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It’s All Political? Why?
-- Peter -- 10/08/2008
I know why global warming started as a political issue but I don’t know why it should remain that way. Sure, to most of us the original messenger was a certain former Vice- President known for starring in a certain movie and getting a few awards for his work but come on, this is the planet, the only planet we have to leave to our children. It is not about us and our political views; it’s about solving a crisis for those we love the most.
If you are reading this, chances are you are one of the ones not hung up on the political aspects of climate change. If this is true, what is our responsibility? If we are committed to solving this crisis we have to try to see the world through someone else’s eyes and bring those doubters along. You are armed with sound, accepted, peer reviewed science. You are up against a lot of bias and misinformation. We have to use these tools and not disparage someone’s politics if we hope to succeed.
Do we need to fight? I believe we do but we can’t ignore half the country and expect to get where we want to go. The fact is that this challenge is bigger than any one political party and elected officials from both parties need to lead and we are seeing that happen. We need good ideas from across the political spectrum. In order to get the broad support that is needed, we need to move away from politics and towards solutions.
I know, easier said than done but we need to try and it is certainly worth the try.
Onward and upward……
Spill, baby, spill
-- Amanda Meade -- 10/09/2008
"Hurricane Ike's winds and massive waves destroyed oil platforms, tossed storage tanks and punctured pipelines. The environmental damage only now is becoming apparent: At least a half million gallons (1,892,650 liters) of crude oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico and the marshes, bayous and bays of Louisiana and Texas, according to an analysis of federal data by The Associated Press." Or here
Anyone want to rethink allowing drilling 3 miles off our coasts? The National Center for Atmospheric Research scientist Greg Holland says, "The increasingly dense development along our coastlines and our dependence on oil from the Gulf of Mexico leaves our society dangerously vulnerable to hurricanes." A new study by NCAR follows two major reports, by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which found evidence for a link between global warming and increased hurricane activity.
The only offshore locations left for drilling are very expensive to explore and produce oil. Drilling in the Atlantic and other offshore locations is far more expensive and won’t result in any substantive reduction in the cost of oil, even if it does contribute a small percentage to our supply. There are no quick and easy solutions to meeting our energy needs. The one thing that we need to take seriously into consideration is the fact that we have to change. Change the way we think about energy, change the way we use energy and change the way we develop energy. Is it really worth the risk to develop oil off our shores?
All of the above is not an energy policy. I don’t like any of the above if they don’t get us where we need to be – 100% renewable.
Take Heart and Keep Up the Fight
-- Peter -- 10/03/2008
In the fight against global warming it is easy to get discouraged and to think that no one is doing anything to fight this scary scenario. Some would probably believe that dealing with global warming day in and day out as an organizer would be depressing. The truth is that as an organizer I get to meet and work with people from all walks of life who not only care about this issue but are doing something about it. Knowing that is encouraging.
At the University of Maryland alone there are three separate programs that are dedicated to studying and fighting climate change. These are smart and serious people and they are doing great work. There are also many individuals and citizen groups who dedicate most of their free time to fighting global warming.
Now, we need to get our elected officials on board. They are a little distracted right now but we need to keep up the good fight and support those who are fighting the good fight.
