Standing up to Global Warming Deniers

by: PaulHodes

Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 11:34:32 AM EDT

It's puzzling. Why would someone who doesn't think global warming exists think that we need to enact a proposal aimed at reducing carbon emissions? Why would someone who supports things like drilling off the coast of New Hampshire all of a sudden try to convince us she'd be supportive of renewable energy efforts in the US Senate?

In her competitive primary, we watched Ms. Ayotte move to the far-right wing of her party. Now, with the general election less than a month away, she's trying to have it both ways. She's hoping New Hampshire won't notice that big oil and coal companies continue to fill her campaign coffers as she talks about drilling off the coast of New Hampshire.

The bottom line is that Kelly Ayotte has as many doubts about global warming as I have about her ability to stand up to her special interest donors in the oil and coal industry.

Right to Dry on CBS Sunday Morning Show

by: Alexander Lee

Sun Jul 12, 2009 at 14:42:57 PM EDT

New Deal Style Investment in National Parks Could Create 57,000 New Jobs

by: mountainboy

Thu Jan 15, 2009 at 08:49:30 AM EST

The National Parks system has suffered from chronic underfunding for many years, according to Hill. In fact, funding falls about $750 million short of what is needed each year. This shortfall has led to a widespread deterioration in park infrastructure. Unmaintained roads, trails, and bridges pose real safety threats to park visitors, and irreplaceable historic buildings are crumbling due to lack of repair. The total backlog for road repair and maintenance alone totals a staggering $8.5 billion.

"National Parks should be a priority," says Hill, noting that the parks are part of our national heritage.

But Hill is also eager for people to know about the economic benefits of the park system. A recent NPCA study that found that "...every dollar invested in national parks generates at least $4 in economic value to the public." Hill describes funding for the National Parks System as an investment that can produce very real economic returns. He explains that spending money to improve park infrastructure can create new jobs both directly and indirectly. Improvements in infrastructure can lead to increased use of the parks by the public, which means more tourist dollars and new economic opportunities for states and local communities.

Lawmakers in Washington are eager to include "shovel ready" projects in the economic stimulus package. Hill is confident that the plan advocated by the NPCA fall into that category. In fact the National Park Service has $1 billion in ready-to-go projects awaiting funding.

"They fall into the category of things that can put people to work quickly," he notes.

While most of the policy makers approached by the NPCA have been supportive of the group's proposals, Hill believes that the details of the economic stimulus package probably won't become clear until after President-Elect Barack Obama is sworn into office next week.

"It continues to be important for people to let their own members of Congress know that taking care of National Parks should be a priority," says Hill. "In this case it can also stimulate economic growth."

You can help the NPCA send a strong message to Congress by writing a letter to editor of your local newspaper. Tell them you want your representatives in Congress to create new jobs by investing in the future of America's national parks!

Write a letter to the editor:

http://act.npca.org/npca/notice-description.tcl?newsletter_id=10861721

Read the full NPCA report:

http://www.npca.org/working_assets/

Subscribe to The Green Jobs Report:

http://feedproxy.google.com/TheGreenJobsReport

environmental goals

by: kite

Tue Nov 25, 2008 at 16:09:12 PM EST

But some of the goals are almost heart-breaking in their simplicity:

... agency review boards have been stacked with industry-funded scientists, while cozy relationships between regulators and the companies they regulate have more influence over decisions than unbiased science. This situation needs to be reformed...

Science must play a central role in all policy making, with the Office of Science and Technology Policy leading the charge. Furthermore the broken regulatory process should be fixed, with the Office of Management and Budget's role properly defined so that the mission of the federal government becomes again protecting the public's health, safety and environmental assets.

Science playing a central role -- what a concept!

For those who want to see Bush's environmental legacy, the NRDC compiled a list just from Bush's first term.  Or a simpler link from the Sierra club.  I was going to list some of the most appalling, but i can't stand to do it.  I'll only quote this one from Jan 2002:  "Environmental enforcement suffers under Bush"

The fall-off in EPA referrals was more significant in several of the agency's principal anti-pollution priority areas: Toxic Substance Control Act (down 80%); Clean Air Act (down 54%); and Clean Water Act (down 53%).

That was in 2002, we had 6 more years to go.  A committment to science, and a committment to law enforcement, even without money, will be a welcome change in the new administration.  

