -- over :
As global warming melts the passage – which now is only navigableduring a slim window in the summer – the waters are exposing unexploredresources such as oil, fishing stocks and minerals, and becoming anattractive shipping route. Commercial ships can shave off some 2,480miles from Europe to Asia compared with current routes through thePanama Canal.
The disputed route runs from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the Arctic archipelago.
Canadians have long claimed the waters. But their government hasgenerally turned a blind eye to the United States, which has sent navalvessels and submarines through what it considers an internationalstrait.
The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says the icecap is warming faster than the rest of the planet and ice is receding,partly due to greenhouse gases.
See how oil changes the whole equation. Initially, Canada did not mind that US submarines used the water, and the US did not care if Canada secured the region. Now that global warming is resulting in new oil, a fight has erupted between close neighbors in a delicate part of the world.
It will be interesting to see how the US responds to Canada's show of force. People are already whispering about possible US military action to grab control of the territory -- although it is highly .
NewScientist.com is reporting that Europe's autumn-winter season last year was the continent's :
The last time Europeans saw similar temperatures to the autumn andwinter of 2006-07, they were eating strawberries at Christmas in 1289,according to Jürg Luterbacher at the University of Bern, Switzerland,and colleagues.
Still though, studies like this one do not stop so-called pundits such as from calling global warming "phony."
Maybe the conservative activists that choose to ignore the overwhelming majority of scientists should consider the worldwide economic impacts that temperature change will have. Due to global warming, countries that rely so -- Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain in particular -- could lose a chunk of the $100 million that they attract annually.
Also, 84% of the , a bill that if passed would require the state to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by the year 2020. Although the law passed last year with the support of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, California needs a in order to enforce it. The EPA will make a decision by the end of the year. But the very idea that a Republican governor would agree to take action illustrates how many of our leaders are beginning to grow up and face the scientific consensus.
After listening to Sean Hannity's (among other's) Al Gore and trying to get everyone in the phone bookto say he is a hypocrite, I can't express how pleased I was when AssociatedPress Writer Erik Schelzig about his 'green' lifestyle and his TN home's "green-ness".This information has been out for a couple of week, but is a great"at-a-glance" reference and worthy of having on hand.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Al Gore, the environmental activist stung by criticismover his house's energy efficiency, said Friday that renovations are nearlycomplete to make it a model "green" home
"This plan has been in the works for a long time," the former vicepresident said in an interview with The Associated Press. "The only thingthat has changed is that we're more public about it because of the misleadingattack by a global-warming denier group."
Earlier this year, a conservative group criticized Gore, citing electricbills that were far more than the typical Nashville home. Utility records showed the Gore family paid an average monthly electric bill of about $1,200last year for its 10,000-square-foot home.
Gore's renovation project, which he said has been in the works for months,seeks to meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED,standards established by the U.S. Green Building Council.
Once his upscale neighborhood changed zoning laws earlier this year, Gore wasable to place solar panels on his roof, and he's now preparing to install a geothermal system that will, among other things, drastically reducethe cost of heating his pool.
Gore is also upgrading windows and ductwork, installing more energy-efficientlight bulbs and creating a rainwater collection system for irrigation and water management
The home houses offices for Gore and his wife, Tipper, as well as acommercial kitchen for formal events.
Drew Johnson, president of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, thegroup that initially criticized Gore, said the "renovations areobviously in direct response to our finding that he's a hypocrite on the issueof global warming."
WhenHannity tried to get Arnold Schwarzenegger to buy into his "Gore's a hypocrite"theory-smear on 'Hannity's America', the governor responded to
Thegovernor diplomatically brought it up himself. Schwarzenegger said focusing onhow much a public figure contributes to global warming is fair game. "But Idon't think you should crucify someone like that, because if he does so muchgood and inspiring people and changes millions and millions of people to drivewith clean cars and inspires millions of people to use less energy, less waterand all of those things but in the meantime maybe he drives the bigger car, Ithink it is some what of an unfair thing to go and attack him. Yes there is ahypocrisy, absolutely."
