TheGreenFront presents: This Day in Climate History December 29, 2009: Washington Post writer Ezra Klein excoriates members of the US Senate who have developed cold feet about addressing global warming: Amidst all this, conservative Senate Democrats are waving off the idea of serious action in 2010. But not because theyre opposed. Oh, heavens no! Its because of abstract concerns over the political difficulties the problem presents. Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), for instance, avers that climate change in an election year has very poor prospects. Thats undoubtedly true, though it is odd to say that the American system of governance can only solve problems every other year. Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) says that we need to deal with the phenomena of global warming, but wants to wait until the economy is fixed. Rather than commenting abstractly on the difficulty of doing this, Conrad and Bayh and others could make it easier by saying things like we simply have to do this, its our moral obligation as legislators, and trying to persuade reporters to write stories about how even moderates such as Conrad and Byah are determined to do this. They could schedule meetings with other senators begging them to take this seriously, leveraging the credibility and goodwill built over decades in the Senate. They could spend money on TV ads in their state, talking directly into the camera, explaining to their constituents that they dont like having to face this problem, but see no choice. That effort might fail -- probably will, in fact -- but its got a better chance of success than not trying. And this is, well, pretty important. voices.washingtonpost/ezra-klein/2009/12/climate_change_is_bad_but_the.html December 29, 2014: • The New York Times reports on the deadly politics of oil in North Dakota. nytimes/2014/12/29/us/in-north-dakota-where-oil-corruption-and-bodies-surface.html?hpw&rref=us&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well • In the Los Angeles Times, incoming NRDC head Rhea Suh observes: As world oil prices have slumped below $60 a barrel, tumbling nearly 50% since June to a five-year low, analysts have scrambled to discern the economic and political fallout. The big picture, though, hasnt changed: Oil is not cheap, at any price. What were charged at the pump for gasoline is just a down payment on the far larger tab were running to support our national oil habit. Rather than allow a temporary price reprieve to mask those costs, we should use this moment to take stock and change course. Every day in this country, we use 800 million gallons of oil. Thats enough to fill the Empire State Building three times. With every gallon we produce, ship and burn, we incur costs that are piling up — for ourselves and our children. The greatest burden were imposing on the next generation comes from the environmental damage were doing by consuming this fuel. Burning oil and other fossil fuels is what generates the dangerous carbon pollution that is driving climate change, the central environmental challenge of our time. The first 11 months of this year were the hottest, globally, of any year since worldwide measurements began in 1880. We have an obligation to protect future generations from the dangers of more extreme heat, fires, drought and storms. Our national oil habit is making matters worse. latimes/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-suh-energy-efficiency-oil-20141229-story.html
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 10:06:10 +0000
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