Comments davedenali has made

  • yes it is real

    Where I live, our power comes from coal.  Cap and auction will make it more expensive.  That is a fact.  I happen to think it's a good fact for the environment, but it is a reason why this is going to be hard to pass, and I think you are kidding yourself.  Coal makes cheap power. Unfortunately.  On Carbon pricing does not necessarily cause high energy prices posted 8 months, 3 weeks ago 6 Responses

  • re: friedman compared to obama

    To the poster who wrote "In this, Friedman is ahead of most environmentalism and President Obama."

    Yes. He also doesn't have to get votes.  Go tell the  UAW that the economic growth model is fatally flawed.  I dont mean that Friedman isn't right about this -- of course he is.  But columnists and elected officials live in very different worlds -- with different challenges.On A one-time cheerleader for hyper-consumerism lays down his pom-pom posted 8 months, 3 weeks ago 16 Responses

  • Dem challenger needed

    Governor Paterson needs a primary challenger. He is governor by a fluke and this decision suggests it wast a fortuitous one.  On New York governor goes in the tank for industry, backs away from climate plan posted 8 months, 3 weeks ago 12 Responses

  • Will

    As the saying goes, even a blind pig finds an acorn once in a while.On A finger to Slate, but a grudging thumbs-up to George Will posted 8 months, 3 weeks ago 3 Responses

  • still live in suburbs

    I am skeptical about the broad, unsubstantiated claims in this post. The vast majority of US voters still live in suburbs or in newer suburbs of suburbs. That fact hasnt changed one whit.

    What has changed is that after 30 years of being told that things will be better if we just act tougher abroad, lock up lots of young black men, end assistance to poor people and drastically cut taxes for the wealthy, it has occurred to people that this is not actually a political philosophy.  It is form of racism and looting, and certainly no way to govern a country.On The aging of the Boomers means it's time for new priorities posted 8 months, 3 weeks ago 11 Responses

  • Dems don't roll

    What encourages me is that Dem senators voted against a Mark Begich (D-Alaska) amendment. Begich has the potential to do enormous harm on Alaska protection if Senate Dems let him.  I can't blame him -- he represents a state that elected Palin for God's sake -- but I hope Dems let him play to his local voters without actually letting him harm Alaska by succeeding.On Senate votes in support of species protections posted 8 months, 3 weeks ago 2 Responses

  • The caption to this is incredibly misleading

    Jeff Bingaman is no more THE Democrats than Susan Collins is THE Republicans.  If Grist is going to pretend to do journalism or serious commentary, have some standards.On Surrendering in advance: just how the Democrats roll posted 8 months, 3 weeks ago 3 Responses

  • Yes. And?

    I hear they tried paying staff with Grist subscriptions and organic gardening tips, but shockingly enough, it didn't go over.On Sierra Club partners up to make green ... luggage? posted 8 months, 4 weeks ago 1 Response

  • here's a thought

    I like Right Wing Criminals National Park, in honor of Bush, Cheney and Innofe.  But it may be too long.On Glacier National Park to go glacier-free a decade early posted 8 months, 4 weeks ago 2 Responses

  • you're thinking too much

    "Conservatives react with outrage to the notion of policy that will produce an increase in energy prices, of any duration.

    But ... what's their alternative? Energy prices are going up regardless. What's their solution to that problem?

    I sincerely don't understand. Someone explain it to me."
    -------------

    I wouldn't expend a lot of calories trying to fathom conservative thought.  Remember, these are the people who gave us James Inhofe as Senate Environment Chair and had us borrow a couple trillion to finance tax cuts for the rich.  They are hoping voters will be angry over a cap and auction bill, that R's can link Dems to higher energy prices and win back some of the 55 or so House seats they've lost as a result of their staggering incompetence and utter intellectual bankruptcy.On What's the alternative? posted 8 months, 4 weeks ago 5 Responses

  • respectfully disagree

    I respectfully disagree with you.  Barack Obama's election is the best thing we've got going when it comes to real action on climate.  I understand your frustration completely -- we need drastic change.  But you underestimate the difficulty of getting drastic change.

    You ask why environmentalists don't all get together.  The reality is that environmental organizations have differing approaches and philosophies.  Some groups -- including EDF, NRDC, Nature Conservancy and WRI -- are already promoting a US CAP proposal that flatly doesnt go far enough. One thing we must do is push Obama to raise the bar as high as we can get it on emissions cuts -- not lower it to get an empty win.

    But climate disruption is an incremental problem. The immediate impacts on people aren't clear.  We don't have millions of Americans galvanized and demanding action the way people did at the height of the Vietnam War.  I wish we environmentalists knew how to make that happen, but I don't believe for one minute that there's a clear answer to that.

    What I do know is Barack Obama just signed the largest renewable energy appropriation in history, appointed people like Chu, Holdren and Browner (who do get it about climate --- read what Holdren has said on the topic), asked EPA to consider regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant, and is moving towards legislation imposing carbon caps.

    Is it enough? Will the reductions be enough to match what Hansen and others say is needed?  Probably not.  Until 2006, Republican Senate members made a guy who calls global warming a hoax chairman of the Environment Committee. The economic crisis makes a hard task much harder.

    I hear where you're coming from, but what I plan to do this year is push as hard as I can for effective, science-based national legislation and regulatory action.  And I think that is a very good use of our time -- even if that alone won't be nearly enough.
    On Lessons from cognitive dissonance theory for U.S. environmentalists posted 8 months, 4 weeks ago 30 Responses

  • Good

    Thanks for an update I've been eagerly awaiting.On The economic-recovery bill includes green funding and drops nuclear and coal subsidies posted 9 months, 2 weeks ago 10 Responses

  • to fueden

    Jokes about people being from Kentucky are a form of bigotry. Pathetic and mean and vulgar.On Ashley Judd and Defenders of Wildlife want you to know that Sarah Palin still hates wolves posted 9 months, 3 weeks ago 10 Responses

  • good for judd

    Good for Judd and Defenders. Palin is a sicko and so is her program.  What I don't know is what practical ways there are to end it at this point.  I can't imagine Alaska's new senator wouldnt have a problem with federal legislation outlawing the wolf kills.  Wolves are not endangered in AK.  Seems what you have is still another referendum in AK. And these are people who elected Palin.  On Ashley Judd and Defenders of Wildlife want you to know that Sarah Palin still hates wolves posted 9 months, 3 weeks ago 10 Responses

  • Tell it to TNC


    As both the NY Times and Grist reported, this climate-change-denying, propaganda-funding, right-wing-politician-loving corporation is also the company that The Nature Conservancy, WWF and CI took on as a major sponsor of their, uh, "Green" Gala in DC last month.

