Tag: Global Warming

Gore Wins Nobel Prize and MSM Only Yammers About Politics

Trish
Nobel Laureate Al Gore

Al Gore becomes a frickin’ Nobel laureate and all the mainstream media can talk about is whether he will now run for president. Like Gore’s been waiting until he could build his resume enough, say by winning a Nobel prize, to launch a campaign. ABC alone has devoted three web pages to the topic, while CNN is covering the story in its “Politics” section where it quotes an anonymous source on Gore’s prospects.

But he will not run, because he won’t take on the political machine assembled by Sen. Hillary Clinton, said the source. If the senator from New York had faltered at all, Gore would take a serious look at entering the race, the source said. But Gore has calculated that Clinton is unstoppable, according to the source.

Enough already. At least Reuters took a better angle on the “prize as presidency potential” coverage of the award. They are looking at the honor through the lens of Gore’s last run, not any future ones.

While Gore has grown in international stature since his narrow election loss, Bush has seen his credibility damaged at home and abroad by the Iraq war and other foreign policy woes.

Like Gore’s been waiting until he could build his resume enough — say by winning a Nobel prize — to launch a campaign

He is struggling to stave off lame-duck status and stay relevant while increasingly hemmed in by a hostile Democratic majority in Congress. His inner circle is steadily eroding with almost weekly departures of key aides and advisers.

And the president’s public approval rating, which soared to 90 percent after the September 11 attacks in 2001, has sunk close to historic lows, with some polls putting it below 30 percent.

Around the world, Bush has won few friends with his stance on Gore’s signature issue — climate change.

At a White House-convened summit last month, some of the world’s biggest greenhouse polluters called Bush “isolated” and questioned his leadership on the problem of global warming.

I’m glad Gore won the Nobel prize but, selfishly perhaps, I would have preferred he won the White House back in 2000. What a different — and better — world it would be if he had.

What’s Your Walk Score?

Trish

No, it has nothing to do with heart-rate monitors. Your walk score is determined by analyzing your proximity to stores and services.

We help homebuyers, renters, and real estate agents find houses and apartments in great neighborhoods. Walk Score shows you a map of what’s nearby and calculates a Walk Score for any property. Buying a house in a walkable neighborhood is good for your health and good for the environment.

In my case, the results were a bit disappointing.

Despite the fact that I am about midway between a full-service grocery store and the main branch of the public library, my walk score was a weak 43 on a scale of 1 to 100. But when I clicked around the results screen a little, I noticed the grocery had disappeared, and a movie theater that is actually several miles from my side of town was shown on the next block. The popular sushi restaurant on the corner was listed as a catering service, while Arnold’s, the diviest dive bar I know, was featured prominently.

Maybe your results will be more accurate. Check it out and see how your address rates. If nothing else, you will see all the great reasons you have to walk instead of driving. Unless you’re trying to catch a movie. In that case, you’ll definitely want to crank up the roadster.

Why We Can’t Ignore the Termites in the Basement

Trish

How can governments, including ours, say it would hurt their economies to fix climate change? Don’t they realize, as Al Gore pointed out in the scene in An Inconvenient Truth with the gold bricks, that losing life as we know it not only costs more but trumps, well, everything?

PAX World Mutual Funds’ Julie Gorte, senior vice president of sustainable investing, explains the attitudes of those who think we have the luxury to ignore, or postpone dealing with, global warming.

The termites will destroy your house much more quickly and much more surely than some of those wolf-at-the-door problems, but you always have the feeling that you can get to them later

I sort of divide all problems into two types. There’s a wolf-at-the-door problem, which is how we think about things like terrorism and taxes, and then there’s the termites-in-the-basement problem, which is what climate change is. The termites will destroy your house much more quickly and much more surely than some of those wolf-at-the-door problems, but you always have the feeling that you can get to them later — that we can cut our energy consumption, that we can replace fossil fuels, that we can cut emissions next year or the year after that, when we can afford it.

And we end up never getting to those problems, and then we wind up in a world where the sea level rises not 35 millimeters but 35 feet, and the disease vectors have expanded so that tropical diseases are all over North America and they affect our food supply and everything else. There are so many things that climate change can do that will make this world something we never thought we’d see in our lifetimes that I think it’s the most important thing that we need to focus on.

Evangelicals Say To Hell with Global Warming

Buck Banks

For a group of people who believe the most outrageous things — the Great Flood, Moses parted the Red Sea, Mary was a virgin and Jesus arose from the dead — they sure seem averse to believing in something that seems damned obvious: global warming. A recent study by God’s statistician George Barna found that evangelical Christians are less likely to believe — despite photographic evidence — that the icecaps are melting.

