Jones was recently tapped to serve in the Obama administration to serve as Special Adviser for Green Jobs, Enterprise, and Innovation.
The Republican Party is in a bit of a rough patch.
The League of Conservation Voters yesterday launched a petition to tell Republican congressional leaders Rep. John Boehner (KY) and Sen. Mitch McConnel (KY) that they have a choice: Either follow the leadership of Republican governors like Charlie Crist of Florida and Arnold Schwarzenegger of California in building a clean energy economy, ending our attachment on foreign oil, and addressing climate change, or; “Follow the leadership of Rush Limbaugh by proposing no new ideas, providing tax breaks to oil companies, and ignoring global warming.” Watch the LCV’s 54-second snark attack:
That’s probably what the memo said on Joe Lucas’ desk this morning when he got to work. Joe, the spokesman for the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) was on a CNN yesterday, saying he didn’t know if Coal was responsible for global warming. By now, you’ve probably seen the following short clip:
Transcript:
Still the industry refuses to say its plants contribute to global warming.
[Question:] Can you just answer that yes or no? If you believe that burning coal causes global warming?
[Joe Lucas:] I don’t know, I’m not a scientist.
Clearly, Joe knows. He’s the spokesman for a Clean Coal advocacy group that admits as much, only they say that coal can clean up it’s act. Now, there’s a lot of evidence that Coal can’t, that from cradle to grave it will always be very dirty. Regardless, from a policy perspective, this sort of thing is just frustrating.
The good folks at ZapRoot give two nods to Red, Green, and Blue this week with their usual brand of critical eco-snark; featuring a piece by Tom Scheunemann about scrapping the eleventh-hour Bush offshore drilling plan; as well as a piece by Amanda Peterka reporting on a pollution fine doled out to ExxonMobil. Also in this episode are pieces about unlikely causes of roadkill, and one at our sister blog, Planetsave. Stay up to date with ZapRoot episodes by subscribing to their newsletter.
In his weekly address, President Obama explained how he would pay for the economic stimulus and his recently announced budget. Obama said he was elected to enact an agenda of change and is preparing to fend off the powerful special interests intent on blocking it. He said:
“…I know that oil and gas companies won’t like us ending nearly $30 billion in tax breaks, but that’s how we’ll help fund a renewable energy economy that will create new jobs and new industries. I know these steps won’t sit well with the special interests and lobbyists who are invested in the old way of doing business, and I know they’re gearing up for a fight as we speak. My message to them is this: So am I.”
Watch it:
Full transcript of Pres. Obama’s address after the jump…
In his interview segment on Wednesday night, Steven Colbert sat down with John Fetterman, the Mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania. In between the usual Colbert shtick, Fetterman managed to make some interesting points about what the town of Braddock is trying to do in this era of green stimulus. His suggestion for how to bring back his town? Experimentation!
“When you say that your town is open for Urban experimentation… Are you taking part in these experiments? because you look like you’ve received a large dose of Gamma Radiation”
The town of Braddock was once a thriving population of 20,000 people, all based around an active steel industry. We know what happens to Allegheny towns when the Steel industry leaves: it’s not a pretty sight. The town is now completely bankrupt, boasts a population of 2,500 people and a sign that says “Open for Good Ideas”. It appears that anyone with a good Shovel Ready project idea can use Braddock as a blank canvas. Fetterman is trying to use the Colbert Bump to bump his town back into relevance — on the back of green inventors and green ideas!
More video on Fetterman and the town of Braddock.
We’ve seen the best clean coal ad ever and attempts by the coal lobby co-opt Obama’s clean energy message, now we can enjoy the comedy stylings of the Coen brothers and their take on “clean coal”.
via: ThisisReality.org and Mother Jones
Keith Olbermann jabs at a couple members of Congress (and allegedly, their aides) for what they were Twittering and what they were retracting during Barack Obama’s first address to a joint session of congress last night. Olbermann also gives two reasons why he isn’t personally on twitter: There are already enough people following him, and; he tried it but couldn’t figure it out.
