If you haven’t made up your mind who to vote for in tomorrow’s presidential election, I’m not sure that what I am about to tell you will help — but it just might. Both candidates told the web site sciencedebate2008 that they accept the scientific agreement that greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels are changing the Earth’s climate. And both candidates have said they want to cap emissions produced by the burning of those fossil fuels.
But only Barack Obama has said he would regulate CO2 as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act. Read the rest of this entry »
We’re told that McCain is spending these last crunch hours vacuuming up support in Republican states. Apart from Sunday’s stop in Pennsylvania, his itinerary has pit-stop trips to Florida, Ohio, Missouri, and Tennessee, followed by a lightning tour of Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico, before returning to his home-state of Arizona on Monday night. On the other hand, vote-early Obama hit rallies in Nevada, Colorado and Missouri on Saturday, spent Sunday campaigning in Ohio and will be visiting Virginia and Florida on the very evening of the election.
What’s wrong with this picture?
Could it be the carbon footprint of the two candidates, spreading to Sasquatch-like proportions as they criss-cross the United States exhorting voters, already reeling from the economic kidney-punches of the past few months, to get out there and vote? Is it possible that this kind of environmental irresponsibility is ringing warning bells with the average voter, wondering when gas prices will fall and whether they can heat their homes this winter? Read the rest of this entry »
In an open letter (pdf), the Laureates cite the politicization of science under the Bush administration, particularly in the fields of heath and climate, saying that “vital parts of our country’s scientific enterprise have been damaged by stagnant or declining federal support,” adding that through an advisory process “distorted by political considerations” America’s “once dominant position in the scientific world has been shaken and our prosperity has been placed at risk.”
Despite John McCain’s claim that he is the true agent of change for all that has gone wrong under George Bush, both he and his remarkably incurious and misinformed (at best) running mate show how they plan to continue Bush’s appalling lack of regard for science; combining an inexcusable ignorance of the importance of basic scientific research, with the morally bereft penchant for using science as yet another divisive wedge to promulgate their politics of intolerance, fear, and derision - aiming straight at the lowest common denominator in the body politic. Read the rest of this entry »
Make your green vote count twice this election day.
Elections are always riddled with controversy over voting. There’s that whole Bush stolen election thing (I think he did it), voting machine accuracy and the latest GOP attacks on voter’s rights brought to light by the ACLU.
So how can you fight back? Well, you cannot actually vote twice - that would be illegal and very very wrong. But you can carpool to your voting booth, ensuring other greenies like yourself vote yes on good green policy and save fuel along the way! And Al Gore’s Live Earth has partnered with Zimride.com to help you out.
A television ad released yesterday by the McCain Campaign features Barack Obama stating that McCain’s Global Warming Proposal is “good for the environment.”
In an intriguing shift of tactics, the McCain campaign reminds the public that he has historically worked diligently to reduce global warming. By using Barack Obama’s own praise of his past global warming proposals, perhaps McCain is trying to narrow the perceived divide among parties, on this issue.
On Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, Barack Obama pledged to work with Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, on the issue of Global Warming no matter who wins the White House on Tuesday.
During this race for the U.S. presidency, many a candidate noted their ability to reach across that proverbial aisle, truly defying party lines. And while I greatly respect that ideal, I questioned its reality. Read the rest of this entry »
Is Sarah Palin’s Natural Gas Pipeline Really a Maverick Move Towards Energy Independence or Republican Politics as Usual Favoring Big Energy Business?
The first time I heard about Palin’s proposed $40 billion Alaska natural gas pipeline was not when she asked the Wasilla Assembly of God to pray for it, but it was during the October 2, 2008 vice presidential debate:
We’re building a nearly $40 billion natural gas pipeline, which is North America’s largest and most expensive infrastructure project ever, to flow those sources of energy into hungry markets.
We introduced the big oil companies and their lobbyists to a concept some of them had forgotten — free-market competition. They had a monopoly on power and resources, and we broke it. The result is, finally, progress on the largest private-sector infrastructure project in North American history — a nearly forty-billion dollar natural gas pipeline to help lead America to energy independence.