    David Barron explained that conference organizers "weren't into symbolism."On Revealing skeptics as sock puppets in a few quick clicks posted 10 months ago 6 Responses

  • ps on inhofe

    Inhofe is also shocked and appalled that major environmental organizations mostly contribute to Democrats.  He doesnt seem to understand that when you read the LCV scorecard, zeros like his are bad.  Big numbers are good.  Maybe if someone calls him and goes over that a few times...  Zeros bad, Jim. Pro-environment votes good.  Zero bad. Pro-environment votes good.On Denier duo tried to tarnish Hansen and utterly misquoted Revkin posted 10 months ago 5 Responses

  • Bigger than Inhofe

    I've said this before and will say it again.  The fact that Oklahoma elects a buffoon is bad enough.  But never lose sight of the fact that the last Republican Senate majority made Inhofe Senate Environment Committe Chair.  Where are the responsible adults in today's GOP leadership?  Where are the statesmen?  Senator Voinovich, or Collins, or Snowe, is James Inhofe your idea of the right man to have led this crucial committee? Where were the protests?  And what is wrong with today's Republican leadership that it turns to cranks like Inhofe and Morano? (No, Mark, I'm not going to "be nice.")On Denier duo tried to tarnish Hansen and utterly misquoted Revkin posted 10 months ago 5 Responses

  • On civility

    KenGreen,

    I have witnessed eight years in which the GOP right added seven trillion dollars to a national debt that stood at five trillion in 2000. Much of that went to reckless tax cuts for the rich. In the meantime, millions of American citizens went without desperately needed health care, shelter or heat -- often through no fault of their own.

    I have seen a Republican Senate majority select a Senate Environment Chair, James Inhofe, who calls global warming a hoax.  Their majority knowingly gave us this clown.

    I have seen a large portion of the last genetically wild herd of North American bison shot for no good reason. I have seen a President and a VP candidate encourage the senseless, horrible slaughter of wolves and seen a President turn over pristine public lands to his industry cronies -- now ruined for centuries.

    I've seen a Republican House Committee Chair try to systematically sell off public lands.

    I've seen a great leap backward in addressing climate disruption as an oil-industry-owned Republican Party gave subsidy after subsidy to fossil fuels.

    You criticize me for being "uncivil" to the party of Tom DeLay, John Boehner, Richard Pombo and a pack of hundreds of industry-owned hacks who have done more harm to this country than any political party in modern history?

    Let me recommend Paul Krugman's recent column "Bigger than Bush."On There's a reason Republicans stump for a carbon tax, and it ain't to reduce emissions posted 10 months ago 37 Responses

  • 100 percent agree

    The 111th U.S. Congress is not going to pass a carbon tax. Calls for a carbon tax, to the extent they have any effect, will complicate and possibly derail passage of carbon legislation
    -------

    You are absolutely right about the political realities of this and I am surprised at the naivete from some very smart people - Hansen included. Al Gore proposed a BTU tax in the early 90s and it had the shortest life of any trial balloon in history -- they shot it down before he let go of the string. The evil men who lead today's Mean Southern White Guys Party -- aka the GOP -- have been enormously successful in changing the public discourse such that any discussion of taxes is politically hazardous -- especially carbon taxes that would drive up the cost of heating and driving and loafing on the internet during work hours.  Sacred stuff, that.
    On There's a reason Republicans stump for a carbon tax, and it ain't to reduce emissions posted 10 months ago 37 Responses

  • ps

    We will see a well-funded, ugly Harry and Louise style propaganda campaign against a climate bill.  (The lying ad campaign that helped kill health care under Clinton.)  We will obviously see attempts to offer weak CYA proposals that won't do enough -- we're seeing those even now.  The American public's grasp of science is poor -- many believe that a theory equals wild speculation.  

    I look forward to a massive common effort by the forces of good against the forces of darkness  -- including a public push for a climate bill from the President himself.  But do not underestimate the difficulty of this vote. Or of getting a treaty approved sometime after.On How Obama can get a better climate bill in 2010 posted 10 months ago 3 Responses

  • re: good vote as election nears? I disagree

    response to "if the GOP wants to put itself on the side of humanity's self-destruction, then that political battle is best held in an election year, after a lengthy public education campaign"

    To be polite, no, the political battle is NOT best fought as an election approaches.  The bill may well go into 2010 -- I assume it will -- but as elections get closer, elected officials avoid controversy like the plague.  We need public education -- especially by Obama himself -- but we will not have solid public support for a climate bill anytime soon. A climate bill is going to be enormously controversial and a tough vote for Dems -- no matter when it happens. Dont kid yourself.On How Obama can get a better climate bill in 2010 posted 10 months ago 3 Responses

  • the costs of inaction

    One clear message from this study is that the climate science activists need to do a better job of spelling out the cost of inaction.
    ----

    Agreed.  We also need a major public effort from the Administration and Congress.  John Holdren needs to be the Paul Revere of climate disruption and we will need prime time presidential TV speeches on the need to address this crisis.  President Obama is off to a good start on climate, but he will need to put the prestige and visibility of the presidency behind this.  And we need high profile hearings from environmentalal warriors like Rep Waxman and others.On Media's 'decision to play the stenographer role helped opponents of climate action stifle progress' posted 10 months ago 5 Responses

  • agreed

    Certainly agree about the environment pigeonholing.  Discussion of national issues... need some bridge and highway repairs -- check.  Whether guns should be allowed in national parks -- check.  Greenland melts, flooding Florida, creating 100 million refugees in India and sending Europe into an Ice Age as hurricanes devastate our coasts.  Check. Oh but we arent absolutely certain that will happen.  

    So what the hey.On Media's 'decision to play the stenographer role helped opponents of climate action stifle progress' posted 10 months ago 5 Responses

  • re talking points

    RE: The car industry is already complaining about too many regulations. They will say it is many different state laws and regulations. How can we possibly build cars for each state
    ---

    Many people were (happily)aware of that problem. Many would also note that the largest car manufacturer in the world is now Toyota and that Honda has done relatively well with a fuel-efficient offering.  And when GM's CEO dismisses global climate disruption as BS, it's hard to feel much sympathy for companies being forced to be environmentally responsible.  Things they should have done years ago on their own.On Move would allow California and 13 other states to set tougher tailpipe standards posted 10 months ago 10 Responses

  • re: movement

    There's more than enough work for everyone to do on climate change -- the more the better.On Carl Pope stepping down from helm of the Sierra Club posted 10 months ago 24 Responses

  • SC and population

    The Sierra Club has had a very active Global Population and Environment Program.  See http://www.sierraclub.org/population/
    On Carl Pope stepping down from helm of the Sierra Club posted 10 months ago 24 Responses

  • re obama to let states set emissions standards

    new] David Roberts is right this thread

    is depressing, so to change the topic and lighten the mood:
    Obama to Let States Restrict Emissions Standards
    http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/26/us/politics/26calif.htm ... ...
    ---------

    This IS good news, although the Post is reporting as "Obama orders agencies to consider..."

    Not coincidentally, allowing these "Pavely" waivers to let states restrict auto emissions is one of the Sierra Club's immediate "Clean Slate" asks of Barack Obama.  As is ending mountaintop removal mining, directing the EPA to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant, and setting a goal of 35 percent reductions in CO2 emissions by 2020.  The Club has also asked him to reinstate Roadless Rule protection for national forests, including Alaska's Tongass.  Im glad to see the President acting fast on climate disruption.On Carl Pope stepping down from helm of the Sierra Club posted 10 months ago 24 Responses

  • finally

    Whatever criticisms anyone may have, the Sierra Club under Pope's leadership put it's heart and soul into ending the Bush nightmare and electing Barack Obama.  And this member is proud of that effort and the result.On Carl Pope stepping down from helm of the Sierra Club posted 10 months, 1 week ago 24 Responses

  • re: challenges

    For all nonprofits, there is also the enormous challenge of raising enough money to accomplish their goals during a recession. And the urgency of climate disruption means that the Sierra Club and others need more resources than ever.On Carl Pope stepping down from helm of the Sierra Club posted 10 months, 1 week ago 24 Responses

  • re: just the immigration folks....