On a global warming note: In lastnight's 'BlueNightowl Clips' post, we featured a video titled '', where a rather knowledgeable H.S.science teacher simplifies the global warming issue using common sense,and in a very humble way. His 3 follow-up videos titled ' are more than worthy of viewing.
G8 leaders have reached an agreement on benchmarks for curbing greenhouse gases. The traditional media seems to convey that this was a landmark deal. But Al Gore, one of the most respected voices on this issue, is upset and says the agreement will do nothing. That might in fact be true. The G8 deal does not force countries to take those steps. It encourages them set benchmarks for reducing greenhouse gases -- but only on a :
"The eight most powerful nations gathered and were unableto do anything except to say 'We had good conversations and weagreed that we will have more conversations, and we will evenhave conversations about the possibility of doing something inthe future on a voluntary basis perhaps."'
The Bush Administration opposed making the greenhouse gas reductions mandatory. Even China is ripping the deal because it does little to force to meet pollution standards.
Also, the agreement did even specify . Originally, the G8 members wanted to decrease emissions by 50% by the year 2050. German Chancellor Angela Merkel even favored something more drastic than that. But because Bush would not budge, the G8 leaders left only with a non-binding agreement that says they "" those greenhouse reductions.
is looking better to me everyday, and for that reason I decided todedicate a post to him...the country's pAL.
First lets take a look at Al's new book ''. The Guardian p from his book.
'A drive for global domination has put us in greater danger'- Moral authority, which is ourgreatest source of strength, has been recklessly put at risk by this willfulpresident
The pursuit of "dominance" in foreign policy led the Bushadministration to ignore the UN, to do serious damage to our most importantalliances, to violate international law, and to cultivate the hatred andcontempt of many in the rest of the world. The seductive appeal of exercisingunconstrained unilateral power led this president to interpret his powers underthe constitution in a way that brought to life the worst nightmare of thefounders. Any policy based on domination of the rest of the world not onlycreates enemies for the US and recruits for al-Qaida, but also undermines theinternational cooperation that is essential to defeating terrorists who wish toharm and intimidate America. Instead of "dominance", we should beseeking pre-eminence in a world where nations respect us and seek to follow ourleadership and adopt our values. ...
Time Online posted an from 'The Assault on Reason'
Not long before our nation launched the invasion of Iraq, our longest-servingSenator, Robert Byrd of West Virginia, stood on the Senate floor and said:"This chamber is, for the most part, silent—ominously, dreadfully silent.There is no debate, no discussion, no attempt to lay out for the nation the prosand cons of this particular war. There is nothing. We stand passively mute inthe United States Senate."
Why was the Senate silent?
In describing the empty chamber the way he did, Byrd invited a specificversion of the same general question millions of us have been asking: "Whydo reason, logic and truth seem to play a sharply diminished role in the wayAmerica now makes important decisions?" The persistent and sustainedreliance on falsehoods as the basis of policy, even in the face of massive andwell-understood evidence to the contrary, seems to many Americans to havereached levels that were previously unimaginable. ...
We constantly hear the broken record words of Sean Hannity trying to get that "Gore is a hypocrite" regardingGlobal Warming.
Joseph Palermo wrote on .
In today's New York Times, right-wing columnist and perennialyakking head, David (Bobo-in-Paradise) Brooks, trashes Al Gore's newbook, The Assault on Reason. Brooks labels Gore "a radicaltechnological determinist" because the former Vice President draws upon thescholarly work of Marshal McLuhan, Neil Postman, and others to conclude that theprinting press, radio, and television have had an enormous impact on ourpolitics. "Gore's imperviousness to reality is not the most strikingfeature of the book," sniffs Brooks, "it's the chilliness andsterility of his worldview."
Toward the end of his mushy-headed indictment of Gore, Brooks snivels:"Utterly at a loss when asked to talk about virtue and justice, [Gore andothers] try to shift attention to technology and methods of communication. Theyimagine that by altering machines they can alter the fundamentals of behavior,or at least avoid the dark thickets of human nature."
It's funny that someone like Brooks, who calls himself a"conservative" and an "intellectual" would be so downrighthostile to The Assault on Reason. After all, aren't people like Brookssupposed to admire the framers of the Constitution and other people who havecontributed to defining our nation's creed?......
