Centuries apart

Citizens in Seattle, fossils in D.C. 3

EPA rally in SeattleA crowd gathered in Seattle on May 21 to call for action on climate change. The rally occurred as the EPA held a public hearing in the city on its CO2 endangerment finding.Tom Twigg / Grist

Today is an interesting day in the climate/energy world.

In Seattle, where I am right now (Twittering like crazy!), the EPA is holding a hearing on its endangerment finding. There are about 10 hours of testimony altogether, in 3-minute increments. One after another,  scientists, representatives from NGOs and businesses, artists, politicians, and concerned citizens have taken to the microphone to plead for action on climate change. I’m not sure what I expected, but I’ve been pretty gobsmacked: so many articulate, well-informed,  morally passionate people! Citizens, even. It’s downright inspiring.

In Washington, D.C., where Kate is (Twittering like crazy!), the House Energy and Commerce Committee is on Day Four of the Stupid Parade, wherein Republicans offer ridiculous amendment after ridiculous amendment to the Waxman-Markey bill, trying to gum up the proceedings and foster confusion, questioning whether CO2 is harmful (“we breathe it!”). Even on the side of climate action, you’ve got people like Rick Boucher (D-Va.), who last week mangled the bill to make it friendlier to coal, securing the single-largest contributor to climate change billions in public subsidies.

The disjunction—between citizens and politicians, between young people living in the 21st century information age and old men mired in a sclerotic, archaic influence-peddling machine, between those yearning for a clean energy future and those clinging to a dirty past—has never been more stark.

Some day I hope we have a government worthy of its citizenry.

David Roberts is staff writer for Grist. You can follow his Twitter feed at twitter.com/drgrist.

Related Stories

Advertisement
Advertisement
  1. Delay And Deny's avatar

    Delay And Deny Posted 3:04 pm
    21 May 2009

    75 years of (mostly) Democratic rule must end in Seattle, King County, Olympia and our representatives in Washington (100 percent Democrat) so that we can regain our environment.   

    Permalink

  2. Clifford Wells's avatar

    Clifford Wells Posted 5:23 pm
    21 May 2009

    Kewl, I can Twitter with ya now.  Your point about the disconnect between what most people want and what the pols want is well taken. Point in case, show us a replacement for diesel instead of bio-diesel that the Mayor of Seattle pushed so hard.  Need diesel for big trucks, freight locomotives, and ships until some other solution comes along, right?  I mean, bio-diesel ... meh.

    Permalink

  3. Tyler Durden Posted 10:03 pm
    21 May 2009

    "Some day I hope we have a government worthy of its citizenry."People get the government they deserve.  The U.S. is a society based on overconsumption and materialism, along with religious fanaticism.  The government is significantly more right wing than the populace, but this is still a very right wing, conservative country.  And because Americans have it far too good, why should they care about anything but on what they can spend their enormous paychecks or what's on TV?And BTW, all those "cool" people protesting that they want "action" on climate change: I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that they'd s*** their pants if it were really given to them.  Like, no more driving, and you may only use the amount of electricity you can produce from your own solar panels and wind generators.  Oh yeah, and no more cheap crap from China or anywhere else, virtually everything has to be produced locally because the transportation of things is a major cause of pollution, including climate change.  Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see these changes, but what most Americans want is for some father figure government to fix the climate change problem while not infringing on their lifestyles.  Sorry, ain't gonna happen, not possible.

    Permalink

Add a Comment

You are not logged in. Thus, you cannot post a comment. If you have an account, log in. If you don't have an account, well, by all means go make one! Meet you back here in five.

Hello, Visitor!    Why not register?

Viewed
More
Commented
More
Advertisement