Tag Archives: CO2

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Is Tackling Climate Change a Third Rail for Republicans?

Bring Me the Heads of the GOP 8!

In late June of 2009, conservative and new Tea Party bloggers promised swift retribution for the eight lone Republicans who had voted for the American Clean Energy and Security Act (a.k.a., the Waxman-Markey Climate Bill).

Pundit Michelle Malkin circulated a “wanted” poster with headshots of “The Cap and Tax 8” which was widely reprinted throughout the Tea Party blogosphere.

“We must make examples of the Capntr8ors,” one blogger ordered the troops.

So, with the dust settling from the general election, how did it go?

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That’s the beginning of my first post to a blog called “Edison 2.0′ that I started at Forbes online. I’ll be writing on cleantech issues, especially those dealing with energy. It’s exciting (and challenging) to be writing for a new and potentially different audience than you good folks who follow The Phoenix Sun, or my posts at OnEarth, Grist, The Energy Collective and elsewhere.

This doesn’t mean I’ll be closing shop here, however. This is MY baby, and I ain’t giving it up.

But, please do check out the post at Forbes and, as always, I welcome feedback, discussion, kudos and bills of any denomination.

Really.

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10/10/10 Find a Climate Change Event Near You

Climate Action in the desert

Yes, there are climate activists in Phoenix, Arizona, as the picture on the right proves. The picture is from last year’s 350.org International Day of Climate Action and shows a local bicycle club from…Cairo? Oh. Wrong desert.

Moving on…forget about last year. This year, Phoenix — and several other Arizona cities and towns — will, indeed, be enlisting desert dwellers in the fight against climate change. And, boy, do we need it. Studies suggest that the record heat and drought we’ve been experiencing throughout the Southwest may be the “new normal” — especially if we don’t take action to reduce our CO2 output.

The Sonora desert is actually one of the most biologically diverse deserts in the world — largely because we used to receive quite a bit of rain in an average year. But the diversity of life we love here is threatened by a lack of moisture and an average temperature increase.

This Sunday — 10-10-10 — is a chance to learn about what can be done to reduce global warming. And an opportunity to show that we’re serious about taking these steps, now!

If you live in Arizona, check out the maps below to see what’s going on in your area. If you live outside of the state, you can get to the original international map, here.


View Actions at 350.org

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GOP in Charge? | Climate Denier Would Head Climate Committee

Kate Sheppard scared the hell out of me last night. It wasn’t Sheppard herself (who is a perfectly nice and decent person), but what the environmental reporter for Mother Jones said on MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann yesterday.

Olbermann asked Sheppard about a report in Politico stating that Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) is gleefully anticipating taking the helm of the climate change committee — if the GOP win control of the House in November. And why is that such a concern?

Sheppard: We had a hearing a few years ago where [Sensenbrenner] asked a scientist about whether we should be putting catalytic converters on cows as a solution to global warming. He thinks of this as a giant joke.

Sheppard: For Sensenbrenner, climate change is a joke.

Ha ha … um… wait, that’s not funny. Having someone who doesn’t believe in climate change in charge of the climate change committee? Absurd? Yes. Funny? Not on your life. Or, more appropriately, not on the lives of our children and grandchildren who will be paying the price for Mr. Sensenbrenner’s ignorant obstructionism.

Sheppard spelled out in detail the tactics Sensenbrenner and other GOP chairmen would use to prevent even consideration of climate initiatives in the House.


Sheppard: They are just going to drag the administration officials out from doing their jobs and make them testify before these committees, drop subpoena after subpoena on them, and try to prevent them from doing their job. Whenever they ask for a report — basically, the Republicans just ask for a new report that proves what they want it to prove. They’re going to just have these people basically on trial in Congress day after day, and not just people in the administration but independent climate scientists as well, attempting to just bash them and instill fear in the scientific community. That’s basically their goal here.

And, they’ll score, too, especially if enough progressive voters sit out the election to make a “statement” about their understandable frustration with the lack of progress on climate legislation and a host of other issues. Trouble is, as Sheppard’s example illustrates, the only message staying home will ultimately send is: “We capitulate.”

Elections matter — and this one matters more than most.