    [new] Really?

    Pope's stepping down and all that does is bring the immigration fruitloops out of the woodwork?
    That is depressing.

    grist.org

    --------
    Agreed. Carl Pope has been an effective leader of an organization that's harder to lead than many outsiders appreciate.  It is of necessity a Big Tent, and that's a strength, but it does mean that even when 85 percent of your members vote in favor of a position, you still get publicly blasted by a vocal few.  And in our impersonal email-internet world, civility has taken a back seat -- unfortunately for us all.

    The Sierra Club is also unique in being such a large, grassroots environmental organization.  Some would argue about how grassroots it really is, but having a nationwide organization with volunteer acivists is both a huge strength and a huge challenge.  In many cases, an organization must speak with a single voice, and the cliche about "herding cats" is often applicable.

    Pope says he is changing roles to focus on climate work.  Nothing could be more urgent, and I hope he succeeds in his new role. I also hope that the Club finds a dynamic successor to carry on its important work.  The world needs an effective Sierra Club more than ever.On Carl Pope stepping down from helm of the Sierra Club posted 10 months, 1 week ago 24 Responses

  • yes we can

    No one has tried to help Americans "get it" -- at least, no one with the resources you need to reach hundreds of millions of people.  The media has covered climate disruption accurately -- with the glaring exception of Fox.  But they haven't covered it as the emergency it is -- especially during the campaign?  Where were the debate questions on this topic?

    A concerted effort by President Obama and his advisers -- and congressional hearings --- may help us dispel the myths created by the energy industry and the nut-job right and begin to educate the public.  At some point Obama needs to give a climate speech -- a major prime time address with facts and solutions.  He has to put his prestige behind this.  And Congress needs to have highly publicized hearings that expose the more prominent deniers for what they are.On Seeing the light in the Pew poll on Americans' top priorities posted 10 months, 1 week ago 14 Responses

  • compensating china & india (and paying for it)

    Oh, and since the most important element of that breakthrough will doubtless be finding some way to partially compensate China (still an overwhelmingly poor nation) for the cost of switching to more expensive fuel sources, the recession that Bush leaves us with is yet one more obstacle.
    -------------

    Agreed.  And if anyone doesnt think ratifying THAT in the US Senate isn't going to be the heavy legislative lift of the century, they're mistaken.

    But you're entirely correct that Bush not only leaves us with a far worse planetary emergency than we face when he took office, he leaves us exponentially less able to pay for solutions.  Tax cuts for the rich (and the recession) are environmental issues --  in a very real way.On Eight years of Bush inaction leave Obama with a near-impossible challenge posted 10 months, 1 week ago 4 Responses

  • in response to the gelbaum conspiracy myth

    Karen, get real. Sierra Club members voted on whether to change the club's neutral position on immigration.  Almost 90 percent voted "no."  I don't care if David Gelbaum rented a plane with a banner -- the nationwide vote of members speaks for itself.  Obviously many members strongly feel that the club should NOT take a stand against immigration. As do many other Americans.On Carl Pope stepping down from helm of the Sierra Club posted 10 months, 1 week ago 24 Responses

  • disagree

    I read Death of Environmentalism and found much of it naive -- especially the suggestion that mainstream environmentalists were somehow responsible for the rise of the Gingrich right in the 1990s.  As for the Sierra Club and immigration, the organization had a membership vote on this just a few years back, and members voted 85-15 to keep the current policy of remaining neutral on immigration, but working to address the root causes -- including lack of economic opportunity, education and access to reproductive health care.

    I wish Carl Pope success in his new role.
    On Carl Pope stepping down from helm of the Sierra Club posted 10 months, 1 week ago 24 Responses

  • response

    Salazar also gave a shout-out to the coal industry in his remarks, noting that while addressing climate change is important, "we cannot move forward by turning off the lights and turning off coal-burning power plants."
    -------------
    YES WE CAN!!

    @##holeOn Salazar taps Clinton's deputy secretary as his own, and other Interior news posted 10 months, 1 week ago 1 Response

  • ps on lieberman-warner

    You wrote "The purpose of a GHG bill is not to raise revenue.  It's to lower GHG emissions. Trying to do both at the same time only guarantees that you will do both poorly.  As Lieberman-Warner ably demonstrated."
    ---------

    Anyone who thought last year's vote on Lieberman Warner was a real effort to get a bill -- and some groups apparently did -- was naive at best. I wouldn't draw many conclusions from a straw vote, and that's all that was.  And the objections to the bill did not focus on the auctioning of emission rights -- unless you mean objections from right wing nut jobs who arent going to support a climate bill if the sea starts rising in their bathrooms.On House speaker now says she wants a climate bill passed by December posted 10 months, 1 week ago 10 Responses

  • response

    I dont miss the point at all. Of course the main goal is to put a price on carbon and lower emissions.  But no bill is going to PASS without a lot of provisions that will cost some money (such as assistance for those hurt most).  And we need a massive investment in renewables and efficiency -- from the private sector but with a governmental push.

    What matters most isnt just that I think we have to auction off rights and raise revenues.  So do many key people who will be fashioning and voting on this bill.  There will be a revenue component to a carbon markets bill. On House speaker now says she wants a climate bill passed by December posted 10 months, 1 week ago 10 Responses

  • Barasso

    Barasso is another extremist anti-environment wolf-hating jackass.  Jackson will be confirmed easily.  And frankly, the only reason I can think of that Barasso would be concerned about Browner is that he doesnt want Washington to do anything about global warming.  We intend to disappoint him in that regard.On Barrasso reportedly abandons opposition to Jackson appointment posted 10 months, 1 week ago 1 Response

  • of course we need revenue from the bill

    Revenues are absolutely necessary. A successful bill is going to require assistance to low income consumers and displaced workers.  And emissions reductions are going to require a massive investment in new renewables and efficiency. Of course we need revenues from a bill.  Moreover, in a nation that could run between a $1 and $2 trillion debt this year alone and has $40 to $50 billion in unfunded obligations, there is a desperate need for revenue from many sources -- at least in the long term. Wake up people.On House speaker now says she wants a climate bill passed by December posted 10 months, 1 week ago 10 Responses

  • nonnsense

    [new] Achievable

    275 is achievable if the public understand the alternatives.
    --------

    By doing what, exactly?  This is nonsense.  There's no danger of Obama actually adopting this suggestion, but I am astonished at the naivete I see from some well-meaning people. A call for pre-industrial levels of carbon dioxide would be suicidal.On An open letter to President Obama on how to make the climate challenge real and urgent to Americans posted 10 months, 1 week ago 17 Responses

  • news & humor

    As environmental humor goes, David Barron's comment to the NY Times about the Green ExxonMobil Ball that flew beef up from Texas -- "We're not into symbolism" -- has to be one of the funniest lines of the New Year. On Gore's inaugural ball was star-studded (even without Obama) posted 10 months, 1 week ago 2 Responses

  • curious

    Wonder if Norm Coleman went to the Exxon/ Petroleum Lobby/ WWF/ CI/ Nature Conservancy Ball? After all, he hasnt conceded yet.  Reports are that Republican Senate candidate Rob Portman of Cincinnati was there.On Gore's inaugural ball was star-studded (even without Obama) posted 10 months, 1 week ago 2 Responses

  • question

    Do you have a road map for geting to 265 ppm?  One that doesnt involve horses?On An open letter to President Obama on how to make the climate challenge real and urgent to Americans posted 10 months, 1 week ago 17 Responses

  • 265 ppm??