It really doesn't matter if you like Gore or not, butit is difficult to disagree with his points of view both politically and environmentally.What once turned me off from Gore was his articulate, intelligent and almost condescendingattitude, is now something I embrace. He stayed the course and proved to us thathe really does care about the people, the country and the earth.
Gore Says Bush is an Un-American , Heretic
Al Gore 'The Assault On Reason' ~ Countdown w/Obermann Part1
Al Gore 'The Assault On Reason' ~ Countdown w/Obermann Part2
Al Gore ~ Religion/Founding Fathers - Larry King 5/22/2007
This post isn't a "The Blue State Supports Gore", this was solelyto condense a wealth of information in a single post about Al.. I am an Obama o8kinda guy, but would love a Gore/Obama ticket, and would like Richardson onGore's cabinet. If all goes well, perhaps an Obama 2012?
A few days ago on HBO's Real Time, host Bill Maher discussed a specific environmental issue that the press had been ignoring until now. It has to do with the decrease in bee population:
And there is more:
70% of all vegetables must be pollinated by domestic bees. ( 4/6/07)
There are 25% less professional bee hive colonies today than at the start of the 1980s. ( 4/6/07)
Bee exports in 24 states, which include every region of the country, have recently reported unprecedented numbers of bees abandoning their hives. For example, 35% of Florida's bee colonies have disappeared. ( 3/3/07)
Some governments are calling for the watering down of the report onthe impact of climate changes, and is angering the scientists that workedon the report. Some of the scientists have vowed never to participate in theprocess again.
Several governments had forced scaling down of the report prepared by thescientists for United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),which was released in Brussels on April 6.
Intense arguments had taken place before the agreement could be reached onthe report’s conclusions, in which many key sections were deleted. Scientistsconfronted government negotiators who they feared were watering down theirfindings. Several scientists objected to the editing of the final draft bygovernment negotiators but, in the end, agreed to the compromises.
Thereis some opposition to the threat of Global Warming (or climate change as theopposition refers to it as), but many of the "experts" are employed bythe large oil companies which would explain their "doubts". And Iwasn't surprised to see the U.S., China and Saudi Arabia objecting to some ofthe phrasing (rich countries topping the list of Co2 emissions).
The US, Chinaand Saudi Arabia raised many of the objections to the phrasing, often seeking totone down the certainty of some of the more dire projections. The reportprojected an increased risk of disappearance of up to 30 percent of species ifglobal temperatures rise 3.6 degrees above the average in the 1980s and 1990s.Areas in drought will become even drier, adding to the risks of hunger anddisease, it said.
While we're sitting in front of our TV's watching CSI Miami, global warminghas no effect on us, our government will fix the problem, and we even care lesswhen climate change will be more of a problem thousands of miles away. I thinkwe've all been guilty of dismissing disasters or tragedies when they're not inour neighborhoods, and don't think they will have an affect on us (butthey do).
This year’s series of reports by the IPCC were the first in six years fromthe prestigious body of 2,500 scientists, formed in 1988.
‘Food, water scarcity in India by 2050’
IPCC report says food and water scarcity loom large over India as globaltemperatures are rising due to emission of greenhouse gases, and its effectswill be visible by year 2050. IPCC head Dr R K Pachauri said the UN Panelprojects substantial decreases in the production of food grains in India andother Asian countries.
He said half a degree Celsius rise in winter temperatures would reduce wheatproduction by 0.45 metric tons per hectare.
India is completely unprepared for the effects of climate change that couldlead to widespread flooding and drought across the impoverished country, aresearcher said Tuesday. On a scale of 10, India’s preparedness is 0.5, warnedPachauri.
This is an email I received from Kalee Kreider, the CommunicationsDirector for Al & Tipper Gore. I have exchanged a few emails with her forsome info. I was looking for. It has some info that may interest some of you. (Iadded the highlight). I deleted the list of bands to shorten the post. If anyonewould like that info., leave a comment and I will email the list to you.
