I grew up in Massachusetts where the Kennedys—for all intents and purposes—are treated like royalty. I do hold Senator Ted Kennedy in very high regard for all the excellent work he has done in his 46 years in the U.S. Senate. That is why I am especially troubled by the senator’s long-standing opposition to the proposed offshore wind farm in Massachusetts. As news broke late last week that there might be yet another delay in the eight year battle to get Cape Wind approved, I had to wonder if Kennedy’s hand was somehow behind it. And according to reports, that is at least plausible.
As I reported yesterday**, Minnesota Rep. Jim Oberstar sent a letter to Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen asking for a delay in the Guard’s final recommendations on Cape Wind. Acting as Chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Oberstar’s letter demanded a delay for public comment on the project’s potential impact on marine radar.
In what must have triggered a collective moan of ‘are you kidding me?’ from environmentalists and renewable energy advocates across the country and the world, Minnesota Representative Jim Oberstar, a Democrat, has asked the United States Coast Guard to delay its final recommendations on the proposed Cape Wind project. If built, the project would be the first offshore wind farm in the United States.
Oberstar, Chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee sent a letter to Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen this week requesting an extension of at least 60 days to conduct a public comment period to gauge opinion on the wind farm’s potential impact on marine radar and safety.
For the last few months I’ve been keeping an eye on an excellent project called On Day One, which seeks to assemble the top user-submitted policy proposals for the next president and help set the agenda for our new fearless leader. Ever since I was approached by Mark Goldberg of OD/1 and UN Dispatch a few months back to participate in a ’salon’ to discuss climate change ideas at Grist, I’ve been hooked. The whole project epitomizes the kind of democratic transformations being ushered in by the new tools of web 2.0.
Now that the team of expert judges (including yours truly) have sorted through heaps of excellent submissions and narrowed them down to a manageable 81, the contest voting has opened up to the general public. And that’s where you come in. Head on over to OD/1, take a gander at the submissions and vote up the ones you like.
The idea with the most votes not only gets presented to the Obama transition team, but the winning submitter also wins a trip to Washington D.C. for January’s presidential inauguration.
A coalition of 106 conservation organizations is supporting Congressman Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) as the next Secretary of the Interior, according to a letter from more than 78 groups sent to President-elect Obama and released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
Grijalva is the current chair of the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands which has jurisdiction over Interior Department matters.
The groups praised Grijalva for assembling what is regarded as one of the most “far sighted endangered species protection plans in the nation” and for his “leadership pressing Interior and other federal agencies to integrate global warming issues into their planning and permitting.”
The next Secretary of the Interior will be taking over an rocked by some ethics scandals including, among other things, the imprisonment of its top deputy, losses of tens of billions of dollars from under-collection of oil royalties and, most recently, revelation of sex and drug parties involving key Interior employees and oil company executives.
To perhaps avoid the truth that was so inconvenient to President Bush, on Tuesday Barack Obama will meet with Al Gore to discuss energy policy and climate change. The talk, which will take place in Chicago, will also cover how energy and climate can fit into job creation and the economy. Read the rest of this entry »
President-Elect Barack Obama will inherit a host of problems from outgoing President Bush. From an economy in recession to the Iraq War, cleaning up from eight years of the worst US president is a immense task. Obama has already selected many former rivals, such as Hilary Clinton, for his cabinet, but the most important appointee he will make is the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Although the EPA administrator is not a cabinet level position, this may change as Obama faces the crisis of climate change.
Under the Bush administration, the EPA has loss all credibility as an agency that protects Americans from air and water pollution.
“…over the past eight years, many career employees and rank-and-file scientists have clashed with Bush appointees over a number of those of issues, including whether the federal government should allow California to regulate tailpipe emissions from automobiles…”
I know what you’re thinking. Why would we bother to spill any virtual ink in an effort to cover anything Jerry Springer does or says? And while I would normally agree with you, I was struck by the remarks from the talk show host, who, when asked what people could do to help the environment, didn’t suggest people change their light bulbs, or buy a Prius. Springer, the former mayor of Cincinnati and current host of a talk show with some of the most questionable content on television, focused on the political.
Springer said individuals needed to call, write, or visit their representatives and tell them that the environment is not just something to be talked about during election season. In what is likely a first for me, after watching this I had a bit of an urge to break into a chant of “Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!” Watch it: [1 min., 45 secs.]
NASA and the Department of Energy are working together to build the first space-based observatory designed to understand the nature of dark energy.
One of the most significant scientific findings in the last decade was that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. The acceleration is caused by a previously unknown dark energy that makes up approximately 70 percent of the total mass energy content of the universe. The discovery of dark energy showed that empty space is filled with a mysterious energy that increases as the universe expands. While Einstein initially proposed a cosmological constant that could explain the dark energy, it is the amount of dark energy that is difficult to understand. Read the rest of this entry »
Sarah Palin, apparently oblivious to the turkey slaughter behind her, gives a press conference on…oh, who cares what she’s talking about. All I can notice are the turkeys.
Gov. Schwarzenegger Signs Executive Order to Raise California’s Renewable Energy Goals to 33% by 2020 and Clear Red Tape for Renewable Energy Projects
In an executive order signed on Monday, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger committed to getting a third of California’s electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Schwarzenegger made the announcement while speaking at a solar panel factory in Sacramento. California Executive Order S-14-08 puts the state’s renewable energy requirement at 33% by 2020, securing its place as the most aggressive renewable energy mandate in the country.
The order comes Just three days after Schwarzenegger issued another unprecedented executive order to state agencies telling them to make preparations for rising sea levels caused by global warming.
Red, Green and Blue brings together voices from across the political and ideological spectrums to discuss and debate critical environmental issues and current events.
