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The world has changed. The only two faces, the only names of people of substance that seem to compete with Mickey Mouse or Ronald McDonald or a Pokemon figure for instant awareness among children are Black: Barack Obama and Martin Luther King. The world does change. And, it can change for the better.

I have a dream …

Thus, my young children know who MLK is without even needing prompting from their parents. He is, even for my 4-year old, a hero, a name of excitement and power.

Thus, they paid attention when I took them to hear the man who I told them might be, hopefully will be the Martin Luther King of the 21st Century: Van Jones.

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Data is building that, nationwide, US electricity use is falling. According to the Department of Energy’s 2009 Electric Power Monthly,

Net generation in the United States dropped by 4.2 percent from October 2007 to October 2008. This was the third consecutive month that net generation was down compared to the same calendar month in 2007

The best news of the equation:

Most (69.4 percent) of the 12-month decline in October levels is attributable to the fall in coal-fired generation and 55.4 percent of the coal-fired decline can be attributed to lower coal-fired generation in five States – North Carolina, Georgia, West Virginia, Ohio, and Michigan.

Nuclear power and wind (and other renewable) generation went up.

A brief recap
Let’s review for a second:

1. Reduced consumption;
2. Falling coal-fired electricity production;
3. Increased low-GHG electricity sources.

Even though not everyone is enthused (think falling utility and coal industry profits), that is a combination that we could actually live with if it continued (and accelerated) into the indefinite future.

Will this pattern continue into the future? In no small, the answer to that question depends heavily on the answer to following question:

What’s driving the situation?

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The draft Energize America “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009” went out today. Let’s be upfront: it has some GREAT elements and some, well, pretty not great aspects. We are in a very serious situation, but the serious challenge is not just economic, but an intersecting set of challenges and crises in the very deep hole that George the W and cronies created for us (the US and all of us).

As we strive to stop digging deeper and climb our way out, we should seek for W5 solutions that have wins across multiple arenas: near-term jobs; long-term economic growth; strengthen civil society; promote energy independence; and fight the climate crisis.

Concepts to provide multi-faceted solutions have been core to
Energize America from its earliest moments. Here is a second “W5 Solution”: Plug-In Hybrid-Electric School Buses (PHESBs).

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President Obama and Congress must act to stimulate the US economy with a package of win-win-win-win (W4) elements that will:

• Create and protect jobs throughout the nation
• Foster economic activity that will help, through tax revenue, pay for the stimulus
• Strengthen the nation’s economic prospects for the long-term, and
• Help address other critical challenges: notably energy security and climate change.

Good news: such W4 options exist in abundance.

Not so good news: While they are there in some degree, W4 elements are not dominating the discussions nor the draft economic stimulus package’s financial structure.

This is the first in a series of posts highlighting W4 options that should be part of the discussion and, even better, the economic stimulus package’s financing.

Insulate the US from Economic and Climate Devastation

As discussed here, Architecture 2030 developed The 2030 Challenge Stimulus Plan to create roughly nine million (yes, 9,000,000) jobs and several trillion dollars of building activity through a two-year, $192.47 billion program focused on using financial instruments to spark investment in energy efficiency in private buildings throughout the nation.

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Let’s face facts: web polls, with close to zero controls over voting/such and no scientific sampling, are pretty close to meaningless. Even so … a web poll result on CNN or in the traditional media carries “weight” with the casual reader (which is most, right). And, there is the “best of …” status that we’ll hear about for years.

In a few hours, voting ends on the “best” of the blogosphere. When it comes to the “science” blogs, all I’ve got to say: You’ve got to be kidding me! Top of the pile, at the moment, is the “ASS”-promoting global-warming denying Watt’s Up With That. For better (and sometimes worse), the global warming denier community is heavily active on the web and has been out in force voting. We have a chance to change this equation. While not perfect (but definitely worth the read), “the controversial crusader against Intelligent Design”, PZ Myers: Pharyngula, is a close second and you can cast your vote to have a the “best science blog” go to someone who actually understands the meaning of “scientific Theory”.

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To be or not to be? That is a question already surrounding the issue of climate legilslation for action in 2009, even before the Obama Administration takes office. When question, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi stated the votes are there in the House, but that she wouldn’t commit to 2009 action. Ed Markey (Chair of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, and chair of the Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment in the Energy and Commerce Committee) said that timing on action was “to be determined”. Some organizations are already pushing back, making a call for action. 1Sky, for example, made a direct call for placing a climate bill on the top of the pile.