    You should use the opportunity, Mr. President, to explain the precautionary principle to the American people and demonstrate both intellectual integrity and political courage by asking the NAS to consider whether a rapid return to pre-industrial concentrations of atmospheric carbon (265-275 ppm) is warranted.

    ---------

    I don't know of any respected observer who believes that 275 ppm number is politically achievable and I have trouble seeing the point in that request. It would accomplish nothing more than giving fuel to critics who call us extremists.On An open letter to President Obama on how to make the climate challenge real and urgent to Americans posted 10 months, 1 week ago 17 Responses

  • re: clean coal

    Well, it doesnt work. On Sierra Club delivers 'Coal is not the answer' slogans to ACCCE posted 10 months, 1 week ago 3 Responses

  • why are 1/3 of weather people dumb?

    I wrote my local NBC affiliate to ask why one-third of the meteoroligists surveyed expressed doubt about global warming and its causes.  The loosely translated response was "because lots of us are shallow right wing nut jobs."  My local weather guy even cited the NWS as authority for the conclusion that global warming is a hoax.

    Don't know if the response from meteoroligists is a comment on their shallow education, the right wing ownership of local TV affiliates, or both.  But it's a sad comment, and doesnt help us overcome the persistent denier problem.On One other headline from Inauguration Day posted 10 months, 1 week ago 2 Responses

  • green corporate input

    Maybe we can ask TNC what Exxon thinks.On How the cap-and-trade blueprint fits into domestic and international climate action posted 10 months, 1 week ago 3 Responses

  • Boehner

    Look. John Boehner is not worth the electrons you waste discussing him. This is a guy who passed out tobacco industry lobbyist checks to Republicans on the House floor until someone told him it looked like hell and he stopped.  A man who twisted an Obama quote on Israel beyond recognition for political gain, and publicly called him chickenshit a week before the election.  He's had zero LCV scores for entire sessions. He does not care what you think. He is a swine.  And he is not someone anyone should remotely consider trying to placate.  He's Tom DeLay, and you need to defeat him. Period.On GOP leader Scrooge Boehner disses weatherizing low-income homes and cutting the deficit posted 10 months, 1 week ago 9 Responses

  • too much emphasis on this

    Obama said he'd support clean coal BUT with conditions about emissions reductions -- conditions that the industry is nowhere close to meeting and probably can't meet.  I wouldn't make too much of confirmation hearing statements.  Obama has repeatedly and publicly affirmed his commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and pressing for comprehensive climate legislation and a treaty.  As long as he does that, coal will take a back seat by necessity.On What Obama's green team has to say about coal posted 10 months, 1 week ago 26 Responses

  • clarification

    jaballo, Barack Obama doesnt have the first thing to do with the choices made at a Nature Conservancy/World Wildlife Fund/CI ExxonMobil Green Phonies Party.  Nor does James Hansen.  Note that at the real green organizations event the food choices are very different -- and defensible.On Dueling green galas on the eve of the inauguration posted 10 months, 1 week ago 7 Responses

  • last note

    The Bush/Cheney Administration and Exxon are the same people. They attended the same secret Cheney-led lunches where they undid our environmental laws. They sang from the same global-warming-denier hymnal. Accepting Exxon in an "environmental gala" is a way of pretending that eight years of Bush-Cheney-Exxon didnt matter.  And that is a filthy lie -- we lost 8 years we didnt have to lose.On Dueling green galas on the eve of the inauguration posted 10 months, 1 week ago 7 Responses

  • David Barron, get real.

    "We are not into symbolism," said caucus president David H. Barron.

    It wasnt actually the symbolism part that bothered me David. It was the utter baseless hypocrisy and greenscamming of the public --  For starters.

    Exxon?  You people agreed to be sponsored by Exxon???  Bush-Cheney lovin, greenhouse gas emittin', global-warming denier fundin, Alaska despoilin' and justice-delayin' for 20 years Exxon?  We're not talking "symbolism" David.  We're talking SELLOUT.  We're talking GREENWASH.On Dueling green galas on the eve of the inauguration posted 10 months, 1 week ago 7 Responses

  • We Ho for the Environment.

    ExxonMobil is one of the largest single sources of greenhouse gas emissions on the planet, a dedicated supporter of extreme anti-environmental candidates over the years, and is widely reported to have funded numerous "think tanks" that produced global warming denier reports -- helping lead to public misperceptions that persist to this day.

    If the Times piece about TNC, WWF and the International Conservation Caucus Foundation is accurate and they accepted ExxonMobil as a sponsor, they are beneath contempt.  This is the equivalent of inviting Dick Cheney to give your keynote speech and putting Bush on your Board. There is a point where you no longer have any credibity, and when you take Exxon as a sponsor, you're there.  On Dueling green galas on the eve of the inauguration posted 10 months, 1 week ago 7 Responses

  • easy answer

    No climate bill has a prayer once attention turns to the 2010 elections.  The time for controversial but imperative action is now.On Does a serious bill need action from China? posted 10 months, 1 week ago 11 Responses

  • Yes, Mr. Hansen, but.....

    I"m an environmental leader, I've heard you speak and I've spoken to you.  I admire you. But you're mistaken.

    I don't doubt for a second that a carbon tax is preferable to cap and trade.  But an imperfect remedy you can get through Congress is damn sight better than a perfect one you can't.  You underestimate the success that the Republican Party has had in absolutely demonizing taxation.  That success has done great harm, but it's real, we're stuck with it, and I do not believe a carbon tax could pass Congress.  Nor do I believe the public would support it.  In 1992 the Clinton Administration proposed a BTU tax. That trial balloon didnt last a day.On An open letter to the president and first lady from the nation's top climate scientist posted 10 months, 2 weeks ago 48 Responses

  • re: am I really a republican

    "So I have to ask myself, am I really a Republican?"

    So resign already.  Yes, the GOP has been run for years now by fools who convinced the public they don't have to pay for government.  It was a stunningly stupid, evil thing to do and has done us irreversible harm.  So what is he doing still being a member of this party?On EPA's first administrator is bullish on Obama, but not cap-and-trade posted 11 months ago 7 Responses

  • dog bites man

    A Democrat who's been elected twice in a major farm state and was on VP short lists for years is selected to head an agency that's vital to farm states.  A Democratic senator who appeals to Hispanic voters, has perfectly respectable LCV scores, and may help Dems with the tricky politics of today's West is appointed to head politically sensitive Interior.  Anyone who finds this shocking is easily shocked.  On Obama officially announces Vilsack for USDA and Salazar for Interior posted 11 months, 2 weeks ago 3 Responses

  • misleading caption

    Re: Enviros unhappy about Salazar at Interior and Vilsack at USDA
    -------------

    "Some Enviros Unhappy" would be a more accurate caption.  Several major organizations have praised the appointees.On Obama officially announces Vilsack for USDA and Salazar for Interior posted 11 months, 2 weeks ago 3 Responses