Only 33 percent of evangelical Christians view global warming as a “major” problem facing the country compared to people of other faiths or nonbelievers, more than half of whom say the threat to the environment is severe:

Each faith audience interacts with the concept of global warming in distinct ways. Evangelicals would rather think about other things.

Among non-evangelical born-again Christians, 55 percent say global warming is a major problem and 59 percent of notional Christians agree. Overall, 51 percent of the nation’s Christian community views global warming as severe while 42 percent assigns the largely debated issue less importance.

Meanwhile, 62 percent of those associated with a faith other than Christianity and 69 percent of atheists and agnostics describe global warming as a major problem.

Catholics (59 percent) showed more concern about global warming than Protestants (52 percent). And mainline Protestants (59 percent) also expressed greater alarm than did non-mainline Protestants (49 percent).

The Barna stooge who directed the study insightfully interpreted his findings this way:

“The survey confirms that Americans disagree about climate change,” said David Kinnaman, who directed the study. “Each faith audience interacts with the concept of global warming in distinct ways. Evangelicals would rather think about other things. Non-evangelicals say the environment is important to them, yet they are far from convinced that global warming is as important as everyone says. By contrast, many non-Christians view global climate alterations as the central element of their environmental engagement.”

Duh. What Kinnaman fails to note is that evangelical and born-again Christians are more likely to view global warming in the context of millennialism — you know, Armageddon, the Rapture, the end of the world as we know it. Your basic Bible thumper has a difficult time getting worked up enough to reduce, reuse or recycle because he knows that Jesus is liable to show up any day now.

Well I for one am working on reducing my carbon imprint, planting trees and hunkering down for some rough weather ahead. I’m betting that global climate change will get here a lot sooner than Jesus.

Why You Should Care About New Orleans

Trish

On the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall near New Orleans, all the ink was about the progress, and lack thereof, in restoring the city and the rest of the Gulf coast.

We live in an era of failed leadership. Corrupt and incompetent politicians. Thieving CEOs. Priests as pedophiles. Media monopolies. A president’s unpopular, intractable war. Steroid-enhanced sluggers.

Two years later, Ron Fournier says it’s time to start learning the real lessons of Katrina, and they’re not about wind or water.

We need to wake up to the fact that we are all just one big storm or disaster away from being one of those people whose calls for help were answered by voice mail.

Katrina is old news, right? New Orleans — who cares? It’s just another big city with big problems, bad luck and bad weather. Get over it.

Actually, please don’t.

Don’t ever get over the tragedy of New Orleans. It’s your tragedy, too.

What happened to this historic city two years ago is more than the obvious cautionary tale of what might befall your community after a natural disaster or a terrorist strike. It’s also a sad reflection of what’s happening now — today, in your hometown and across an anxious and ailing nation…

If this country can’t help New Orleans rebound — if we and our leaders break the promises made to its citizens — what are the odds your health care will ever get cheaper? Your bridges safer? Your schools better?

“New Orleans is an incubator for all our nation’s ills,” said historian Douglas Brinkley, author of “The Great Deluge,” a book about Katrina.

“If you study what’s going on in New Orleans, it’s just an exaggerated version of what’s hitting us in many areas of the country,” he said. “Just pick your topic.”

OK, let’s start from the top.

[…]

Get Yer Green On — Daily

Buck Banks

Although we are loathe to send you, gentle reader, away from Pensito Review, sometimes there’s stuff on the Internets out there that is worth sharing. Like The Daily Green, a daily e-mail newsletter from Hearst that has just started being distributed this week. It is what its name implies — a daily compendium of good stuff for the planet.

From earth-friendly veggie recipes (Trish and Jon will be happy) to biodegradable doggie poop pick-up bags (Spot, Bonnie and Pookey will be thrilled) to profiles of green people (Brad Pitt!!??) and tips on how you can change your lifestyle to be easier on Ma Earth (skip the bleach when washing clothes), The Daily Green is a good, practical resource. And it’s free, too.

In the same vein, check out Grist Magazine (environmental news and commentary) and its consistently entertaining advice column, Ask Umbra. Both are free, too.

FOX Called on Compact Fluorescent Hatchet Job

Trish

The Sierra Club’s “Mr. Green” rebuts the FOX News (motto: “Don’t ask me, I watch FOX News”) slam against compact fluorescent bulbs. FOX’s own “Junk Science” columnist says the bulbs, which contain mercury, require hazardous materials clean-up if broken and that mandating their use denies consumers choice. After all, if people want to burn up scarce resources we might have to invade other countries to secure, it’s their own business.

Mr. Green corrects the misinformation.

The people at Fox News are either brain-damaged from huffing mercury (they do seem to have a fondness for the highly toxic) or they have unscrupulously cherry-picked their facts…

Imagine that all 4 billion residential lightbulbs have become CFLs. Even in the incredibly unlikely scenario that every single dead bulb were smashed and its contents released into the environment, switching to CFLs would yield a maximum 3.1 tons of mercury each year. Coal-burning power plants emit 50 tons.

