Archive for the 'politics' Category

Global Warming Deniers are Un-American

unclesam.jpgSince the 9/11 attacks, conservatives have been fond of branding liberals for being un-American. Well, it’s official. The real traitors are those who continue to deny that global warming is real.

Their resistance is not just preventing us from slowing down the melting of our planet, but is also endangering our national security. A few proof points:

  1. In April, a Pentagon funded report published back in April of 2007 found that global warming is a “serious threat to America’s national security”.
  2. In June of this year, Dr. Thomas Fingar, Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Analysis and Chairman of the National Intelligence Council, testified to congress that global warming had the “potential to seriously affect US national security interests.”
  3. John McCain, in a new ad states, “I believe global warming is real - it’s not just a greenhouse gas issue, it’s a national security issue.”

So if you love America, pull your heads out of sand and join us! If not, you are betraying the country, and the world. Harsh? Yes. But also true.

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What have you really done about climate change? Huh?

uncle-sam.jpgToday Al Gore gave a powerful speech calling for, as the New York Times put it:

the United States to wean the nation from its entire electricity grid to carbon-free energy within 10 years, warning that drastic steps were needed to avoid a global economic and ecological cataclysm       

Gore said, “I see my role as enlarging the political space in which Senator Obama or Senator McCain can confront this issue as president next year.” As I see it, I see this as an admission that climate change is at heart a political problem, because it’s the only way we solve these problems at scale. And our leaders are conflicted. And weak. And because of that nothing is happening, all the while Rome is burning. So my question to everyone is this: What have you really done about global warming? Did you write or visit your congressperson? Have you organized others to do so? Did you join a environmental lobby like the NRDC Action Fund? Because if you haven’t and you’re just driving a Prius and using a few less shopping bags, you’re probably not doing enough. Let’s get going, everyone! 

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George Bush is the world’s biggest polluter.

bush-chimp.jpgI know JB just posted about George Bush, and not that it’s even any fun anymore to point out his infinite stupidity, but here’s yet another one. Last week, at the G8 summit in Tokyo, Bush ended a meeting with other world leaders with this amazing quote, presumably referring to the fact that he will be leaving office soon: “”Goodbye from the world’s biggest polluter.”

According to this article:

He then punched the air while grinning widely, as the rest of those present including Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy looked on in shock. One official who witnessed the extraordinary scene said afterwards: “Everyone was very surprised that he was making a joke about America’s record on pollution.”

What a disaster. I’m amazed that George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush have not died in shame and remorse yet.

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Lame ducks are… well, lame.

Good old George W. is at it again:  today, he lifted the executive ban on offshore oil drilling, citing increasing gas prices as the reason.   His rationale:  Every dollar that is spent towards gas could be spent towards putting food on the table.

Sure, I suppose this is true, but I don’t particularly have any confidence in Big Oil companies that they will lower prices as supply increases…do you?  They have a long history of greediness.

I thought these quotes were good:

From Senator Barbara Boxer:

President Bush is giving another gift to the oil companies that will do not one thing to lower gas prices for the American people.  This proposal is something you’d expect from an oil company CEO, not the President of the United States.

Senator Dianne Feinstein said the President was “deluding the American public” into believing that new offshore drilling is a quick fix to $4 per gallon gasoline.

Nothing could be further from the truth. We cannot drill our way out of this problem.

I totally agree.

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Lowering carbon emissions doesn’t have to cost (that much) money.

mckinsey_cost_curve.jpg McKinsey’s Global Institiute released another study recently discussing what it would cost to reduce carbon emissions. As it turns out, not that much. I mean, yes, it does cost something, but according to their calculations, just 0.6-1.4% of GDP to get to managable levels, which is less than the 3.3% we pay as a society for insurance. And as they have noted before, many of the reductions can actually increase GDP! So in other words, we have no excuse for stronger leadership and more action. Money quote:

The microeconomic changes needed to increase carbon productivity at the levels required will not occur without the active leadership and collaboration of governments and businesses globally. We need new policies, regulatory frameworks, and institutions focused on four areas: creating market-based incentives to innovate and raise carbon productivity; addressing market failures that prevent abatement opportunities from being captured profitably; resolving issues of allocation and fairness, in particular between the developed and developing worlds and between industry sectors; and accelerating progress to avoid missing critical emissions targets. 

Thanks to Climate Progress for pointing this out.

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