  • why organic activists lose these fights

    I empathize with the sustainable ag and organic communities, who are on the right side.  Tom Vilsack WAS elected governor of Iowa, though -- as farmy a farm state as they come.  The sustainable ag folks seem to act as if it were them vs Monsanto, and the truth is a lot more complicated than that.  America's farmers --real farmers, not just ADM -- often do not hold environmentalists especially dear. People who hold views like Tom Vilsack's -- who do not think genetically modified crops are the spawn of the devil -- win elections in farm states like Iowa.  And no President is going to appoint a Secretary of Agriculture who is not acceptable to the public at large in farm states.On Thoughts on Obama's USDA pick posted 11 months, 2 weeks ago 5 Responses

  • Two Observations

    Two observations.  First, Salazar's LCV score is 100 percent for this year and 85 percent for this session of Congress.  Second, as a Democratic senator, unless someone produces 8 by 10 glossies of him in the airport stall with Larry Craig or proves some contibutor built him a new house in Girdwood, he is going to be the next Secretary of the Interior.  Which suggests to me that it would be good to have the best possible relationship with him and work constructively.On Green groups divided over choice of Salazar to head Interior posted 11 months, 2 weeks ago 15 Responses

  • vilsack

    The Senate is not going to block confirmation of a former Democratic governor from Iowa for Secretary of Agriculture, and Obama is not going to withdraw him.  I understand the disappointment of the sustainable ag community.  The cold fact is that Vilsack was obviously popular in one of the nation's leading farm states. On Brushing aside pressure, Obama taps a big-ag man as USDA chief posted 11 months, 2 weeks ago 16 Responses

  • GOP

    "Sensenbrenner also said that he has a "skeptical view" of the "entire issue" of climate change."  Where do they get these buffoons?  Are their litte training academies out there for wannabe GOP moron legislators? On National Intelligence Assessment finds that climate change poses national security threat posted 1 year, 5 months ago 3 Responses

  • Corn Ethanol and Nitrogen Fertilizer

    There's a recent report in Science (two reports, really) on the role of nitrogen fertilizers in producing ocean releases of both CO2 and nitrous oxide.  This is one more warning that calls into question the wisdom of subsidizing corn production -- for ethanol or anything else.  Growing corn may actually be taking us the wrong direction on greenhouse gases and it is a chemical nightmare for our water resources.  Lets get US agribusiness off the dole. On The costs of unsustainable agriculture posted 1 year, 5 months ago 31 Responses

  • Cap and Auction Instead

    I admire Hansen and had the pleasure of hearing him speak and meeting him not too long ago.  But I find it hard to believe that Democrats are going to introduce anything called a carbon tax in the forseeable future, and I can't blame them.  It's suicide.  (And most Republicans in Congress are buffoons on global warming -- look up Senator Inhofe, who they made Environment Chair.)  We got 48 votes to cut off debate on cap-and-trade this year.  We need to get rid of five or six more of the Senate's buffoons, elect Obama, and get cap-and-auction passed in the next year or two -- preferably in 2009.  The point is we need a price on carbon emissions.  I just don't think a tax is politically possible -- at least not without a long effort to sell it as a replacement for some other taxes.On Hansen's message to the planet posted 1 year, 5 months ago 17 Responses

  • Senator, you have no spine.

    John McCain blasted Bush's four tax cuts for the rich as irresponsible when they were proposed. Now he wants to make them permanent.  He favored action on climate change and reductions of greenhouse gases, but now he wants to burn more fossil fuels that produce them.  He favored protecting public lands such as the Arctic Refuge, but cheers when someone rich says "drill everywhere."  In short, he is a fraud. On Drilling for fossil fuels and subsidizing nuclear power: McCain energy policy posted 1 year, 5 months ago 4 Responses

  • first step

    Signals are fine and good.  But what we really need is effective legislation to put a price on carbon dioxide emissions.  And Obama's going to need the courage to stand up to Big Coal and Bigger Oil if that's going to happen, which it must. On Obama says climate and energy would be top priorities at start of his admin posted 1 year, 6 months ago 1 Response

  • Lifetime LCV Score: 24 Percent

    'nuff said. On Republicans for Environmental Protection explains McCain ranking (or lack thereof) posted 1 year, 6 months ago 4 Responses

  • to "Partisan Jab Unwarranted" re McCain

    Rubbish. Senator McCain has a career LCV score of 26 percent.  That is CAREER score.  Dozens and dozens of votes.  Consistently over his career.  Look up Senator McCain's votes on LCV-scored issues over the years (www.lcv.org) and tell me he has a good environmental record -- without cracking up.  Yes he's right some of the time.  He's wrong more than not, and he's not fit to be President. On McCain to skip another crucial climate vote posted 1 year, 6 months ago 4 Responses

  • REP is a joke.

    It isn't just the missed votes. REP also plugs McCain in spite of his abysmmal career LCV voting score of 24 percent, and REP took some cheap shots at the Sierra Club for telling the truth about McCain's stinking record.  I challenge anyone to go to www.lcv.org, look up all the individual Senate votes his career score was based on, and tell me John McCain has a decent environmental record. Moreover, McCain has recently promised he'd appoint more Supreme Court justices in the mold of Alito and Roberts -- bad justices, if you care about protecting the environment.  McCain isn't Reagan or Bush, but if that qualifies you as enviromentally acceptable, we haven't just lowered the bar -- there is no bar. On Republicans for Environmental Protection lets McCain off the hook for missing important votes posted 1 year, 6 months ago 4 Responses

  • Coal sucks.

    The Sierra Club must not only continue but dramatically increase this crucial work of stopping coal.  All kinds of energy may have downsides, as Dragon notes above, but there's one helluva difference between degrees of evil, and it matters.  Huge savings in efficiency can be achieved with some initial investment that will pay for itself over time.  Wind and solar are vastly safer and cleaner than fossil fuel energy, and wind power is now cost-competitive.  There is no reason in the world for this nation to be blowing up mountains and destroying streams to burn coal, the leading source of carbon dioxide emissions and neurotoxic mercury in the US.  Finally, Dragon, global warming presents one of the largest threats to those wild places the Club was fighting to protect in 1892.  And still is.On Sierra Club will sue over new coal plants posted 1 year, 6 months ago 4 Responses

  • What we need

    I had the good fortune to hear Hansen speak recently.  He's very compelling.  In my view we need to do several things.  A GOP Senate majority gave us James Inhofe as Environment Chair, and he is an environmental criminal.  As is George Voinovich, who wants to replace him. We need to expose and defeat these people.  We need to elect a Democratic President and demand action.  We need to stop the coal plants now under consideration.  And we need to create an appropriate sense of urgency.  Now.On A last chance for civilization posted 1 year, 6 months ago 26 Responses

  • re: some legislative background

    I would not measure candidates commitment to climate action by what climate bills have introduced in this Congress.  We don't have the 60 votes to overcome a certain Republican Senate filibuster of a good bill, and we don't have a responsible President.  We need both as a precondidtion to legislation worth passing.  As I have noted above, John McCain has a verifiably poor career environmental record as compared to the Democratic candidates. www.lcv.org  Just last week, he promised more right wing Justices on a Court that has already rolled back environmental protections.  A fifth extremist would be disastrous, and any environmentalist who supports John McCain is a damned fool. On Enviros respond to McCain's new climate plan posted 1 year, 6 months ago 12 Responses

  • comparing environmental records.

