Jeff is very right about this -- in general, the bigtime political blogosphere neglects environmental issues. This is a lamentable state of affairs. There are probably several factors at work.
First, blogs are very much of the moment. A few, like Mark Schmitt's Decembrist, are more deliberative and slow-moving, but most -- Atrios being the prime example -- are almost literally minute-by-minute affairs. As such, they are somewhat bound to the politicians and "mainstream media" they cover. And those politicians, and that mainstream media, don't cover environmental issues enough. So, the culpability goes upwards.
But still, energy issues come up a lot. Global warming comes up a lot. There's certainly plenty out there to cover if one of these guys -- and really, the big ones are mostly guys -- turned their minds to it. It's a peculiar thing: Even when something notable happens in the political arena, like the strange-bedfellows, bipartisan Energy Future Coalition sending a high-profile letter to President Bush pleading for a saner energy policy, it passes by virtually without note on the big blogs.
Is it just that the particular individuals involved have no interest or background on eco-stuff? Or is there something more systemic at work? Discuss.
Comments
View as Threaded
jdhlax Posted 1:29 pm
23 May 2005
Yes. As you commented awhile ago, most people, including leftists, don't give any priority to environmental concerns. By the time things get so bad that those people have to give the environment the priority it deserves, it almost certainly will be too late.
Permalink
edavidt Posted 2:15 pm
23 May 2005
I would say that the problem isn't that the environment doesn't have enough commentary, it is that those commenting don't realize that they are indeed commenting on the environment.
Permalink
alevin Posted 10:51 pm
23 May 2005
For example, there was a great diary on Kos by a person who spent his career in the coal industry and wrote about the environmental ups and downs:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/4/23/214849/506
Permalink
enrique Posted 4:38 am
25 May 2005
Part of the incentive was money, at least on my part, and to see if an environmnetal blog could
gain a wider audience. Blogging from the West Coast does have a downside in that so much of environmental reporting revolves around Beltway politics.
http://commonground.typepad.com
Permalink
Dyre42 Posted 5:57 am
25 May 2005
We are living in "interesting times".
(If you recall the old Chinese curse.)
Permalink
amazingdrx Posted 8:45 am
25 May 2005
The key to green blogging is the same as the key to arguing political positions that reflect environmental concerns.
They need to be connected into central issues in energy policy, economic policy, and foreign policy.
Oil.... oil wars, economic decline, trade deficits, national bankruptcy, personal bankruptcy from high energy costs...
Nuclear.... waste, rising fuel costs,cancer from mining, astronomical waste disposal and decommissioning costs, uninsurable risk proven by the Chernobyl disaster, leaking nuclear waste dumps, imposibility of siting because of NIMBY...
Coal..... mercury pollution concentrated through the food chain, greenhouse gas climate disaster, lung cancer, mining accidents,
rising costs, destruction of wilderness.
Wind, solar, plugin hybrids,and biofuel.....stable low cost energy, revived economy, good jobs building this equipment, great export markets, no need for oil wars, revived uS manufacturing and tax base paying down the national debt.
A concerted effort with all US allies to end reliance on fossil and nuclear power and the wars, toxic destruction, and risks from terror and economic devestation that come with it.
Permalink