Alec Johnson’s Recent Comments

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  I think all your suggestions are sound and I welcome them and this dialogue. Where else on the Internet are your articles posted? I didn't see any others on this site, but that may've been my failure.

  And we've already had a "win," gettting W-M out of committee was the biggest step Climate Legislation has ever taken, IMHO. But we need many many more victories, including those improving W-M, which will have no stronger champion than me.

  You realize, I suspect, that the conservative movement seems to believe they can ride back into power by riding their climate denying horse. While much chastened in the last election, they still have very powerful megaphones: Faux News, all the Muddy Clear Channel radio stations, and their leading climatologist, Rush Limbaugh.

  It's quite an ugly fight, but one very much worth getting into body and soul. Don't you agree?

  On How to deal with the climate bill posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago 17 Responses

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  One other thought:

  Like you I would prefer that corporations not have the influence they so clearly have. Indeed we were warned by no less than Abraham Lincoln who wrote the following in a letter to Colonel William F. Elkins, November 24th, 1864, some five months before he died and when he would've had good confidence that the Civil War was going his way:

  "I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and cause me to tremble for the safety of my country. As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war."

  One of the major silver-linings that emerges for me in all of this is the opportunity we might have to recover our Democracy, even with the corporate aristocracy doing its best to continue the project Lincoln correctly identified 145 years ago. This is something else I fight for every day.

  On How to deal with the climate bill posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago 17 Responses

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  I'm delighted to regain the better angels of our nature. You are right we have bigger fish to fry than each other. In all candor I do side with Krugman, Romm and Gore in our debate, but I'll mention one other source for my position: George Monbiot, a recipient of the UN's Global 500 Award for "Outstanding Environmental Achievement. In his very impressive book, "Heat: How to Stop the Planet Burning," he has a great chapter on the Climate Denial Industry. What was particularly striking were these remarks at the end of that chapter:

  "But the thought that worries me is this. As people in the rich countries -- even the professional classes -- begin to wake up to what the science is saying, climate-change denial wll look as stupid as Holocaust denial, or the insistence that AIDS can be cured with beetroot. But our response will be to demand that the government acts, while hoping that it doesn't. We will wish our governments to pretend to act. We get the moral satisfaction of saying what we know to be right, without the discomfort of doing it.

  My fear is that the political parties in most rich nations have already recognized this. They know that we want tough targets, but that we also want those targets to be missed. They know that we will grumble about their failure to curb climate change, but that we will not take to the streets. They know that nobody ever rioted for asuterity.

  This is a gloomy thought. But it does reinforce my belief that we must make the necessary changes as painless as possible." [pp 41-42]

  I think this is why Krugman, Gore, Romm and I hold the view that we do. Moreover, establishing the framework, and the frame, even a flimsy one, will be a very good start, but one that needs to be made much, much better. Again I cite the history of the Montreal Protocol as a good example.

  Conservatives in this country have become the masters of "frames," a la Lakeoff and Hartmann. W-M will become, in my view, a powerful frame that they'll have a hard time dwelling in. That will also be a good thing and a foundation we can build upon.

  I keep on getting back to building political will. It isn't going to be a pretty process. Indeed, I take a very long view on this matter. I feel like I'll be pushing hard for this for the rest of my life, in one way or another.

  So I do appreciate how important it is to get things right, but I also know painfully how tough it will be to achieve the political will, without which everything you've written about has no hope of seeing the light of day.

  I'm glad we've had this opportunity to exchange views. Keep up your good work. I won't stop doing what I do until I croak. (My retirement plan in a nutshell!)

  On How to deal with the climate bill posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago 17 Responses

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  You wrote:

  "It is unclear that you want "healthy debate", instead it seems that you want mindless support, putting people on phone banks with a text that you provide."

  You are putting quite a few words in my mouth without having a clue what sort of field work I'm engaged in or if I would even be using scripts, mindless or otherwise. I think you should take greater care as you sound quite shrill. I'm not sure precisely what nerve I stepped on that caused you to lose your civility, but I recommend you regain it presently.

  I work to try and produce effective political will for effective Climate legislation, the one thing we seem to have a precarious shortage of in this country. I have concerns about W-M. Indeed I share some of of the ones you cited. I believe that much might happen during the floor fight this summer, but only if we get lots of citizens to warm up congresses switchboards. I'm sure you'd agree. And not mindlessly driven ones either. I believe it works best when voters/citizens are passionate and well informed.

  Every day I recommend Grist.org to people. Indeed some of them may well read your post and find it eye opening, right until they read your somewhat insulting reply to me. I recommend that you strive for a little more dialogue before you rush to judgment. You've judged me poorly.

  I also think some of your facts may be wrong. Have you read Robert Stavins recent piece? (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-stavins/the-wonderful-politics-of_b_208581.html). He directs Harvards Environmental Economics Program.

  I know how very unprecedented this all is and understand how huge the stakes are. And I admire your passion, but you should be careful how you manage it and where and how you direct your anger.

   

   

  On How to deal with the climate bill posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago 17 Responses

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  The more we focus our collective political will, the better Waxman-Markey will be. And those who are so critical seem to not appreciate that legislation is always fluid and rarely set in stone. Civil Rights legislation that was achieved under Johnson was heavily undermined from Reagan onwards. Also I think they fail to appreciate the significance of establishing this framework.

  You cite Joe Romm, but fail to mention one of the key points he made pointing out the history of the now successful Montreal Protocol. It wasn't sufficient to address Ozone Depletion out of the gate, but was improved and now accomplishes that purpose. We should be trying to make our voices more coherent. You'll notice the opponents of effective Climate legislation have little trouble staying on message.

  While I appreciate healthy debate, I'd rather have you help with phone banking or door knocking. I'll bet you'd agree that we have no deficit of potential solutions but the political will is currently insufficient. Your help in this area would be much appreciated.

  On How to deal with the climate bill posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago 17 Responses