This classic example of enviro-bashing is full of flaws. First, the Fox writer trots out one report of one environmental bureaucrat’s overreaction to a bulb breakage to make it sound like a busted CFL will turn a house into a Superfund site. The fact is, CFLs do contain mercury, but nowhere near enough to provoke panic or evacuation. If you break a bulb, you can do the cleanup yourself, without renting a moon suit or contacting authorities.

The EPA advises the following treatment:

1. Open a window and leave the room for at least 15 minutes (to let the mercury vaporize).

2. Remove all materials (i.e., the pieces of the broken bulb) without using a vacuum cleaner. You don’t want even a small amount of mercury lurking in your vacuum. To do so:

* Wear disposable rubber gloves, if available. (Never touch the bulb pieces with your bare hands.)
* Carefully scoop up the fragments and powder with stiff paper or cardboard (you don’t want the stuff to get on your broom or dustpan either).
* Wipe the area clean with a damp paper towel or disposable wet wipe. Sticky tape, such as duct tape (yet another use for the versatile material!), can be used to pick up small pieces and powder.

3. Place all cleanup materials in a plastic bag and seal it. If your state permits you to put used or broken CFLs in the garbage, seal the CFL in two plastic bags and put into the outside trash (if no other disposal or recycling options are available). If your state doesn’t allow this, consult the local hazardous-waste authority for safe-recycling information. Some hardware stores will also accept old bulbs; to find a recycler near you, try Earth 911, or (800) CLEAN-UP…

4. Wash your hands after disposing of the bag.

5. The first time you vacuum the area where the bulb was broken, remove the vacuum bag once done cleaning the area (or empty and wipe the canister) and put the bag and/or vacuum debris, as well as the cleaning materials, in two sealed plastic bags in the outdoor trash…for normal disposal.

So much for that part of Fox’s story, but I’m not quite done with calling them on their hokum.

[…]

Florida Democrats — The ‘We Too’ Party

Buck Banks

Well, she’s gone and done it again. Karen Thurman, chair of the Florida Democratic Party, has issued another one of her rah-rah memos rallying FlaDems to — save the environment! Sorry, Karen, Eco-Charlie, he of the eternal tan and immovable white mane, stole that issue away from the Dems last week at his climate change summit in Miami.

It took the Democratics a full week to come up with a response to try and take back the issue. Sorry folks, it’s too late. Still, Thurman seems to allege that Democratic efforts led to Gov. Crist’s conversion to greenness:

Yet, finally, it seems the Governor has seen the light.
— Karen Thurman

Sometimes, as Democrats in Florida, it can feel like we’re banging our heads against a wall, trying to talk sense into the Republicans in Tallahassee.

But if we keep trying … keep fighting … once in blue moon, we can get through to them.

Republican Gov. Charlie Crist has been a politician for a long time. For years, he stood silently by and watched Democrats promote responsible legislation dealing with the dangers of climate change, while his fellow Republicans decried global warming a “liberal myth” and friends in the Bush Administration allowed polluters to run free under laws with phony names like “Clear Skies Act.”

Yet, finally, it seems the Governor has seen the light.

On the issue of climate change, Democratic leaders have paved the way. Now the Governor, too, recognizes the need for action and is following suit. Unfortunately, even with his support, our leaders can’t save Florida from the dangers of climate change without your help.

Man, if word gets out that Charlie Crist had an eco-epiphany because of the Florida Democratic Party, he won’t get invited to the annual Republican Governor’s Retreat and Camp Out. Now it was rather a surprise when Crist came out all Greenpeace-y all of a sudden, but fact is, he did it and he did it Hollywood Big Time.

But the Democratic attempts to take back the green only get more desperate. Thurman exhorts FlaDems to sign the newly minted Five Point Pledge, a petition that says you agree with the measures Crist signed in executive orders last week:

  • Point 1: I support the establishment of a renewable energy standard for the state. Furthermore, I believe benchmarks should be set to require that more energy come from renewable sources in the future.
  • Point 2: I support the Governor’s Executive Order to explore a cap and trade program for industry, but I also believe we must ensure that this program will offer flexibility to industries that cannot meet the strict standards while still achieving an overall reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Point 3: I support programs such as a statewide net metering plan to give consumers and businesses a financial incentive to generate electricity with solar panels and other technologies.
  • Point 4: I support requiring that our full state vehicle fleet be made up of hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles as soon as possible with a program to phase out older vehicles for more environmentally friendly ones.
  • Point 5: I support the idea that Florida should be a trendsetter in the construction of energy efficient buildings by adopting green building or similar standards for all new state offices and public schools.