Minimized Impact without Leadership by Example

by: Alexander Lee

Sun Jul 20, 2008 at 09:47:09 AM EDT

The Gore Q&A from his website ( We Can Solve It) states, "When we use the microwave or plug in a coffee maker, our electricity system will function just like it does today, but behind the scenes, it will look and function quite differently and [sic] much cleaner."

Slow Food movement aside, what the microwave has enabled for our culture is problematic. See http://pewresearch.org/pubs/323/luxury-or-necessity. Importing more coffee than anything else but oil has a high cost (http://www.packagedfacts.com/Coffee-RTD-Ready-895867/) on the environment. This talking point, therefore, suggests that the people who are answering questions on the electric policy end are not talking to the people who work on personal actions.

The suggestions at We Can Solve It (Minimize Your Impact), although they do not include hanging clothes to dry, are good; however, they always seem to be the low-priority for mention by the Vice-President. In fact, he is often quoted to say: "We have to abandon the conceit that isolated personal actions are going to solve this crisis. Our policies have to shift." While I do whole-heartedly agree that we need policy to shift, we must also carry out coordinated (as opposed to isolated) personal actions and that will only happen when there is Leadership By Example.

Obama continues to talk about turning off the cell phones and putting away the video games, which I told his policy adviser, Cassandra Potts, on the day prior to the NH Primary is really his only mailer that resonated with me during our primary season. This is one of the only examples I can think of where a political leader is being concrete about what we need to do to adjust the way we live (and, unfortunately, he is not talking about the environment overtly when he brings this up to the NAACP or others). This is the kind of leadership we need to see from Gore and others, including our governor. Also unfortunately, any talk about lifestyle change is dismissed by liberals as oppressive and libertarians as prescriptive. It falls like a lead balloon.

People are hungry for the national environmental organizations to stop dickering over whether it is Priuses or solar panels that are the silver bullet. Options for early adopters with silver spoons must not be the only items on a checklist of options that "the rest of us" can start to adopt. More importantly, we can ill afford to have "Minimize Your Own Impact" always be the last item on the list.

The Clock is Ticking: NHDP Should Walk the Green Talk

by: Alexander Lee

Sun Jul 20, 2008 at 09:34:18 AM EDT

It needs to go beyond carbon offsets and window-dressing, though. That is why we need a committee that is committed to making sure State Committee members carpool to meetings, whether they are from Pittsburg, Winchester, or Plaistow. We need to improve recycling at these events and minimize waste, procure greener bags (http://www.enviro-tote.com/ is right here in New Hampshire), double-side copies, reduce yard sign waste, etc. This stuff matters, but it cannot wait until November 5. We need some leadership now.

It is time for my Party--the party of Al Gore--to create a Green Committee. After a State Convention that was a near environmental travesty, leaders in the environmental movement here grumbled to me (as we gathered for lunch before a monthly meeting of different environmental organizations) that it was an embarrassment. I was a county chair and I assured them that I would do something.

Something needed to be done.

I decided I would ask Ray Buckley to appoint a Green Committee, so that we could address procurement, transportation, and other issues. I wrote to the whole State Executive Committee (roughly 43 people), but nothing has happened. Now overtures to meet and talk about why this and a passel of other issues are important have fallen flat.

When are we going to get on the bus?

What Sununu Didn't Tell His North Country Constituents Yesterday

by: Bill Lofy

Fri Feb 22, 2008 at 11:38:07 AM EST

"Sununu's visit to the North Country offers a stark contrast between his rhetoric and his record," said Bill Lofy, director of the Stop Sununu campaign of the New Hampshire Democratic Party. "He talks about the challenges facing his North Country constituents, but he recently cast the deciding vote against extending unemployment benefits to laid off workers. He talks about the opportunities facing the region, but was the deciding vote in December against an energy bill that would have created green collar jobs and grown a green economy."

"This is classic John E. Sununu: stand up for the special interests, stick it to the working class, and then run from his record," concluded Lofy. "If Sununu really cared about the future of the North Country economy, he would have voted for the energy bill and voted for including unemployment benefits in the economic stimulus bill. When it comes to the priorities of the North Country, John E. Sununu's rhetoric once again doesn't match his record."