When the last section is laid and its valves are opened, that pipeline will lead America one step farther away from reliance on foreign energy. That pipeline will be a lifeline — freeing us from debt, dependence and the influence of foreign powers that do not have our interests at heart.
Nobel Laureate And Former Vice President Al Gore Calls On Youth To Vote, And Hold Leaders Accountable For Campaign Promises On Clean Energy
The webcast which was organized by Power Vote — spear headers of the Energy Action Coalition — and seeks to emphasize the issue of climate change in the current election. The webcast is co-sponsored by Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection: the Alliance’s We Campaign has enlisted some 1.6 million individuals committed to solving our climate crisis.
Along with this webcast, Power Vote will be kicking off six days of Get Out the (Power) Vote campaigning on October 29, leading up to Election Day. They’re asking young people to gather on campuses and in communities across the country to watch the webcast together.
WHO: Energy Action Coalition and We Campaign
WHAT: Power Vote live webcast featuring Al Gore
WHEN: Wednesday, October 29, 5:30 p.m. PST / 6:30 p.m. MST / 7:30 p.m. CST / 8:30 p.m. EST
Al Gore opens up to Buffalo Springfield’s Somethings Happening Here
Now JFK’s Man-On-The-Moon speech
Power Vote speaking about the 300,000 young people signing the Power Vote pledge
These Power Vote people like Al Gore - duh!
Al notes campuses Univ Maryland, Portland State, and Univ of Georgia did an awesome job!
Gore says Obama and McCain need to be accountable for the climate crisis
Gore says we went to Iraq for oil!
He links the climate crisis to every other crisis we have …
He says we need to be fuel independent in 10 years
More references to JFK. He is a big part of this election, i.e. Obama
Talking about the 700 Bilion bailout and its connection to the climate and the economy
Gore demands we change our infrastructure from carbon fuels to renewables
Says we need to get out and vote!
Says we need to solve the economic crisis with green jobs and enviromental change
Must build a renewable energy infrastructure
His iPhone just started ringing…
He is takign audience questions
He notes that people dont quite have the right amount of urgency for the climate crisis - we need to step up! there is a Bill McKibben joke there somewhere.
Gore is equating civil rights to climate action.
Talks about how the truth will save us with respect to the climate - Did he borrow one of Obama’s writers?
Al says he got in to this climate-stuff when he was in college - that was a long time ago!
Gore says efficiency and conservation are nubmer one!
Renewable energy is number 2
Says we also need a smart grid to accomadate the renewables
Wait, was the smart grid number 3?? I need Al’s iPhone number.
American biz loses 120 Bil/year due to grid failures…eeks!
Al quotes “Dont ever doubt that a small group of people can change the world, that is the only way the world has changed”
Gore says this election is critical in climate change policy due to record turnout in voting
Al thanks everyone for their effort at Power Vote
Power Vote is taking a 6 day initiative to get the vote out!
Framed by the fall color of 100 year-old cottonwoods, Senator Barack Obama addressed an estimated crowd of 50,000 people in the Oval at Colorado State University in Fort Collins on Sunday. The stop was the second of the day for the Democratic candidate for President, who drew 100,000 people to Civic Center Park in Denver, 60 miles to the south.
Seeing the sheer volume of people attending these two events patiently waiting in lines that stretched up to two miles long, striking up unlikely conversations and talking politics with new friends, was to see the tangible evidence of the punctuation on a political shift in Colorado that might just help put Barack Obama in the White House.
On Wednesday morning, Sarah Palin gave her second policy speech as Republican candidate for vice-president. Speaking at Xunlight Corporation, a thin-film solar PV manufacturing company in Toledo, Ohio, Palin did not present any new ideas or policy proposals on energy. Rather, Palin spoke about her qualifications to lead on the energy issue, citing her time as governor and her experience serving on the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.
Calling Wednesday morning’s address ‘a major energy policy speech,’ is a stretch, to say the least. The speech was thoroughly infused with the familiar political rhetoric that rehashes the Alaska Governor’s now tired pleas for the increased production of fossil fuels, blames Democrats for our current energy situation and toots her own horn for taking on the old-boy, moneyed interests of big oil. Read the rest of this entry »
Red, Green and Blue brings together voices from across the political and ideological spectrums to discuss and debate critical environmental issues and current events.