    Re "name that bill" "I agree" -- the two posts above.  Anyone who wants an objective way to compare Senator McCain's overall environmental record to Clinton's and Obama's would do well to look at their LCV scorecards over the years, and the description of the many dozens of bills voted on.  www.lcv.org It takes some effort to look up past years, but Senator McCain is quickly exposed.  He is no environmentalist.  Both Obama and Clinton have excellent environmental records, and neither of them would appoint the right-wing (read: anti-environmental) justices that McCain recently promised. On Enviros respond to McCain's new climate plan posted 1 year, 6 months ago 12 Responses

  • less than meets the eye

    As Paul Krugman noted, a big percentage increase in a tiny number still leaves you with a tiny number.  The vast majority of US commuters still get to work by driving a car in which they are the only passenger. On Transit ridership up across U.S. posted 1 year, 6 months ago 7 Responses

  • Not to be trusted

    McCain calls for only 60 percent reductions when climate experts warn we need at least 80, and that may not be enough.  So we'll only have 100 million refugees instead of 200 million?  We'll only lose half the coastal urban areas in the US?  McCain's plan also allows offsets, which concerns me.  And he just can't be trusted to protect the environment. Within one week of this climate speech, McCain has also promised to appoint more right wing justices like Roberts and Alito, which would place our most basic environmental laws in jeopardy.  He has a career LCV voting score of under 30 percent.  You want to know what a President will do, look at what he did as a Senator.  McCain may have moments, but his overall record gives no cause for comfort.  On Enviros respond to McCain's new climate plan posted 1 year, 6 months ago 12 Responses

  • Much too little

    In a party that made James ("global warming is a hoax") Inhofe the Chair of the Senate Environment Committee, it's easy to look good by comparison.  But McCain's promises are not nearly enough.  He's committing to 60 percent reductions when NASA global warming expert James Hansen warns that even 80 percent may not be enough.  McCain's allowance for satisfying the law through offsets allows for accounting tricks instead of real reductions.  As Al Gore warned in his Nobel Speech, we are facing a planetary emergency.  We can no longer allow industry lobbyists and the Republican Party leadership to hold sway.  Mr. McCain and his 25 percent Senate environmental record and his fellow Republican legislators need to be shown the door.  They've done far too much damage as is. On Republican candidate's climate proposals better than expected but still behind the curve posted 1 year, 6 months ago 8 Responses

  • Why this year?

    It is too early to be pressing this kind of legislation.  Democrats are virtually certain to pick up Senate seats this fall, due to Republican retirements and the vulnerability of the 2002 GOP Senate class, which rode in on the heels of 9/11 fears.  Give us a Senate with fewer idiots like Inhofe, and a new President, and the odds on a good climate bill get a whole lot better.On Lieberman-Warner moved from critical condition to the morgue posted 1 year, 6 months ago 5 Responses

  • Board falsely accused.

    Claims that the Florida suspension was a result of leaders protesting the Clorox deal are an absurd attempt to portray chapter leaders as martyred dissidents and gloss over a huge number of real complaints.  The timing doesnt even make sense, as the Florida investigation was well in progress long before the marketing agreement.  If the Sierra Club Board suspended everybody who blasted Board decisions, they'd have to suspend a whole lot more leaders than the Florida Chapter.  Whatever flaws the Club has, it does tolerate dissent -- far more than any other nonprofit orgnanization I can think of.  This leaders-as-martyrs story line is a result of self-serving comments from the ousted leaders themselves and a remarkably poor article by Peter Montague.  And the comments about the Board action being like Bush and Iraq speak for themselves -- there's a lack of grasp on reality there. On Ouster of Sierra Club's Florida leaders stirs up a storm of controversy posted 1 year, 6 months ago 7 Responses

  • re: grand compromise

    Big Tom, your proposal is full of flaws.  Environmental groups couldn't concede on nuclear power if they wanted to.  More importantly, their concession wouldnt mean much anyway: it's not environmental groups who have stopped nuclear plants.  It's Wall Street investors.  As for "trading away" the Arctic Refuge, again, no one has the ability to do that.  And I'd no more trade the Refuge than trade the redwoods.  Congress needs to fund renewables and efficiency because they're good public policy. On Bush's energy/food strategy unsurprisingly underwhelming posted 1 year, 7 months ago 7 Responses

  • Meaningless

    If George W. Bush sees a climate bill he is willing to sign into law, it will not be a bill we want signed -- or at best, it will be meaningless stagecraft.  Even utility company officials have acknowledged that it is possible to do carbon markets legisation (cap and trade etc) very very wrong, in ways that create incentives to build coal burning plants now and cash in on selling the emissions rights.  We need to leave Mr. Bush to the garbage heap of history that he will land on soon enough. We need to elect a Democrat and not a phony like McCain, with his 25 percent lifetime environmental score.  We need to boot five or six more right wing Republicans from the Senate.  And then we need to pass a real climate bill.  Next year. On Bush may turn about-face, ask Congress to address climate change posted 1 year, 7 months ago 6 Responses

  • what really matters

    I want to see the Sierra Club have enough money to hire good staff and support volunteers who can build support and get a comprehensive climate bill in the next Congress.  I want the Sierra Club to have enough money to expose John McCain's stinking environmental record and keep him out of the White House. If you regard all corporate money as tainted, I have news: there isn't a staffed environmental organization in this country whose funding can't be traced to a corporation if you look far enough.  I'm not much interested in organizational purity tests.  The problem isn't big enviro groups.  To the contrary, the problem is that the major organizations like Sierra Club aren't nearly big enough to have the clout they need to do what has got to get done: strong federal action to stop global warming.  On Sierra Club removes leadership of its Florida chapter posted 1 year, 8 months ago 42 Responses

  • re "national sierra club coup"

    Whatever anyone thinks of either the Clorox licensing agreement or the suspension of the Florida Chapter leaders, note that not even the "National Sierra Club Coup" posting -- apparently from former Florida Chapter leaders -- claims that the Montague article is remotely accurate.  Not even the suspended leaders are going to tell you that the suspension had any connnection to dissent over the Clorox Greenworks agreement.  Montague's article is a hatchet job.On Sierra Club removes leadership of its Florida chapter posted 1 year, 8 months ago 42 Responses

  • Borax linked to environmental criminal.

    Those of us old enough to remember are well aware of who did the commercials for 20 mule team Borax.  Hint: he later apppointed James Watt as Secretary for Looting the Interior, and famously quipped (regarding wilderness preservation) "how much scenery do they need?"   No product with Ronald Wilson Reagan in its lineage is environmentally friendly in my book. On A test of eight green bathroom-cleaning products posted 1 year, 8 months ago 23 Responses

  • Montague Article = Libelous Horseshit

    Club President Robbie Cox may need to be polite.  I don't. The Clorox Greenworks association is controversial within the Club, as was the suspension of the Florida Chapter.  But Montague's assertion that the the two were intertwined -- that the Sierra Club crushed a group of brave Florida dissenters -- is nothing but a hatchet job.  He obviously spoke to no one outside of the suspended Chapter Executive Commmitte, and he obviously knew nothing about his subject.  I'm disappointed in Grist for running this. On Sierra Club removes leadership of its Florida chapter posted 1 year, 8 months ago 42 Responses

  • where's the problem?

