Get Energy Smart! NOW!!!

Last evening, PBS and Frontine had a “sneak preview” of the documentary HEAT in Washington DC. This looks to be a worthwhile show to watch. Associated with the preveiw was a discussion of climate change with representatives (or surrogates) from the two campaigns and other energy and climate experts. Reportedly (I was unable to attend), part of the evening went like this:

Question: How do the two campaigns differ on climate change?

McCain representative: Really, there is little substantive difference between the two campaigns. For example, Obama supports a target of 80 percent reductions by 2050 and McCain 58 percent. This is far off and fungible, a difference in details not substance.

David Sandalow, senior fellow, Brookings Institution, author of Freedom from Oil, advisor to Obama campaign:

I guess I could sum that up in two words: Sarah Palin. … I think that has to give pause to anybody who cares about this issue

My sources state that Sandalow received a loud round of applause with this line.

More substantive reporting by Kate Sheppard at Grist.

The various fossil fuel industries have been spending hundreds of millions (if not billions) of dollars to influence the national discussion this year, from campaign contributions to Santa Claus giving out ‘clean coal’ at the Metro exits closest to Congressional offices to sponsoring presidential debates throughout the election cycle. This fossil foolish promotion of a carbon-heavy, civilization-unfriendly seems to be putting money in many pockets, including public communications companies and broadcast companies.

For example, CNN has been earned much from coal industry sponsoring of debates, CBS from ExxonMobil, and ABC has aired Chevron greenwashing Human Energy ads just after debates.

One has to wonder whether this funding has affected ABC’s decision to deny the We Campaign’s Repower America advertisment (video of the ad) that criticizes the money that big oil and lobbyists are spending to insure that Americans reman “stuck with dirty and expensive media”.

ABC recently refused to run our Repower America ad, even though they run ads from oil companies that mislead the American people about the role fossil fuels play in the climate crisis.

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Jill Richardson is an extremely interesting, provocative, and fresh voice on the web in the arenas of food and agriclture. She is a founder of La Vica Locavore. This is, with permission, a cross-post of her latest piece.

Last weekend, I visited the Rodale Institute as part of the 2008 Community Food Security Coalition Conference. I think I’m in love. The Rodale Institute is wonderful. The work they do is wonderful. And nature and the earth are wonderful. Why doesn’t everyone else (cough cough Collin Peterson) get it?
I highly recommend everyone check out Rodale’s report on global warming and how agriculture can help. But just in case you want to get the 5-minute version of the report, I’ll summarize below.

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As noted in McCain DisDain for being truthful, the townhall debate actually fostered some good questions. And, for the first time in the Presidential debates and far more pointedly than has occurred in any traditional TV situation, Ingrid Jackson asked a pointed question on climate change (video):

Sen. McCain, I want to know, we saw that Congress moved pretty fast in the face of an economic crisis. I want to know what you would do within the first two years to make sure that Congress moves fast as far as environmental issues, like climate change and green jobs?

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Examining the World Bank’s investment portfolio (pdf), one could be excused for thinking that the Bank is somehow part of the global warming denier branch of the flat-earth society and does not believe that climate change is the critical issue facing the globe.

Relying exclusively on the World Bank’s own figures, our analysis shows World Bank Group lending to coal, oil and gas is up 94% from 2007, reaching over $3 billion. Coal lending alone has increased an astonishing 256% in the last year.

Note to Bank leaders: coal is not a climate-friendly option.

In the face of triple-digit increases in fossil-fuel funding, renewable energy and energy efficiency project funding went up less significantly: 87% but most of that went to the traditional hydropower systems.

Only $476 million went this year to support “new renewables”. That represents only a 13% increase over last year’s $421 million, according to the Bank’s own numbers.

Sigh. Being on the wrong side of smart energy policy has too long been a World Bank tradition, a tradition that the WB leadership seems hesistant to abandon.

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This evening’s ‘town hall’ debate actually merits a kudo, amid its problems: there were actually serious questions about energy and global warming, including a direction mention of green jobs.

In the debate, Barack Obama consistently reiterated that energy is a top-tier issue, linking it to financial, environmental, and international security challenges. Obama spoke of energy in holistic terms, speaking from individuals to nation/globe, about producing power and seeking energy efficiency, about … Obama sounded like he understood what he was talking about and that he has a plan for solving multiple problems at the same time when it comes to energy.

John McCain also emphasized energy, but his comments were filled with incomplete, disingenuous, and non-truthful elements continuing a sad tradition by both John McCain and Sarah Palin.

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Hurricane Ike created significant damage ashore, disrupted oil production and refining, caused gasoline shortages in areas of the southeast, and there are still many missing people. A not much reported, amid the financial meltdown, are the quite significant Hurricane Ike’s environmental impact, sadly, damage that will be around for years to come.

Remember how those supporting drillusion have consistently lied in false claims that there were not oil spills during Hurricane Katrina. Have to wonder what they will say in coming months about Ike?

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 of crude oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico and the marshes, bayous and bays of Louisiana and Texas,

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T Boone Pickens continues his hard sell efforts when it comes to the flawed Pickens’ Plan. Yesterday, a bipartisan group of bloggers had a teleconference with T Boone. (Notably, this is just when a rush of advertisements are appearing across the blogosphere from T Boone.) If one listens through ‘the call’, several points might jump out:

1. The bloggers seem have an uneven understanding of energy issues based on their comments and questions. In fact, the “right wing” bloggers seem to have basically no knowledge of energy issues. From the “left”, several of the bloggers have legitimate claims to be energy/environmental experts, including Jerome a Paris, Devilstower, Plutonium Page, and Lowell Feld.

2. At the end of the day, T Boone Pickens was able to get away with half-truths and untruths in the session.

This was part of T Boone’s promotion of an “e-rally” to be held before and after the Presidential debate this evening, with Sierra Club executive director Carl Pope joining him, to seek to influence the national debate toward T Boone’s problem filled plan.

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While much of the nation will be glued to their televisions for the second debate between Barack Obama and John McCain, other things will be happening. For example, in McLean, Virginia, there will be an open house about “Green Choice$”. This informational session will give local residents a chance to learn about how they “can conserve energy without breaking the bank” just prior to the minimalist Virginia action re energy efficiency of a sales tax holiday.

“Often, small changes in one’s lifestyle can add up to big changes in our efforts to save the environment,” said Rob Jackson, president of McLean Citizens Association and one of the forum’s sponsors.

Simply true.

The forum is Tuesday, 7 October, McLean Community Center, from 7 to 9:30 pm. Therea re three basic areas of discussion: energy saving at home; environmental issues; and fostering community commitment to energy conservation.

This is being held just a few days before Virginia’s Sales Tax holiday for energy efficiency, 10-13 October. Spending up to $2,500, on a limited number of energy-related items, will be exempt from sales tax if bought for home / personal use.

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, what is the value of these eight images when pieced together?