Chris Matthews from MSNBC’s Hardball also did a piece about what was being twittered during the speech:
Stephen Colbert also jumped in with some speech analysis and twitter comments of his own:
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In the latest edition of “Clusterf*#%k to the Poorhouse,” the Daily Show’s Jon Stewart pokes a little fun at a coalition of Republican governors who deplore the money they are getting from the economic stimulus bill so much so, that they are taking just about every penny of it.
“You know, money from Democrats can still be exchanged for goods and services, you know that right?”
Transcript of President Obama’s address from Saturday, February 21, 2009:
THE PRESIDENT: “Earlier this week, I signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act — the most sweeping economic recovery plan in history. Because of this plan, 3.5 million Americans will now go to work doing the work that America needs done.
I’m grateful to Congress, governors and mayors across the country, and to all of you whose support made this critical step possible.
Because of what we did together, there will now be shovels in the ground, cranes in the air, and workers rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, and repairing our faulty levees and dams.
Because of what we did, companies — large and small — that produce renewable energy can now apply for loan guarantees and tax credits and find ways to grow, instead of laying people off; and families can lower their energy bills by weatherizing their homes.
Because of what we did, our children can now graduate from 21st century schools and millions more can do what was unaffordable just last week — and get their college degree.
Because of what we did, lives will be saved and health care costs will be cut with new computerized medical records.
Because of what we did, there will now be police on the beat, firefighters on the job, and teachers preparing lesson plans who thought they would not be able to continue pursuing their critical missions. And ensure that all of this is done with an unprecedented level of transparency and accountability, I have assigned a team of managers to make sure that precious tax dollars are invested wisely and well.
Because of what we did, 95 percent of all working families will get a tax cut — in keeping with a promise I made on the campaign. And I’m pleased to announce that this morning, the Treasury Department began directing employers to reduce the amount of taxes withheld from paychecks — meaning that by April 1st, a typical family will begin taking home at least $65 more every month. Never before in our history has a tax cut taken effect faster or gone to so many hardworking Americans.
But as important as it was that I was able to sign this plan into law, it is only a first step on the road to economic recovery. And we can’t fail to complete the journey. That will require stemming the spread of foreclosures and falling home values, and doing all we can to help responsible homeowners stay in their homes, which is exactly what the housing plan I announced last week will help us do.
It will require stabilizing and repairing our banking system, and getting credit flowing again to families and businesses. It will require reforming the broken regulatory system that made this crisis possible, and recognizing that it’s only by setting and enforcing 21st century rules of the road that we can build a thriving economy.
And it will require doing all we can to get exploding deficits under control as our economy begins to recover. That work begins on Monday, when I will convene a fiscal summit of independent experts and unions, advocacy groups and members of Congress, to discuss how we can cut the trillion-dollar deficit that we’ve inherited. On Tuesday, I will speak to the nation about our urgent national priorities. And on Thursday, I’ll release a budget that’s sober in its assessments, honest in its accounting, and lays out in detail my strategy for investing in what we need, cutting what we don’t, and restoring fiscal discipline.
No single piece of this broad economic recovery can, by itself, meet the demands that have been placed on us. We can’t help people find work or pay their bills unless we unlock credit for families and businesses. We can’t solve our housing crisis unless we help people find work so that they can make payments on their homes. We can’t produce shared prosperity without firm rules of the road, and we can’t generate sustained growth without getting our deficits under control. In short, we cannot successfully address any of our problems without addressing them all. And that is exactly what the strategy we are pursuing is designed to do.
None of this will be easy. The road ahead will be long and full of hazards. But I am confident that we, as a people, have the strength and wisdom to carry out this strategy and overcome this crisis. And if we do, our economy — and our country — will be better and stronger for it.”
Thank you.
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