    I am a long time Sierra Club member.  I see nothing at all wrong with the Club being associated with a carefully screened, environmentally benign, reasonably priced cleaning product.  Nor do I see anything wrong with the Club getting paid for that.  The good work the Sierra Club does takes money.  Member dues alone don't pay even half of the expense of paying staff and supporting a large-scale environmental advocacy organization.  On Sierra Club removes leadership of its Florida chapter posted 1 year, 8 months ago 42 Responses

  • re steve bloom on sierra club numbers

    Steve Bloom writes: Erratum:  The Sierra Club has about 700,000 dues-paying members (not the 1.3 million noted in the post).  Note that this figure has been dropping at a fairly steady pace from a high a few years back of about 750,000.

    To Mr. Bloom.  The Sierra Club counts 1.3 million members and supporters.  This figure allows a fair, apples-to-apples comparison with other major environmental organizations that also count supporters.  I don't know the actual membership number but think you are a bit low. On Sierra Club removes leadership of its Florida chapter posted 1 year, 8 months ago 42 Responses

  • Local politics

    This doesnt hurt Murkowski or Stevens any with the locals -- Stevens can make lobbying calls from his prison cell.  Nice photo op there.  They can blame Dems for high gas prices -- making sense has never posed a problem for Stevens before.  What they can't do is pass this nonsense into law.  2006 put an end to the drilling threat, and the numbers strongly favor Democratic gains in the Senate this year.  What we need to protect is the REST of Alaska, including the wolves they're shooting. On Alaska senators introduce legislation to open Arctic Refuge to drilling posted 1 year, 8 months ago 7 Responses

  • suggestion

    "Lying swine" works for me.On Please stop calling them 'skeptics' posted 1 year, 8 months ago 40 Responses

  • to "still skeptical"

    If you aren't convinced by the most respected scientific body in the US, the National Academy, or the 2007 report from the IPCC, you are not relying on a scientific background for your skepticism.  You are following your political bias.On What drives climate change denial? posted 1 year, 8 months ago 34 Responses

  • Maybe he drowned in a bath tub.

    On Bush raises taxes on hikers and campers, mysteriously leaving logging companies alone posted 1 year, 8 months ago 2 Responses

  • Premise is naive

    You suggest that a different kind of argument would succeed with climate skeptics, and that is naive.  What we have here is nothing more than tribalism.  Most of us environmentalists are Democrats and liberals or progressives; therefore, to some portion of the public, whatever we're in favor of is wrong.  And there's no way around the fact that solving global warming will require Big Government to remake the present industrial economy.  Modern-day conservatism takes it as a mantra that govermental regualation is bad.  In that sense, it is fundamentally at odds with environmental progress and responsibility.  There are global warming skeptics out there because lots of Americans don't think worth a damn. Bush is President.On What drives climate change denial? posted 1 year, 8 months ago 34 Responses

  • consensus

    I have enjoyed Naomi Oreske's brief article in Science, "Beyond the Ivory Tower: The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change" http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/306/5702/1686    It is from 2004, and there is actually far more consensus now than there was then. On The Heartland conference recycles the usual climate change skeptics in its speakers list posted 1 year, 8 months ago 287 Responses

  • consensus

    One source I've liked is Naomi Oreske's article "Beyond the  Ivory Tower: The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change"   in a 2004 issue of Science   http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/306/5702/1686   And it is actually dated -- if anything there is far more consensus now. On Do Big Oil and Big Tobacco share a similar smokescreen? posted 1 year, 8 months ago 26 Responses

  • Media & Global Warming

    I agree.  There's a media model out there that pulls many reporters towards a phony objectivity.  There is no pro-Hitler side to the Holocaust story.  There is no pro-tobacco industry story. The only good thing about coverage of global warming is that many reporters understand this problem now - that a handful of skeptics does not affect the fact of scientific consensus. On What if the MSM simply can't cover humanity's self-destruction? posted 1 year, 8 months ago 33 Responses

  • re: That's unexpected.

    Nixon and Schwarzenegger aren't hard to figure at all.  Nixon faced a liberal Dem Congress that had held power for years. He was a crook, but no ideologue, and he came to power long before the Reagan/James Watt era signaled the lunatic right takeover of the GOP.  Schwarzenegger lives in California, and if he were not environmentally progressive, he would not be governor.  

    Faking green is trendy, popular and easy.  John McCain has done it for his entire career: look at his actual environmental record at www.lcv.org  His career score is under 30 percent -- it stinks.  But he fakes it well.  .On Republican convention will go green posted 1 year, 8 months ago 10 Responses

  • Another GreenScam

    Observers have noted that there were more African Americans on the GOP convention stage in 2004 than there were in the entire lily-white audience combined.  These folks know how to bullshit people. The party of James ("Global Warming is a Hoax") Inhofe, Arctic Drilling, oil industry subsidies and industry hacks like Mark Rey can reycle its aluminum cans and fake an environmetal conscience til the cows come home and poop on the floor.  Today's GOP is still a criminal conspiracy against the environment, and the greenest thing it could do is liquidate itself immediately and pay reparations to the American public. On Republican convention will go green posted 1 year, 8 months ago 10 Responses

  • a related point

    Umbra's discussion reminded me of a wonderful 1970s drive-in era movie, Invasion of the Bee Girls.  It's about these bee-women who come to Earth...On Umbra on organic honey posted 1 year, 8 months ago 19 Responses

  • LCV and McCain: A Perfect Zero

    No, LCV has NOT given John McCain a fair rating.  They gave him a ZERO for 2007 and his best years are barely over 50 percent, with a career score in the 20s.  On Mr. Straight Talk voted against requiring double-hulled tankers after the biggest oil spill posted 1 year, 9 months ago 16 Responses

  • nonsense. mccain's record stinks

    The bipartisan League of Conservation Voters <www.lcv.org> notes that he missed 15 important environmental votes in a row for a score of zero in 2007.  His career score is in the 20 percent range and never rose above 50 percent.  REP is kidding itself and so are you.  John McCain has a lousy environmental record.  Moreover, he has promised to appoint right wing, Scalia-type justices, and one more of those could be a disaster for our nation's environmental laws.  On Mr. Straight Talk voted against requiring double-hulled tankers after the biggest oil spill posted 1 year, 9 months ago 16 Responses

  • judge blew his chance

    Mark Rey should be in prison just on general principles. On U.S. forest official will not be jailed over fish-killing flame retardant posted 1 year, 9 months ago 1 Response

  • a minor distraction, at least this time around

    Nader suffers from the chronic delusion that Americans pore carefully over a candidate's issue positions and then make calculated decisions.  They don't. For many young voters in particular, Nader seemed like the hip candidate in 2000.  Obama has that corner of the market nailed down this time.  Moreoever, many Americans now appreciate the absurdity of Nader's claim that there was no substantial difference between Bush and Gore. Gore would not have invaded Iraq, cut taxes for the rich, or turned our public lands over to industry. Nader can be an annoying distraction in this year's actual contest, but nothing more.  Saint Ralph is appallingly naive about who US voters are, what they think, and what it takes to get their support. On Ralph Nader jumps into the presidential race posted 1 year, 9 months ago 31 Responses

  • this means diddly squat

    Both Massachusetts Senators Ted Kennedy and John Kerry endorsed Obama.  Check out the results from Massachusetts.  Kennedy and Maria Shriver campaiged for Obama in CA.  Check out who won CA's primary.  Endorsements are the most overrated thing since the Republican Party. On The enGorsement, re-reconsidered posted 1 year, 9 months ago 3 Responses

  • ED exposed

    Environmental Defense is once again revealing itself as less an environmental advocacy organization than a toady for corporate interests. On Green groups battle over climate bills in the Senate posted 2 years, 1 month ago 13 Responses

  • Ron Paul is a fruitcake.