“There is no conclusive proof that cigarettes cause cancer”
-- Amanda Meade -- 10/03/2008
There is no conclusive evidence that climate change is happening"
Seems that after 50 years of fighting to prove tobacco wasn't harmful the whole industry of deniers picked up and moved camp to employ the same tactics on global warming:
" Reviewing the continued campaign by climate change skeptics, David McKnight, an associate professor at the University of New South Wales (Australia), notes that there several reasons why companies such as Exxon have had some success playing the global warming denial card. "First, the implications of the science are frightening. Shifting to renewable energy will be costly* and disruptive. Second, doubt is an easy product to sell. Climate denial tells us what we all secretly want to hear. Third, science is portrayed as political orthodoxy rather than objective knowledge, a curiously postmodern argument," he writes. While the tobacco industry is often referred to as the template for the fossil fuel industry's campaign, McKnight argues that there is an important distinction. "There are no 'smoke-free areas' on the planet. Climate denial may turn out to be the world's most deadly PR campaign" SourceWatch
With public relations created tactics continually placed alongside scientific proof, provided as ‘balance' , it's no wonder the environmental community has to fight two years to keep miserly tax credit for renewable energy while oil and coal get billions. No wonder people overwhelmingly don't trust big oil and coal companies. That's partly the reason why here in the U.S. there is such a struggle to be taken seriously while fighting for clean energy and against oil and coal's disastorous contributions to climate change. The fact that we have many problems right now is a proverbial understatement. However, ranting gets us nowhere. It's time to work harder than ever and keep fighting for change and help people understand clean energy is the solution. Its here, its cheap and it'll never runout. Why chose any other way?
*Costs have come down dramatically in the past few years thanks in part to the renewable energy tax credits.
Environmental vandalism, clean coal and climate change
-- Amanda Meade -- 09/30/2008
The Greenpeace climate change activist’s story sparked an interesting debate over tactics and sucked Al Gore into a vortex of criticism over a comment on civil disobedience last week. From a global warming and clean energy perspective, Gore is right that there is no way to operate a "clean coal" plant, and maybe the only way to get governments to wake up is civil disobedience. The resistance to addressing climate change and facing a new energy reality is strong in some corners of public opinion.
So what will it take to raise awareness and create a consensus for action to stop the status quo of building coal fired plants? How will we get clean energy into the dominant mind set for solutions?
It’s a difficult question when the coal industry and their National Mining Association lobbyists muddle the debate by convincing congress to give them tens of billions of subsidized government dollars to keep digging and polluting, and then complain that clean energy isn't competitive in the free market. They also spend a hefty amount on advertising to hypnotize Americans into believing their green washing commercials promoting “clean coal”, although no such technology exists.
There are no easy answers or shortcuts to starting the long process of transformation to clean energy. The good news is there is an opportunity along the way to revitalize the economy by creating jobs and taking action on climate change while we restructure the energy grid with geothermal, wind and solar capabilities. We need to shift our whole countries way of thinking from the fossil fuel past and focus on the clean energy future.
We especially need leaders to stand up and fight for transforming our economy out of the polluting 20th century of the coal lobby type of thinking and invest in new clean energy for the 21st. We can't wait. And if elected representatives only listen to the big energy companies who have no incentive to change, then activists must do something to get their attention. That's Al Gore's point, and that's why the UK courts let environmental vandalism go unpunished - because they were right.
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Clean_Coal_Technology
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Balanced_Energy_Choices
Good for MO
-- Amanda Meade -- 09/26/2008
After a hard fought battle over signature verification in Missouri, the Clean Energy Initiative, Proposition C, is on the ballot. Congrats to all who hit the streets and help make it happen. This is a good step in the right direction as the initiative will shift 15% of electricity to renewables by 2021. The equivilant of taking 2 million cars off the road. The plan has broad support as evidenced in this editorial:
The plan has potential to save Missourians over $300 million in energy costs and create thousands of good paying local jobs. For more detailed information check out www.WorksforMissouri.org
We'll keep you posted on the outcome.
Clinton on the Daily Show
-- Amanda Meade -- 09/25/2008
To follw up with the Snowman's post, here is a link to the Daily Show interview with Bill Clinton. He lays out what might have happened to our economy with clean energy investment over the last 7 1/2 years instead of the current reality of economic downturn.