Hi all, Below is the announcement I mentioned last week that was coming. Thought you might have interest. Cheers, Kalee
STRICTLY EMBARGOED UNTIL 5 a.m. EDT April 10, 2007 CONTACT: Yusef K. Robb (323) 384-1789 /
USA LIVE EARTH REVEALED Tickets for the 7/7/07 Concert to Combat Global Warming Go On Sale 4/16
EDITORS: Video highlight package with B-roll of artists and concerts and sound bites from Wall and Gore available. See satellite info below. Audio release for radio also available. Contact Robb for MP3 file.
NEW YORK -- Organizers today announced sixteen of the headliners who will perform at the U.S. leg of the 7-continent, 24-hour Live Earth concerts on 7/7/07. The concert will be held at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, Live Earth Founder and Executive Producer Kevin Wall said. Tickets for the show go on sale Monday, April 16 at 10 a.m. EDT.
³Capping Live Earth with a blockbuster show like this will ensure we meet our challenge of building a mass audience to combat global warming,² Wall said. ³Live Earth will be a monumental event both in terms ofentertainment and in turning the tide against global warming.²
The global concert on 7/7/07 will begin in Sydney and continue across all 7 continents, concluding with the U.S. show.
³We hope the energy created by Live Earth will jump start a massive public education effort,² Live Earth Co-Chair Vice President Al Gore said. ³Live Earth will help us reach a tipping point that¹s needed to move corporations and governments to take decisive action to solve the climate crisis.²
Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. EDT on Monday, April 16 and will be available at livenation.com/liveearth or by calling Ticketmaster at (212) 307-7171. All ticket information is available at LiveEarth.MSN.com. All proceedswill go to The Alliance for Climate Protection and other international NGOs.
Live Earth is a monumental music event that will bring together more than 2 billion people to combat the climate crisis. Live Earth¹s 24 hours ofmusic across 7 continents will deliver a call to action and the solutions needed to answer the call. Live Earth marks the beginning of a multi-yearcampaign led by The Alliance for Climate Protection to move individuals, corporations and governments to take action.
Exclusive online media partner MSN is helping Live Earth reach people in every corner of the globe. The concerts will be streamed live on 7/7/07 at LiveEarth.MSN.com. MSN¹s 39 localized web portals worldwide attract 465 million monthly users. The concerts will be broadcast on the NBC in the U.S. and on more than 120 networks around the world.
Wall also announced that smart car, Stonyfield Farm and Pepsi have joined Live Earth as corporate partners. In addition to working with Live Earthto create corporate efforts to combat global warming, this growing list of partners will help ensure a mass audience for Live Earth is reached. These efforts will be detailed at a later date.
Wall also announced today that Live Earth will stage concerts at Sydney¹s Aussie Stadium; Rio de Janeiro¹s Copacabana Beach; Johannesburg¹s Cradle of Human Kind; Tokyo¹s Tokyo Stadium and the Shanghai, TBD.
Kalee D. Kreider Communications Director Office of the Hon. Al Gore and Mrs. Tipper Gore 2100 West End Avenue, Suite 620 Nashville, TN 37203 (615) 327-2227 (615) 327-1323
The Iraq war, corruption and restoring faith in the political system will likely be the three main themes addressed in the 2008 general election race. All of this has to do with American voters wanting a fresh beginning. As Craig Crawford of writes, thanks to the recent that rebuked the President on greenhouse emissions, the discussion about a new beginning could center around the concern over climate change, and how we leave our planet for future generations:
The decision, in one of the most important environmental cases ever toreach the Supreme Court, puts enormous pressure on politicians in bothparties — and especially on the presidential aspirants — to take globalwarming seriously. And with foot-dragging for its remaining 20 monthsthe administration’s likely response to the ruling, it will be up tothe next president to either heed the justices’ call to action orcontinue to do little and risk further court involvement. Also, the 5-4vote in the case shows how the next president’s judicial nominees couldpotentially shift the court’s view to either a stronger majority or areversal.
This still leaves the door open for people like Al Gore. If the former Vice President enters the race, he could promise to appoint judicial nominees that tend to come down hard on oil companies and other big polluters. Consider that versus if someone like Duncan Hunter were elected, who , and gets from that sector as well.
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