Red, Green, and Blue

In an interview that aired on CNN Tuesday night, Republican candidate for vice-president Sarah Palin seemed to stumble trying to recall the name of the Alaska Oil & Gas Conservation Commission - a commission she chaired for two years, which according to John McCain, makes her one of the foremost energy experts in the nation.
Asked by CNN’s Drew Griffin what her role would be as vice-president, Palin said she would focus on government reform and energy independence. “That’s been my forte as the governor of an energy producing state and as a former chair of the… of the energy regulator… entity up there in Alaska.” Watch it:  Read the rest of this entry »

So, the commenting has begun in Red, Green and Blue’s and ReframeIt’s Green Economy Scavenger Hunt. Our own Tim Hurst has been quite active, but user Maximilian Harmon is definitely in the race, too, at this point (and, of course, Tim can’t win… that wouldn’t look right, would it?).  Remember, $1000 dollars and a guest post at RG&B is up for grabs for the person who creates the best body of finds and comments related to the growth of the green economy, and the presidential candidates’ approaches to doing that.

Of course, “best” is a qualitative judgment, so we need to have reasonable, rational judges available to take a look at the web pages discovered, comments added, and discussions started.  We’ve put that group together: the folks who will decide who wins the scavenger hunt on November 3rd are (drum roll, please):

• Nick Aster, founder of Triplepundit, media architect of Treehugger, and staffer at Mother Jones.
• Bobby Fishkin, CEO and Founder of ReframeIt
• Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, co-founder of Green Options Media, founder and editor of sustainablog (OK, yeah, that’s me)

Of course, the campaign’s not over, and neither is the scavenger hunt: you simply need to sign up at ReframeIt, join the RG&B group, and start hunting for and posting information on the most promising innovations and ideas related to building a green economy, and Barack Obama’s and John McCain’s readiness to do just that (’cause we want to see them hit the ground running on these issues, also, on January 20th).

Read the rest of this entry »

Enough politicking!
Enough he said/he said!

Keeping the earth clean and healthy is not Right vs. Left, it is right vs. wrong!

We all breathe the same air, drink the same water, eat food that comes from the earth’s soil. It is my observation that my Republican brother-in-law needs the same clean water and air as I in order to live. It is also an observation of mine that the health effects of toxic air and water will equally effect the children of my bro-in-law as much as it will my own. Therefore, it is up to the majority of us whether right or left, liberal or conservative to join together as one group of people that inhabit one planet and address the degradation of our environment.

For the Environment, we are not red or blue, Republican or Democrat–we are the Purple (Blue+Red) Demoblicans (Democrat+Republican)!

Purple Demoblicans unite!

Power tho the Purple!

Purple is the new green!

Demoblicans are the new environmentalists!

The below average catch phrases are endless…

Read the rest of this entry »

The Prince of Wales criticized the green building industry for relying on eco-gadgets like wind turbines and solar panels while ignoring inefficient buildings.

The heir apparent to the British Crown, His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales has called on developers to use traditional methods and materials alongside the best in “eco-technology” to solve the problem of creating environmentally friendly properties instead of opting for “slick, highly marketed techno-fixes.” Read the rest of this entry »

A day after the second presidential debate, both components of the Republican ticket for the executive sat down with Fox News‘ Sean Hannity to discuss, among other things, energy policy. In the interview, John Mccain said Sarah Palin was “…probably one of the most foremost experts in this nation on energy issues.”

Mccain elaborates: Read the rest of this entry »

Leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee have finally released their highly-anticipated draft legislation to cap greenhouse gas emissions. The proposal (pdf) is modeled after the Senate bill that was introduced, debated, but not voted on earlier this year. However, the draft legislation also contains some some substantial differences between the Senate version.

The draft would require 6 percent emission reductions by 2020, compared to 19 percent in the Senate bill. But the caps would accelerate in later years to require 80 percent reductions by 2050, which is actually faster than the total proposed reductions in the Senate version. The eighty percent reduction by 2050 would also matched the proposed targets released by Democratic candidate for President, Barack Obama. Read the rest of this entry »

Although the cringing from last night’s uninspiring debate is over for the time being, today provides an excellent opportunity to look back at what was the first head-on collision between the two major party presidential candidates and the dual threat posed by global warming and our current economic crisis. This collision was the making of Ingrid Jackson, a student and social services worker from Nashville. In Tuesday’s town hall debate, Jackson asked:

“Sen. McCain…we saw that Congress moved pretty fast in the face of an economic crisis. I want to know what you would do in the first two years to make sure that Congress moves fast as far as environmental issues like climate change and green jobs.” Read the rest of this entry »

[Editor's Note: On the heels of our first RG&B debate poll conducted to gauge public opinion on the first and only vice-presidential debate, we've decided to follow up with a poll for the top of the ticket.]

John McCain and Barack Obama squared off in the second of three Presidential Debates this election season. Tell us who won and why?

Click Here to Answer the RG&B Poll Question: Who Won Tuesday Night’s Presidential Debate?

Federal declaration will bring economic aid to struggling crabbers

The harvest of soft shell and peeler blue crabs in Chesapeake Bay has been declared a commercial fishery failure by the U.S. Government. The federal declaration is an important step in providing economic assistance to the communities reliant upon crab production.

The governors of Maryland and Virginia requested that the Secretary of Commerce determine a disaster in the blue crab fishery and applied for more than $15 million to offset the economic impact of new limits on the bay’s crab harvest. The harvest value of soft shell crabs in Maryland and Virginia has declined by 41 percent from the late 1990s, according to NOAA’s Fisheries Service.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tries to mend fences in western battleground state of Colorado and fend off a resurgent Barack Obama

After being chided by both Democrats and Republicans over remarks he made this summer about renegotiating the Colorado River Compact, Sen. John McCain said at a recent Colorado campaign stop that he would “never, ever” try to take more of Colorado’s water.

“As a citizen of the great state of Arizona, I want to say on behalf of all my fellow citizens: Thank you for the water,” said McCain to a group of about 2,000 supporters in Pueblo, Colorado.

In August, McCain said the Colorado River water compact should be renegotiated because of the added pressures of growth and development. The comment brought immediate attacks from the state’s top Democrats and even a surprisingly strong response from Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Bob Schaffer who said the compact would only be renegotiated, “Over my cold, dead, political carcass.”

As The Straight Talk Express rolled through the swing-state of Colorado this past week, Sen. McCain went out of his way to reiterate that his August comment was taken out of context. In an interview with the Denver Post and in recent stump speeches, McCain made a concerted effort to mend fences wrought by the gaffe - but will that effort stick? Some are not so sure if it will.

John Orr writes at the Denver Examiner:

“Voters will have to decide if McCain’s current position really reflects his views. He has done an about face on many issues over the summer in an attempt to shore up his faltering campaign. Which statement contains the “straight talk,” renegotiate the compact to provide more water to Arizona or never, never, renegotiate?”

States in the upper Colorado River Basin are extremely sensitive about the water compact they have negotiated with lower basin users (California, Nevada, Arizona).  In Colorado, “renegotiation” is considered synonymous with reallocation, and that is something most Coloradoans—regardless of their political affiliation—consider fighting words.

Image credit: jdnx via flickr under a Creative Commons License