The Clinton Global Initiative is leading the way on energy and climate change issues and rightly point out that, "leading venture capitalists see clean energy as the greatest economic opportunity of the 21st century." Clinton's explanation of what's happened to our economy on The Daily Show start at 4:01 in Part 1 of the interview. Enjoy:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/index.jhtml?episodeId=185193
You can learn more about the Clinton Global Initiative at:
http://www.clintonglobalinitiative.org
Clinton said it
-- Andrew Snow -- 09/22/2008
Well, former President Bill Clinton just said it on the Late Show with Letterman - individuals can't solve global warming alone, we also have to have leadership from our government. Honestly, I'm not 'happy', as much as it's good to hear (I'm getting used to hearing nice things from companies that burn a lot of coal, too) because this is a situation that needs real action, and needs it now. Speaking the truth, even when you ARE power, doesn't get it done. We need help to make this happen. There are a lot of things going on right now - energy legislation in Congress, legal motions and advisory committees on the state level - please, help us make a better future happen by getting involved. You can do so by clicking a link on this site, or by sending an email to asnow@iowaglobalwarming.org.
David Letterman Gets It!
-- Peter -- 09/16/2008
“David Letterman get’s it”. That’s what a friend wrote referring to an article that came out recently where Letterman was railing against the lack of leadership in the fight against global warming. As part of his rant Letterman shouted, “we’re dead meat” which is both funny and scary at the same time.
On the one hand I am glad that this issue is reaching into popular culture that Letterman is a part of, in spite of what he wants you to believe. On the other hand it is scary because if somebody of Letterman’s stature is scared and ranting then things are getting serious.
I am choosing to focus on the positive. There are worse things than having a problem to work on. We could have this problem and not know it or how to deal with it. We do know how to deal with it; we are really struggling with how to face it. Letterman and many others who have the ear of Americans will need to speak up until we are all forced to face it. When enough of us see the problem we will all see the opportunity.
When I think of my kids and the world they will live in I never thought David Letterman would factor into my thought process but whatever it takes to get this message out is fine with me.
Climate Change Advisory Council meets again
-- Andrew Snow -- 09/04/2008
Today's meeting of the Iowa Climate Change Advisory Council marks the next-to-last time they will meet before they present their final recommendations to the Governor and Legislature. I've seen a number of the written comments our supporters submitted - they're very good, and in some cases strikingly knowledgeable and very specific about the various proposals. I attended the meeting this morning, and provided my own comments to the Council, asking that they choose bold recommendations for action. Here's the text from my comments:
First, I want to thank the members of this Council, as well as all of the subcommittee members, for doing what is a very difficult though hopefully not thankless job – creating and evaluating dozens of proposals on very detailed topics.
I’m not going to take a lot of time right now to discuss the specifics of the proposals, though I know some of the people we’ve asked to provide written comment have done so. I’m actually here to ask you to be bold, but realistic, and use your common sense when evaluating your final recommendations later this year. For example, though I haven’t seen full quantifications for implementing passenger rail to Chicago and across the state, common sense will tell you that it would reduce Vehicle Miles Traveled and greenhouse gases significantly, as well as provide immense additional benefits to the state. In contrast, common sense also tells me that a website and public education campaign about a different kind of tires is unlikely to provide the same benefits, regardless of what the quantifications may indicate.
What this Council represents to me is a tremendous opportunity, and I ask that you be prepared to act boldly. Half measures won’t solve our climate problem any more than they will reinvigorate our state economy or help replace our aging workforce. We’re not going to dig, drill or burn our way to positive solutions, and voluntary measures are not going to get us there either. As I’m sure you’re all painfully aware now, there are an almost dizzying array of new technologies available to us – and we must find ways to harness that innovation to secure the future of our families and our state.
This is an opportunity – but it is one with a small window for us to capitalize on. Other states have developed a clear vision of the future and are moving in the right direction. We must act in a bold, firm manner to establish and maintain Iowa’s position as the undisputed leaders in these fields of the future. It is only with a bold vision that we can hope to accomplish this task, and so I ask you – please, be bold and give the Governor and Legislature the strongest possible recommendations. Our state’s future, and our way of life, depends upon your common sense and strong leadership.
Thank you for your time.
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