Well, duh, who doesn’t support those measures? But signing a petition this week doesn’t change the fact that the gov signed executive orders last week, and he had his green buddy Arnold Schwarzenegger at his side when he did it.

What’s with the “we too” stuff? Can’t the FlaDems find some other environmental initiatives to tout? Ones that Crist is against? How about the condition of the state’s endangered rivers? Oh yeah, Crist already got some major stuff through the legislature on that. OK, how about Everglades restoration? Crist has already pushed measures supporting that, too. I know, how about offshore oil drilling? Doh! Florida’s Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson already pretty much owns that issue.

Sorry Karen, et. al., you might mean well, but with this kind of follow-the-leader leadership, who needs the Democratic Party in Florida?

Schwarzenegger: Environmental Cheerleader

Buck Banks

At the close of the Serve to Preserve global climate summit in Miami, Republican Florida Gov. Charlie Crist called in another Republican, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, to cap off the conference. It was a good call, as it drew lots of media, aligned Florida with California in the fight against greenhouse emissions and set the stage for Crist’s signing this afternoon of executive orders mandating a slew of environmental measures that mirror the Golden State’s.

Schwarzenegger fulfilled his rah-rah role admirably, delivering a speech aimed at making the audience feel good about itself for attending the summit. Long on platitudes and short on substance, it was one of those speeches that are forgettable but serve a salutary rhetorical end.

After listing his accomplishments and the goals he has set for California, Schwarzenegger went over the now-familiar economics of environmentalism argument: “We won’t have an economy if we destroy our environment. It’s not a choice of either or, the two go hand in hand.”

Then he hit the old bipartisan note: “There is no Democratic Earth, there is no Republican Earth, there”s just one Earth and it’s up to us all to save it.”

Schwarzenegger then went into full cheerleader mode, exhorting his audience not to be surprised when others attack you for championing the environment. He mentioned that there is a billboard in Michigan accusing him of destroying 85,000 jobs in the automotive industry by imposing emissions standards that Detroit can’t meet. He argued that he is not telling Michigan to get out of the car business, “I’m saying to Michigan, get off your butt!”

The climax of the cheerfest was Schwarzenegger quoting one of his famous movie lines: “We have to say, Hasta la vista, baby, to greenhouse gases.”

The Governator received a standing ovation for that gem.

Vinod Khosla on Climate Change: Encourage Innovation, Think the Unthinkable

Buck Banks

At the Serve to Preserve climate change summit in Miami, we’re being told by our governor that the state of Florida is going to get greener through volunteerism, told by a Kennedy how bad the Bush administration’s environmental record is and by Teddy Roosevelt’s great-grandson how, no matter what we do, we’ll always be dependent on oil so we have to marketize carbon emissions.

But Vinod Khosla, the co-founder of Sun Microsystems and head of Khosla Ventures, actually told us some things that make real sense, as well as some that seem unthinkable.

‘We need to encourage the innovators and the unthinkable of today will become the commonplace of tomorrow.’
— Vinod Khosla

Khosla is really smart, and he has a track record to prove it. A few years back, he sat down with the major phone companies and told them that the Internet would make long-distance phone calls free. He was right and AT&T went out of business for a while. In 1996 he told nine of the top 10 newspaper organizations — Tribune Co., Knight-Ridder, etc. — to watch the Internet because innovations were coming that would impact their industry. Today, Google is worth more than all the still-existing newspaper companies combined.

So if I could, I’d follow Khosla around and bet on any horse he placed a bet on. He’s what they call a visionary.

While Theodore Roosevelt IV of Lehman Brothers proposes a classic market-based approach to global warming where technological advances will be encouraged by a marketplace based on carbon caps and trading — in other words a fossil fuel-based economy — Khosla says that within 25 years we can end our dependence on oil completely.

A world economy that’s not dependent on oil? Unthinkable! Yet Khosla says that there is some innovator out there who, today, tomorrow, next year, will create the next technological breakthrough that will enable us to end our addiction to oil.

“Oil is replaceable by cheaper alternatives,” said Khosla. “The danger is that as we wean ourselves off oil, the price will fall, which will slow the technical innovation away from oil.”

But Khosla says that we already have made incredible strides toward efficiency, we just don’t realize it. “The U.S. economy, in terms of energy efficiency, is saving $750 billion per year of gross national product when compared to our energy usage in the 1970s.”

Khosla advocates a complete change in our approach: “Green isn’t a choice, it’s deciding which risks we want — higher start-up costs and lower eventual costs, more jobs and more Googles or more of the same, competition for energy or a safe oil supply,” he said.

“All we need to do is change our mindset,” said Khosla. “We need to encourage the innovators and the unthinkable of today will become the commonplace of tomorrow.”