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Mea culpa … as I have not had time to fully digest this material, but Senator Barbara Boxer has released a summary of the Manager’s Amendment to the Lieberman-Warner Coal-Subsidy Act. In the cover letter, Senator Boxer promises many things, including that this will be “deficit neutral” (sadly, not ‘reduce the deficit’ or putting funds in reserve) and that it

follows the very strong advice of scientists, who have told us what needs to be done to avert the catastrophic effects of unchecked global warming.

If this is true, if the revamped bill will follow that advice, the Manager’s Amendment should have drastic changes to the bill. Rather than a reduction of US green-house gas (GHG) emissions to about 1990 levels by 2020 and about a 63% reduction in US GHGs from 1990 levels by 2050, this bill would have a threshhold (minimum) of 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.

Sadly, this is not the case. The bill’s targets don’t meet the basic (conservative) scientific guidance. Senator Boxer’s claim that this bill “follows the very strong advice” simply does not stand up to the briefest scrutiny.

Sigh …
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The world we inhabit is a beautiful place.  And, there are tremendous things that are improving with, virtually every minute such as, well, our ability to communicate via tubes.  

Yet …

We live in a troubled world.  From wars, to disease, to economic inequalities, to … There are many areas where, if we act right, tomorrow could be better than today.

Yet, humanity’s very future, the ability to make that choice is at risk, our very own actions and pursuit of economic strength are imperiling the ability to make those choices.

Global Warming … Peak Oil … These fundamental issues intertwine to threaten the opportunity to pursue and achieve a progressive vision for tomorrow.  Facing these must, MUST be core to progressive politics or, well, every other progressive cause is doomed to failure.  [Read more →]

John McCain’s Global Warming speech last Monday had some unusual attendees in the audience.  This video captures the swarming attendees, attracted to the event by the news that McCain was going to give real attention to and provide some leadership when it came to Global Warming.

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The McCain campaign’s greenwashing efforts are getting hit from all sides and could actually provide a unifying factor across the political spectrum: everyone finds it absurd.  As per EarthFirst, Finally, Something the Righties and Lefties All Agree On: McCain Needs to Stop this Environment Crap.

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The NIMBYist fight against wind projects, most notably Cape Wind, has long been suspected of being funded from the coal industry. (After all, more wind electricity correlates to less burnt coal.)  The Boston Globe reported today about how lobbying disclosure firms have linked Cape Wind opponents to a coal-energy firm.

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Wednesday was a moment of dueling advertisements in the Senate contest in Colorado, with both the Democratic and Republican candidates putting out new advertisements.

Mark Udall released Stand, calling on us (US) to end our oil addiction and energy solutions. “We’ve got to get this right.” Some real Energy Smart material in this ad and in Mark Udall’s record.

Bob Schaffer released an ad that you might like to see but can’t because his campaign pulled the ad in embarassment. Schaffer, running for Senate in Colorado, evidently doesn’t think much of Colorado’s mountains: the advertisement featured Mt McKinley from Alaska. (Note, ScholarsAndRogues has a screen shot of the ad with a post worthy of the Onion.) Forget Energy, just Dumb.
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“Just wondering,” that’s all. Sort of like George Will’s “Questions for McCain” where  Will is “just wondering,” of course, not necessarily showing that he is an imbecile when it comes to science. 

Peripatetic John McCain, the human pinball, continues to carom around the country as his rivals gnaw on each other. Although action, not reflection, is his forte, perhaps he should go to earth somewhere, while the Democrats continue the destruction, and answer some questions

While we might ask what “destruction” means or search for that dictionary definition of “peripatetic” (traveling from place to place), Will’s concept of “questions” meriting response is what is of interest.  A number of these questions relate to Global Warming, that arena where John McCain seeks to set himself apart from the reality-denying majority of Republicans.

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Greenwashing is the unjustified appropriation of environmental virtue by a company, an industry, a government, a politician or even a non-government organization to create a pro-environmental image, sell a product or a policy, or to try and rehabilitate their standing with the public and decision makers after being embroiled in controversy.

John McCain’s campaign is going GREEN … and even trying to raise some funds via this greening. As a reach out to Birkenstock wearing eco-terrorists, it seems, the McCain campaign website now had eco-friendly items” for sale.  You too can have your “Bamboo Pique” “Go Green McCain Embroidered Polo Shirt with New Recycle Logo” in stone color, for just $50.  A ladies bamboo T-Shirt will run your $25.  An “unstructured organic cotton canvas” “Go Green McCain Visor” will run you $15. Time to raid your piggy-banks, you eco-terrorists, to help fund the “eco-friendly” McCain campaign.

$15 too much?  Well, there is always the $8 note book with that new recycle logo. “The lined sheets and notebook covers are colored with organic based inks.”

There are some things that fall beyond satire.

Who do they think they’re kidding?  Rebranding McCain as Mr. Enviroment?  Rebranding the Republican Party as the Eco-Friendly choice?  The McCain campaign must have a real disdain for the intellect of the American voting public.

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Let us face facts: Coal kills. Simple, straightforward, clear.

Coal has been a mainstay of the industrial economy for more than a century and provides a large share of the world’s electricity. That electricity, that contribution to the industrial economy has brought about some tremendous things. But, for the 21st century and beyond, coal is no longer the necessity it once was, other options exist. And, we now know far more about the costs of burning coal than before: acid rain, mining destruction, health impacts, mercurty pollution, and that pesky little thing called Global Warming. Coal has had its day (actually decades), but that day has past as we now know with every growing clarity: COAL KILLS.

Recent news provides another way that Coal Kills: a Republican politician’s slavish devotion to the promotion of polluting coal electricity looks to have killed his career.
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