    On An interview with Ron Paul about his presidential platform on energy and the environment posted 2 years, 1 month ago 55 Responses

  • corn based ethanol

    When an arm of the National Academy of Sciences says it is time to stop pushing corn-based ethanol, it is time to do exactly that.  Note that they did not condemn all biofuels out of hand.  But subsidizing corn-based ethanol should not be promoted by candidates for office as a sustainable and eco-friendly alternative.  It's pure lard aimed at buying farm votes, and it should stop. On Boosting crops for fuel will hurt water supplies, says report posted 2 years, 1 month ago 6 Responses

  • Republican swine

    Greenspan's book is self-serving rubbish.  Many dont realize that funding government (aka not cutting taxes) is an environmental issue of the first magnitude.  This slobbering sycophant didnt have the backbone to admit that four huge tax cuts in six years would be a long-term fiscal disaster, especially when combined with a bloated Medicare Part D handout to the drug industry and an unfunded war.  On Greenspan on energy posted 2 years, 2 months ago 8 Responses

  • Terms for Thompson

    "Helioater?" "Druid/"  I can think of some much more common words.  He sounds like James Inhofe. Clearly, being a snide, illiterate goon is a prerequisite to seeking the Republican nomination.  On Fred Thompson's confused stance on climate change posted 2 years, 2 months ago 12 Responses

  • And a Crook.

    On Alaskan senator invents new theory of global warming posted 2 years, 2 months ago 13 Responses

  • And a Sleazebag

    On Alaskan senator invents new theory of global warming posted 2 years, 2 months ago 13 Responses

  • Ted Stevens is a Doofus.

    On Alaskan senator invents new theory of global warming posted 2 years, 2 months ago 13 Responses

  • Please fold your mag and go sell pizza

    The Indy 500 as a green event?  Grist, get honest and go open a sub shop and make an honest living.On 15 Green Sports Stars posted 2 years, 2 months ago 15 Responses

  • Elizabeth May

    Elizabeth May most certainly IS a politician.  She left her Sierra Club work to devote her time to Green Party Canada. On 15 Green Politicians posted 2 years, 2 months ago 34 Responses

  • Dems

    To those bitching about Democrats, I'd sure rather have the current Dem Senate leaders chairing committees than return to James Inhofe.  We have real choices.  The Cems may not give us environmental perfection, but I'll take Barbara Boxer, Maria Cantwell. Henry Waxmans and George Miller over anything we've had in the last six ysars hands-down.  Get real.On Hillary Clinton joins the pack in calling for greener energy policy posted 2 years, 3 months ago 4 Responses

  • Gravel's ideas

    Mike Gravel can advocate for the most unpopular ideas he likes, because -- like Nader and Kucinich -- he has zero risk of actually being called upon to try to get them implemented. On An interview with Mike Gravel about his presidential platform on energy and the environment posted 2 years, 3 months ago 5 Responses

  • Losers go home.

    Dennis Kucincich will not win just because I think he might win. Or because I vote for him.  Or because I hold my breath til I turn blue.  In presidential politics, he is a proven, dead-bang loser.  Ralph Nader's has great ideas too.  Bill Clinton won 2 elections and appointed Carol Browner and Mike Dombeck.  Politics is about coaltion-building and appealing to large blocs of voters. Kucinich is a proven zero at accomplishing that task.  On An interview with Dennis Kucinich about his presidential platform on energy and the environment posted 2 years, 3 months ago 34 Responses

  • Kucinich -- what you missed.

    What did you miss? His delegate totals from his previous runs.  It's a short number. And losers don't make policy.  They go home. On A look at Dennis Kucinich's environmental platform and record posted 2 years, 3 months ago 6 Responses

  • Kucinich

    Unless Kucinich can persuade someone besides his wife to vote for him, his environmental vision doesn't mean much. On An interview with Dennis Kucinich about his presidential platform on energy and the environment posted 2 years, 3 months ago 34 Responses

  • Hydropower ain't green (15 greenest cities)

    You mention that Vancouver is a green city partly because it gets electricity from hydropower.  While small-scale hydro may be an exception, as a rule, hydropower is anything but green. Dams kill rivers dead, along with the fish and plants that depend on natural, free-flowing rivers.  And hyrdo in Canada's boreal forest is an environmental disaster -- flooding enormous areas of forest, ending their carbon capture and killing their wildlife.On 15 Green Cities posted 2 years, 4 months ago 51 Responses

  • environmental records

    The Sierra Club's Chafee endorsement is a tough subject.  I understand why it happened.  Chafee has a good record and the club wants to reward environmentally good Republicans.  But a Chafee win makes idiots like Inhofe committee chairs, keeps the White House unaccoountable to anyone and helps get nutcase judges appointed.  At this point, environmentally responsible Republicans need to get a clue and leave what has become a criminal enterprise.On There are many posted 3 years ago 4 Responses

  • pretend activism

    In all respect, all the white wristbands and Live8 concerts you can pile in the Sahara aint gonna do a damn thing about poverty.  Of course it's an important cause.  But it's far too easy to fall into the trap of thinking that faddish wrist ornaments and Pink Floyd sets actually accomplish anything.  They don't.

    I've worked as a poverty lawyer for nearly 20 years, and as an environmental activist for nearly that long.  I support the thrust of your message.  The criminals who now run the US government -- and they are criminals -- have succeeded in making the very idea of fighting poverty unfashionable.  That needs to change, and conservationists need to help -- first, by getting criminals like Bush out of office.  But it will take a whole lot more than white wristbands.On Why aren't conservationists fighting poverty? posted 4 years, 3 months ago 23 Responses

  • roberts stinks

    Any environmentalist who doesn't understand how dangerous Roberts is needs to wake up.  His snide comments about "hapless toads" came in a decision that threatens the foundation of federal environmental laws.  He shares Justice Scalia's constipated reading of the Commerce Clause power, and could undermine federal authority to regulate at all.  He may also share Scalia's views on ennvironmentalists' standing to sue at all.  He is dangerous and needs to be rejected.On Notes on the new Supreme Court nominee. posted 4 years, 4 months ago 3 Responses

  • Sierra Club and Ford

    Your post leaves out a crucial fact.  The Sierra Club has been extremely critical of Ford in the past, even running an ad that blasted Ford for going backwards on mileage since the Model T.  Now Ford comes out with a hybrid SUV with far better mileage.  That act deserved to be recognized, but again, you have to know the context: the Sierra Club has been a vocal critic of Ford.On Cooperation versus antagonism in environmental activism. posted 4 years, 4 months ago 4 Responses

  • RAN "more efffective??"

    Comparing Rainforest Action Network -- a relatively small, recent, single-issue organization -- to the 750,000-member Sierra Club is just silly.  The club works on a broad range of issues, with hundreds of local groups nationwide.  There are roles for different organizations and different approaches.  But effective, broad-based activism means you have to reach mainstream Americans, and angry, confrontational tactics generally don't accomplish that.On Cooperation versus antagonism in environmental activism. posted 4 years, 4 months ago 4 Responses