A question to wonder: Is this the best approach for this time, for this moment?

I’m simply not sure …

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Amid all the hullaboo about Clean Coal, most focus on the issue of CO2 emissions. In fact, there is a partial truth about sort-of less dirty coal, ever-improving filtering of particulates is creating ever more fly ash. And, that fly ash either needs to be used (concrete, gypsum board, etc) or simply stored indefinitely. A prime storage option: Ash Ponds.

For Christmas, rather than Clean Coal carolers, too many in Tennessee were serenaded with evacuation notices and concerns about drinking water due to the massive Tennessee Valley Authority Kingston ash pond rupture.

Earlier today, another TVA ash pond (Alabama) has reported a “leak” which has already had materials flow into Widows Creek.

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While Huffington Post editors would likely want to see the Ambler incident simply disappear off the radar scope, the global warming sound machine doesn’t seem interested in cooperating in that aim.  One of the key megaphones, Senator James Inhofe (R-Exxon), blared out on this today. And, in a path that seems to rate quite highly (perhaps that 98.5) on The Inhofe Scale. Today, as part of yet another screed of truthiness and deceit on Global Warming, Inhofe pointed to Ambler’s deceptive HuffPost Post as, somehow, proof that the “left” is now being increasing populated by global warming deniers and skeptics.

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The controversy re Ambler’s deceptive Huffington Post post continued, with many right-wing and deniers jumping on it, trumpeting proof that somehow Huffington Post was now a denier community member. Amid those responding to Ambler, whether simply with a slap across the face or with substantive, point-by-point rebuttals, several made comments about Ambler’s post being an error within junior staff at Huffington Post over the holidays after Ambler had, repeatedly, repeatedly truthiness diatribes rejected by HuffPost’s editorial staff. Ambler responded to these posts with comments like the following (see comments section):

there is a second factual error in your piece regarding how I got posted on HuffPo. My only contact with the site prior to being published was Arianna Huffington herself, who read my piece, accepted it, and directed her staff to post it.

Okay. That one created a pause. Had Arianna Huffington, who had often spoken and written about Global Warming and the problems caused by those rejecting science, changed her mind? Was the door now open for the Huffington Post to be wide-open for any and all deniers to publish?

This led to a direct request to Huffington Post asking a response to the following questions:

• Is what Harod AmblerAmbler writes (as per below) true?
• Did Arianna Huffington read and direct that “Mr Gore: Apology Accepted” be published?
• Does Arianna Huffington have any comment about the content of Mr. Ambler’s opinion piece?

Just received are Arianna’s responses to my questions:

Harold Ambler reached out to me about posting a critical piece on Al Gore and the environment. We are always open to posts that present opinions contrary to HuffPost’s editorial view — and have welcomed many conservative voices, such as David Frum, Tony Blankley, Michael Smerconish, Bob Barr, Joe Scarborough, Jim Talent, etc., to the site. We have featured also countless posts from the leading lights of the Green movement, including Robert Redford, Laurie David, Carl Pope, Van Jones, David Roberts, and many others — and I myself have written extensively about the global warming crisis, and have been highly critical of those who refuse to acknowledge the overwhelming scientific evidence.

As a quick note, I have a feeling that Grist’s Dave Roberts is primping himself in front of the mirror being thrown into same breath as Robert Redford as a “leading light”.

Arianna continues

When Ambler sent his post, I forwarded it to one of our associate blog editors to evaluate, not having read it. I get literally hundreds of posts a week submitted like this and obviously can’t read them all — which is why we have an editorial process in place. The associate blog editor published the post. It was an error in judgment. I would not have posted it. Although HuffPost welcomes a vigorous debate on many subjects, I am a firm believer that there are not two sides to every issue, and that on some issues the jury is no longer out. The climate crisis is one of these issues.

Okay, Harold, are you calling Arianna a liar or will you be willing to admit that you erred in your commentary about how you got posted to Huffington Post?

And, will you be able to admit error (after error after error …) in your truthiness screed about Global Warming?

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Global Warming … Peak Oil … Financial meltdown … these all threaten our future prospects, our ability to see a positive future reality for ourselves and descendents.

Twenty years ago, the first President Bush stated that “the American Way of Life is not up for negotiation”, showing an inability to imagine catastrophe from non-negotiation and an inability to see something better. Without imagination to see a better future and the power to achieve it, we will not progress out of catastrophe to prosperous sustainability.

A New Year’s Pledge: imagine that better path and fight to achieve it.

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